Love like in Books – Can It Be Real?

The month of love and Valentine’s Day are long gone now and made way to spring vibes but there’s always space and time for love, isn’t there? Love makes the world colorful. Love tricks us, teaches us, inspires us. It’s the feeling nobody could ever completely comprehend, describe or rationalize with its many forms. If there is one thing worth learning, it is “just to love and be loved in return”, as the well-known Moulin Rouge quote says.

Love is also one of the most common themes used in movies, books and other artistic creations. But is love in fiction any close to love in reality? Can we expect to find the same love described in novels or is it just a mere entertainment to our romantic imagination? On the other hand, does not real love offer us something more than what can be captured in literary and artistic works, something that we feel every day, like an atmosphere that embraces us and make us feel safe, something true we can count on and experience personally?

To try and answer, at least to some extent, these questions, I have chosen five books from different genres that I enjoyed reading and which include the theme of love. We will delve into how love in each book is comparable to love that we experience in real. I cannot pretend to know everything about love but since love is such a subjective feeling, we can merely voice our opinions and there is never right or wrong. I will happily hear yours on the topic, on any of these books or on other books talking about love so feel free to let me know!

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

This fascinating novel set in Regency-time England follows the interactions of the overly proud Mr. Darcy and significantly prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet while they try to understand each other better. Their views of the world and people around them are often opposites due to their differences in class and upbringing. Eventually, they learn to appreciate their true characters and love each other for who they truly are. Despite being written in a completely different time, Pride and Prejudice reflects very well the reality of lovers with strong opinions having clashing points of view. Way too often we are misled by our pride to believe that we know best and that someone should give in to our will. What this story also pictures perfectly is how people can easily be blinded by their own prejudices and attitudes and misunderstand a person or a situation completely. In the end the key, as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy find, is to be open-minded, not to rush to conclusions and learn to acknowledge your mistakes to others. Pride and Prejudice is the perfect book for fans of classics that are not satisfied with couples falling in love at first sight but that look for more intellectual outlook on love.

A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness

You might think that a contemporary fantasy book about witches and vampires would be quite far from reality when it comes to feelings and love but you would be wrong. The ideas in this dynamic story, well hidden behind supernatural elements, are very real ones and you will very often catch yourself relating to how the main characters feel and their struggles. The first time that I read this book was back when I was 12 and I was gushing about love stories and supernatural couples like a typical teenage girl. I have recently begun to re-read it and I find such a surprising change in how I perceive it. The book follows Diana Bishop in her journey to unfolding her true potential and finding her place in the world. The first part of the novel describes how Matthew Clairmont and Diana Bishop meet and how gradually they find a common understanding and purpose and they fall in love with each other. The book, like many other contemporary stories, has many much too detailed descriptions and historical parts, which does not make it a fast read. However, that is also a good feature as it takes its time in describing how the feelings of Matthew and Diana grow and evolve. Even if you are not a teenager fond of supernatural couples anymore, when you look beyond all these fancy effects you will find a deep story and excellent character development that is worth delving into.

Bachelors Anonymous – P. G. Wodehouse

If you are looking for light-heared, humorous story that also involves love, Bachelors Anonymous is your best option out there. I could read Wodehouse’s books over and over and they would never fail to put a smile on my face. The story starts with a rich Hollywood studio owner, Mr. Llewellyn, and his tendency to propose to every girl on the first date, which sadly always ends up in a divorce. After 5 divorces his lawyer, Mr. Trout, tries to discourage him from marrying again in such a rash manner and introduces him to the idea of Bachelors Anonymous. If Mr. Llewellyn gets the urge to marry, another member of Bachelors Anonymous will prevent him from doing so. At the same time the story follows Joe Pickering, a young aspiring writer stuck as a worker in a law firm, and his encounter with love when he meets Sally Fitch. Despite describing love in a very comic way, the book hits close to reality in the sense that love can come to us unexpectedly and turn our world upside down in a moment. It can make us swoon and blind us and make us do foolish things but it’s all in the name of love. A very refreshing quick read for people that want to stop thinking so seriously about everything and especially about love.

Partners in Crime – Agatha Christie

The Queen of Crime might be famous for her mysteries and crime mastermind ideas but she is not unfamiliar with the feeling of love and how to properly describe it. The main focus of this short stories collection is not love but the great feeling still has a significant presence in the light-hearted communication between the young detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Partners in Crime has been one of my favorite crime books by Agatha Christie and, if I dare say, an inspiration for my own detective couple. You would never imagine that book that talks about crime can be such a light and cozy read. Tommy and Tuppence do not express their feelings abundantly like many contemporary couples in novels and movies, but they have their ways to show that they truly care about each other. In the end, values like loyalty and respect need to go hand in hand with passionate love sentiments and it is important to feel balance in a relationship even after the swooning is over. Tommy and Tuppence manage to show us exactly that. They focus on their strong sides and build something great together. A true lesson in couple teamwork!

Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

This compilation will never be full without some drama and as much as love can be happy and joyful it can bring out some other darker sentiments, which are perfectly described in the classic tale of Wuthering Heights. This novel that follows the rocky path of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff shows how intensive the feeling of love can be and how it can lead to destruction unless it is cultivated in something good. It also examines the different types of love – one that is so deeply rooted that you feel the other person as part of your own self (Catherine and Heathcliff) or the stable rational love that makes you simply enjoy the company of the other person without the need for such strong feelings (Catherine and Edgar Linton). While not the most cheerful of reads, this book certainly gives insights about the human soul and the nature of the feelings a person is capable of experiencing. There are a great deal of things that one can learn from sad stories as well as from happy ones and if we are true to reality, no love story or a relationship, in that matter, has been completely devoid of challenging moments. I believe that Wuthering Heights can teach us exactly that but also that love can last and endure through many things and still remain unchanged.

I hope that you have enjoyed my simple description of a few of my favorite stories from different genres which all have one thing in common – the theme of love. Let me know if you have read any of them, whether you enjoyed them and if you agree with the perspective of love I presented to you. As usual I am more than open to discussions.

Sincerely Yours,

D.D.