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The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
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The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
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Summary
We spend most of our waking lives at work - in occupations often chosen by our unthinking 16-year-old selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what it might mean for us. Equally intrigued by work's pleasures and its pains, Alain de Botton heads into the office, the factory, the fishing fleet, and the logistics centre, ears and eyes open to the beauty, interest, and sheer strangeness of the modern workplace. Why do we do it? What makes it pleasurable? What is its meaning? And why do we daily exhaust not only ourselves but also the planet?
Characteristically lucid, witty, and inventive, Alain de Botton's 'song for occupations' is a celebration and exploration of an aspect of life which is all too often ignored and yet as central to us as our love lives.
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What listeners say about The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lewis King
- 02-07-23
Intriguing and poetic, and kind of funny too
Lots of poetic musing, nothing super profound but many moments to make you go "hmm" and also many moments of dry humour too.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maria
- 22-01-17
This book is a poem
It's lyrical more than anything else. It puts me in the correct mood for most purposes. I like Alain's unsentimental love of life. He seems to have finally got the thing about the 'human thing' (I say finally because in all his books he sounds like he hadn't outright; some people are born with this talent others not)
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Gerda Mackenzie
- 02-12-18
Interesting, but not his best
Not as good as his other books. Would have preferred the narrator to be British. Some pearls of wisdom. I preferred The Architecture of Happiness, How Proust can change your Life and Status Anxiety.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- MR
- 11-07-13
good subject matter loses it's way!!
When I began reading this book I was a little bit dazzled and thought, WOW!, this is going to be fascinating.
Unfortunately, the book just seemed to sag in the middle and by the time I reached the end I was fairly underwhelmed.
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1 person found this helpful