The Lessons of Love : Rediscovering Our Passion for Live When It All Seems Too Hard to Take
Author: Melody Beattie
List Price: $12.95
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ISBN: 0062510789
Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco (28 April, 1995)
Sales Rank: 86,650
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Melody Beattie's most poignant work
Melody Beattie is, of course, the author of the phenomenal bestseller CODEPENDENT NO MORE. Since the publication of that first book in the 1980s, many of us in the recovery movement have come to see her as something akin to a mother figure. We are therefore interested in her life, the challenges she faces, her insights, her introspections, her epiphanies, her triumphs. Melody's writing style is so warm and embracing that it often feels as though we are reading personal messages from a dear friend. Personal messages do not usually constitute great literature. This is certainly the case with THE LESSONS OF LOVE. The story, her struggle to come to terms with the tragic death of her son Shane, is beautiful, heartfelt, and inspiring. It appeals to me in large part because I care about Melody Beattie as a person. I want to know how she coped with what must be the most painful situation any human being could find themselves in. I want to see her come through. I feel as though I have a relationship with her work. (When I was only 17, she personally replied to my letter regarding Codependents Anonymous groups. Her work has been important to me ever since.) But I definitely would not recommend THE LESSONS OF LOVE to a friend indifferent to the recovery scene. They would perhaps be put off by Melody's interweaving of her personal story with the pick-me-up tone of recovery prose. ("This book is my golden ring for you," she says to the reader in the introduction.)
So, whether you appreciate THE LESSONS OF LOVE may be gauged by how you feel about the genre that Melody Beattie has helped define. This is the closest I've ever seen her come to conventional storytelling, but it is unmistakable that it belongs in the self-help/recovery/personal empowerment section of the bookstore. If you do not find yourself drawn to that section, then you may not appreciate this book. If, however, you are like me, love this genre, view Melody Beattie as a source of comfort, then THE LESSONS OF LOVE is a highly recommended.
Andrew Parodi
Rating: 4 out of 5
A Journey
Melody Beattie writes a very compelling and heartfelt account of a painful journey through heartbreak. "The Lessons of Love" will touch your soul and your heart. Beautifully written.
The author takes us through her grieving process, her fight with wanting to live and her struggle learning to live again after a trajedy that completely knocks her off her feet.
This book contains tested truths on how to live and why we should live with gusto even after trajedy obstructs our view. Melody honestly and compelling shares with us her trials in darkness, her anger, her tears and her heartbreak. She also shares with us her learning, her hopefulness and her vision of magic.
This book is for those who look beneath the surface of life for those intricate nuances that make us all tick. I highly recommend this book to those of you who are searching and who long to discover some of life's mysteries. Though this book is deep, Melody writes in a very easy to read fashion. You will not get bogged down in big words and you will not need to read between the lines. Even though Melody's story is very sad in parts, this book is refreshingly real and clear.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Beattie comes to the rescue...
After going through a difficult loss myself (though certainly not comparable to the author's), I found this book so comforting. Melody's writing style makes you feel like she is sitting across from you, telling you her story while, at the same time, intermingling a lesson that you must learn from her experience. Not only could I relate to her feelings she recounts in the book, but I felt much less lonely. This book gave me the greatest gift -- hope. Thank you so much, Melody. Similar Products
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Beyond Codependency: And Getting Better All the Time
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