Fragments d'un discours amoureux

Roland Barthes treats the lover's speech as a series of figures, short entries arranged alphabetically from "Absence" to "Union," each describing a typical moment of love's experience: waiting, jealousy, the wish to be loved, the pain of rejection. He draws on Goethe's Werther, on psychoanalysis, on Plato and on his own feelings, speaking in a voice that is part critic and part lover. The fragments avoid a conclusion or system.

It appeals to readers of literary theory and essays who want a thoughtful, poetic analysis of love. It is a book to open at random and read in small doses.

Deep, inward-looking, contemplative and open-ended; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?