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Title: Didn't resonate with me
Review: Alain de Botton attempts to describe the emotions and sensations of travel, but his impressions didn't ring true for me. An example: he is in Madrid, and he complains that he feels "self-disgust at the contrast between my own indolence and what I imagined would have been the eagerness of more normal travelers." Consequently, he stays in bed, finally leaving his room only because he doesn't want to encounter the maid again, who keeps trying to clean his room.I get the impression that de Botton has problems. An interesting book could have made about this topic - a neurotic traveler coping with the rigors of travel - but as ruminations on "the art of travel," the book doesn't work for me, simply because I don't share his reactions to his environment or his seeming inability to enjoy himself.I recently read an interesting article by Alain de Botton on the art of conversation. I do find him a compelling writer, though this book was not for me.
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