Proustian love

In Pursuit of a Love Theory Writing about love within the scientific framework is certainly a risky endeavour that would tend to become rather technical. Somehow, the author has managed to circumvent this obstacle. Igor van Krogten goes far towards remedying the absence of a detailed love theory in psychology. The book will touch your soul, if for no other reason because he has had the courage to go against the stream of current opinion in bridging the gap between psychology and literature. By a careful analysis of the similarities in their approaches, he shows us that art and science are not so different after all. The author invites the scientist to leave his ivory tower, and places the artist within society rather than depicting him as an isolated oddball. Using scientific methodology, Van Krogten gets at the heart of Marcel Proust's renowned work, A la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past). He provides us with greater insight into the general laws operating in love, and the complexities and intricacies it involves. The resulting theory reveals love to be a grand series of psychological absurdities inherent in the human personality. This is substantiated by a number of empirical- clinical investigations. Proust's ideas on love are compared with those of prominent exponents of psychological (Freud, neo-Freudians, communication theorists), philosophical (Nietzsche), and literary (Musil, Dostoyevsky) traditions. Finally, there is a critique of the pernicious influence 'Americanism' may have on our understanding and experience of love. Although the essence of love will never change, it will never be the same after reading this original, exciting book. For the layman, the artist and the social scientist alike, it is an absolute must. Igor van Krogten is a senior lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He focuses on a wide range of psychological issues related to human personality. His monumental dissertation on 'Brain Organicity Tests' (1979) is a definitive work on the evaluation of psychological tests used in diagnosing organic disturbances of the brain. His recent research concentrates on theoretical and empirical investigations into the problematic theory of love.