Love: A Reading List

I had one more interaction with Michael Dirda in this week's discussion. He didn't answer my first question, but he suggested some further readings. Perhaps I should get hold of the complete reading list that he used for his course on "Love". Yes, he took a course on the subject in some university! Here is the question and the response:

Chicago, IL: I am currently reading Stendhal's amusing reflections on Love called simply "Love". First, do you know if Proust had read this book or if he did, what did he think of it? I find so many similarities between the two writers' approaches to the dissection of love. Second, do you know of any other similar book from the canon on this subject (non-fiction, amusing, witty and unsentimental)?

Michael Dirda: Yes, I know De L'Amour, being a Beyliste from way back, and having had my students read it this past spring for my Love class. No jokes please.

Other books on love? You might look for a book of essays by Ortega Y Gasset, try Mario Praz's The Romantic Agony, or--most famous of all, with a thesis that has been influential but controversial--Denis De Rougemont's Love in the Western World.

Hmmmm, The Romantic Agony sounds very interesting. Just in case you are opening a dictionary to find out what Dirda meant when he called himself "Beyliste", here is a clarification: Stendhal's real name was Henri Beyle and Dirda, of course, is very fond of him. In fact after reading half each of The Red and the Black and Love I have started admiring him a lot too. More posts on Stendhal will follow.