So, after quarantine I remembered how I missed libraries and books. I really love to read books. And honestly I got bored of movies and social media during quarantine. My soul requires more. That is why I came back to an old and good world of books. As you know reading books takes time and reflection. If you haven’t noticed movies don’t give us time to reflect as we never stop it or make a pause. Movies requires quick reaction. If you watch a movie from home do you often stop it? But books are different. When you read something important you stop, make notes and considerate what you just read. You can take all your time and when you are ready you return to that closely far book world. Books do not insist us to hurry and react. They lets us to reflect. That would be the main difference between movie and book.
Once again when I entered a library I knew that I want something light (just because I still have been reading G. Heigel book – Philosophy Of History, which is not easy). But in the same time I wanted something unusual. And first book that came to my hands was J.W. Goethe – Elective Affinities. Long time ago I read his book – Faust – and I really enjoyed it, so I had an expectation that this one will be good but light reading also. Well this book got me at the first page with it relevance and vitality (I need to mention that this book was published in 1809). It is obvious from the title that book is romance genre and will analyze some couple relationship.
I really enjoyed that writer has that ability to connect a parallel between chemical reactions and humans relationships. For instance, there was beautifully written how materials splits up and unities together same as people relationships in real life. Mainly writer analyzes marriage, but you will also get all characters description, outside signs and surroundings. You feel the aesthetic because everything is beautifully connected. And to get that in the book is rare. Plot moves slowly, nothing is rushed. Perfectly showed what every character feels and sees. I also liked that wife and husband are intelligent and understands life but as we know love can make you go mad. You will find destiny and signs in there which makes the world the way it is. Signs will be both good and bad. But we choose by ourselves which ones to believe in.
This book is really light. If you want to get deeper in relationships and you have open look at it – this book is for you. Because this story makes you to think. You will get perfect quotes and what is impressive for me that the story is relevant and nowadays. Relevant as we don’t know what love is and we don’t understand it ways to appear. Love just happens, you know.. In the same way we don’t understand destiny and signs even sometimes we think we are clever enough to comprehend them. This book has reference to our inability to control and forecast everything. Sometimes we wish the things to go good way but it turns opposite.
Amazing writer’s perspective, everything is aesthetic. You will fall in love with every character. And you will understand them just because in the end we are the same human beings which makes the same mistakes.
And as traditionally some thoughts from that book:
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”
“Even people who are entirely strange and indifferent to one another will exchange confidences if they live together for a while, and a certain intimacy is bound to develop.”
Egle Ku 
One thought on “Book: Elective Affinities”