Episode · How I Write · 2025-07-16
Books mentioned on Why Suffering Fuels Creativity — Alain de Botton
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Essays in Love
Discussed“That was my first book called on love essays in love. But as I say now I'm a spoiled boy.”
Where to get it
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On love
On Love by Alain de Botton is a philosophical novel that explores the psychological mechanics, romantic ideals, and painful sensations of falling and being in love.
Discussed“So I wrote my first book which in the United States was called on love and in the uh many other parts of the world was called essays in love and that was an attempt to understand sensations around love”
Where to get it
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Maxims
Discussed“I remember this 17th century character, French character, Laros Fuku. Do you know him? No. Luko who wrote this book called the maxims in the 17th century and this a beautiful book it must be it's about 200 fragments.”
Where to get it
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The course of love
Discussed“So, my books tend to be quite odd. I mean, I wrote a book called The Course of Love.”
Where to get it
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Book of Laughter and Forgetting
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera is a celebrated novel that blends storytelling, historical reflection, and philosophical essay to examine memory, political oppression, and human absurdity.
Discussed“So um the Czech writer Milan Kundara was extremely important for me um the book of laughter and forgetting uh and the unbearable lightness of being and also his book the art of the novel immensely significant texts that seemed to have an incredible freedom.”
Where to get it
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Art of the Novel
Discussed“So um the Czech writer Milan Kundara was extremely important for me um the book of laughter and forgetting uh and the unbearable lightness of being and also his book the art of the novel immensely significant texts that seemed to have an incredible freedom.”
Where to get it
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Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí = The Unbearable Lightness of Being = Sonzai no taerarenai karusa [Japanese Edition]
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera is a philosophical novel set during the Prague Spring, exploring existential themes, human relationships, and political oppression.
Discussed“So um the Czech writer Milan Kundara was extremely important for me um the book of laughter and forgetting uh and the unbearable lightness of being and also his book the art of the novel immensely significant texts that seemed to have an incredible freedom.”
Where to get it
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In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust is a monumental multi-volume modernist novel that explores memory, time, and human consciousness.
Discussed“P has this P by the way who I love Marcusel Puce the great French novelist wrote this really weird book called In Search of Lost Time which is again a mixture of essay novel and I don't know disquisition on the meaning of life.”
Where to get it
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Blood on the tracks
Discussed“Think of you know I don't know uh Bob Dylan Blood on the tracks that's a breakup album.”
Where to get it
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The Architecture of Happiness
Discussed“And um it enraged me and I wrote a book called the architecture of happiness which was an attempt to think about buildings.”
Where to get it
