Symptom: Love Sickness
Cure: Books which give (some) tough love
Love sickness is not to be mocked or belittled. It is a serious symptom that most of us will have experienced at some point. The loss of love is a terrible thing, whether through betrayal, bereavement or plain old boredom. You may recognise the sick, clawing and clutching feeling in the pit of your stomach. The inability to eat, the tears, the despair A constant physical ache, the result of lengthy pining for the one you can no longer have. The lack of attention span as you struggle to focus on anything for longer than a few moments. The permanent residency taken in your heart by the object of your endless desire. Misery and despair can overwhelm and a serious bout of love sickness may cause one to take to your bed in an attempt to hide from the pain. Love sickness should not be taken lightly!
These books may not bring instant relief from your current bout of love sickness but they will reveal to you the highs and lows of a love sick mind, helping you understand the reason for sometimes unrequited love.
This Sweet Sickness by Patricia Highsmith.
David Kelsey is convinced he will marry his one and only love Annabelle. Together they will forge a perfect life together. One small obstacle lies in the way. Annabelle is already married and is pregnant. David will not be perturbed by this. So convinced is he that she will one day come back to him that he is building a whole new home for the two of them.
This is a creepy look at an obsessive love and the madness which ensues as Davids obsession takes hold. Reading this may stop you in your tracks and cause you to re-examine our own motives. A harsh but perhaps necessary warning!
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was only a matter of time before I included The Great Gatsby in one of my bibliotherapy posts. I love this novel and have read it many times. Gatsby is desperately in love with Daisy Buchanan. When they met years before they could not be together because he did not have the means to support her. When he finally makes his fortune his whole goal in life is to be with her, even though she is with someone else. They meet again at a lavish party Gatsby has put on in her honour, desperate that all will be perfect for their grand reunion. As the story moves on, Gatsby finds more ways to be with Daisy, as his obsessive love grows. With out giving the game away completely for anyone who doesn’t know, the story ends in despair and loss of life. It seems his years of desperate love sickness have led only to ultimately heart break and tragedy for Gatsby. A harsh reminder that longing and memories of a previous love should remain, as sweet, unblemished memory. The realisation of such longed for love is likely to be painful and filled with grief!
Essays in Love by Alain De Botton
This book studies the progress of a relationship between a man and a woman from the first tender kiss to the despair and misery of heartbreak. If you needed even more convincing that the journey towards the object of your love sickenss may be hard and littered with grief then this may be it.
However in the words of Alfred Tennyson who clearly knew much more about these things than me
‘’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’
