The Four Loves
Ratings51
Average rating4.2
I love this book. Pun intended. All of the sections for each type of love are excellent, but the Agape/Charity section is the crowning jewel. I quote from this book often, and I think it really helped me to understand and think more in-depth about different types of relationships.
I think I'll have to read this several times to understand it, but I still found it deep and meaningful
C. S. Lewis takes on love. Lewis defines four loves: affection (storge), friendship (philia), romantic love (eros), and charity (agape). Lewis is wise and yet somehow accessible.
The book is stuffed full of brilliance. I enjoyed it by reading it, and then listening to the delightful YouTube C.S. Lewis Doodle.
The Four Loves offers keen insight from Lewis on the main ways that we humans love each other. There are a great deal of moments in the book that seem to wipe the fog away from the reader's eyes and grant luminescent clarity. On the other hand, there are many more instances of Lewis making assumptions and statements that are unfounded and even totally untrue or unfair.The worst part is that he does not try to justify any of those, except for mentioning a few times that he could be wrong–it's just his perspective after all. Maybe it's just because this is the first book of his I've read in full after becoming an English major(aka snob), but that doesn't really hold up. I feel this book would have been much better if it had been maybe twice the length, so that he could explain and support his points more. As I've paid more attention to Lewis's style I've noticed he really is very obvious with putting his perspective(and only his perspective) into his writing. It comes out in his fantasy work too(which is why they're all allegorical–though [b:Till We Have Faces 17343 Till We Have Faces C.S. Lewis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381692105s/17343.jpg 2072983] is of a slightly different nature and ends up being his best by far), and in the more philosophical/theological writings he comes off as didactic and somehow both close-minded but versatile. In books such as [b:Mere Christianity 11138 Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1414551420s/11138.jpg 801500] and [b:Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life 121732 Surprised by Joy The Shape of My Early Life C.S. Lewis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381407473s/121732.jpg 877675] that style works much better due to their autobiographical and devotional nature. Glaring flaws notwithstanding, what really makes the work worth the read are those nuggets that get you thinking and seeing what you didn't before. Despite my criticism I really do appreciate C.S. Lewis's work–he's my all-time most read author. I can tell that what he has said here is going to be valuable in my life. Even so, three stars because in my opinion, it's in these kinds of books(see also [b:The Abolition of Man 79428 The Abolition of Man C.S. Lewis https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418843138s/79428.jpg 14823978]) that we find Lewis at his weakest. How ironic that the beautiful Christian wisdom within is their redeeming quality!
A nice outline of the different kinds of love we can experience in a lifetime as well as the importance of these different kinds of love.