A Week at the Airport

The behavioral economist Dan Ariely posted a story on his blog about a locksmith whose tips dropped once he mastered his craft and could perform his tasks in less time than he could as a novice. His customers equated the speed with which he accomplished his work with a lack of effort or complexity. So it is with some readers who dismiss de Botton's brilliant and economical style with as lacking depth or substance. With sly humor and a keen sense of observation, de Botton offers up well-written essays whose setting is Heathrow Airport but whose subjects range from classical literature to modern relationships to our quest to satisfy psychological needs through consumerism. As he has done earlier de Botton pairs his work with well-chosen photographs to enhance the mood and setting. Although this book is short, it's evident that a great deal of effort went into writing it. A certain amount of effort or at least calm attention is required to appreciate its depth, and the reader who offers up the attention this book deserves will not be disappointed.

I enjoyed it for what it was: the reflective musings of a compassionate philosopher writer situated in the glass and steel trappings of modern life. Alain de Botton excels in digging deep into the psyche and waxing poetic about the most mundane of moments. This is not meant to be derogatory at all; he manages to bring a soulful mood into the contemplation of otherwise soulless subjects. It’s an enjoyable and at times even moving essay - and that’s how I treat this book as, an essay. In retrospect I’m glad the book is as short as it is, because any longer than that and it may have exposed the inherent weakness in structure or risked seeming too self indulgent. Fans of Alain de Botton Of course shouldn’t miss this one. Also recommended for people who are waiting at airports or spending a couple hours at a cafe on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I just wish the price echoed the length as well.

Like Fred Astaire's famous decision to dance with a broom Alain de Botton demonstrates how a skilled wordsmith can produce a work of beauty out of even the most mundane subject - an airport. I got the book as my son's curriculum for this semester and was very skeptical when he gave it to me saying "I think you will enjoy it". If you appreciate literature, you will absolutely enjoy this work of art. It is short and from every angle it looks like a cheap read and a waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book quickly became a "wow" at every turn of the page. With all the information overload we are subjected to by "real content" providers this one allows you to "come up for a gasp of air" by providing you with zero important content, yet it is full of literary delight leaving you with a different appreciation of the "travel factories" we call airports. I see some people left one-star reviews ... why!

I heard about this book on an NPR interview a long while back, and it sounded interesting. I only wish there was more here. It was much shorter than I expected, and didn't really go into the detail that I remember the interview seemed to promise. It only skimmed the surface of the interviewees' lives, careers, and tales of travel. I'm glad I got it used for $0.01, because I would not have paid full price.

If you travel, get this short, delightful book on the one place we all take for granted. If you don't travel, read about what you are missing -- on the way there. De Botton writes with characteristic wit and imagination; he has a reporter's curiosity and a knack for detail and poetic metaphor. Planes become magical, complex creatures shuttling to and from worlds replete with characters from the mundane to the exotic: clowns, adventurers, mystics and hookers; the full panoply of humanity in all its wondrous variety, in a setting at once extraordinary and pathologically alienated and alienating. I've read a good many of this author's titles: Religion for Atheists; Status Anxiety; On Travel, etc. and I keep coming back, not necessarily because I'm interested in the subject, but because the writer knows his craft. And that's what reading is about.

When I was a kid (in those simpler, less security conscious days), I used to pester any adult I could find to take me to visit the airport. I loved to hang out at the observation deck at O'Hare and watch the planes take off and land and also wander around and watch the people at the airport. I rarely fly now (more car and Amtrak trips) but I would have LOVED the chance to experience what the author of this book did: spend a week at the airport. In this wonderful little book, the author spent a week wandering around the new terminal at London's Heathrow Airport, talking to passengers and employees alike and observing everything going on. He talks to everyone, from the head of British Airways to someone who cleans the restrooms. This is a terrific behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of an airport. You might think it sounds dull but it's not that at all.

Quaint and beautiful. Love his writing.

I've expected a sophisticated and colourful description of a life at the airport with some new interesting information since I knew author have been given an unrestricted pass to all airport areas. However this book is 5% about life at the airport and 95% poetic and boring tirades about life in general. As someone with eyes and ears I know very well the diversity of human emotions being expressed at airports however not having a chance to see more from any airport than a regular traveler I wanted to read more about interesting aspects of an airport life hidden from travelers eyes. This book doesn't provide this at all.

L'aeroporto è un luogo interessante socialmente e culturalmente. De Botton fa un analisi interessante degli spazi e dei modi di vivere l'aeroporto. Spedizione arrivata nei tempi previsti

Alain de Botton writes well and brings an extensive knowledge of travel to bear on the subject, but ... I found myself wondering why the subject needed a book written about it. Every traveling writer I know spends boring hours in airports, and we all while away the hours of waiting by journaling. We all struggle to amuse ourselves by observing and reflecting on what we see in the airport. That is what de Botton has done, and the book is as good or bad as our journal pages written in airports. It is not painful to read, but it is not an important book either.

For the price of a bottle of bog standard wine, this charming book will make you reflect on modern life and see things from a different angle. Not having read any of Alain de Botton's books, I found his low-key, idiosyncratic style much to my liking. Short vignettes of different aspects of daily life in an airport, accompanied by his own thoughts, are presented with a dry humour and often a certain irony - he lets his subjects and observations speak for themselves - and as a result, elicits from the reader the whole gamut of emotions: sadness, shock, amazement, sarcasm, disbelief, etc. And all this from the most unlikely of subjects - an airport! It reminds me of the Court Jester, who in days of old would poke fun at and make jokes at the King's expense (by pretending to be a simpleton and fool he avoided having his head chopped off) which presented a different and may be more balanced view of life to that which the King was accustomed to hearing, surrounded as he was by the insincere flattery and yes-men of his Court. So does Alain de Botton make you question the very existence of your modern life by giving you a different 'take' on something you normally wouldn't give a second thought to.

Super

Firstly, this book is a lovely aesthetic object. It feels really nice in your hands. Its photos are gorgeous. Its language and turn of phrase sublime. It's too small. I know that size isn't everything but I was just getting into the book when abruptly, it finished. The concept was fascinating and is examined by the author almost as much as the assignment itself; an airport employs its own resident author to write text about the experience of living in an airport from a unique perspective. I found the end result both intriguing and almost poetic in its observations and creed. As mentioned above the author does spend quite a long time the introspective element of the project and consequently himself; but the book simply comes alive in your hands with his stories of the other people who go into giving the space that is Heathrow its personality. My personal favourite is his description of the man going on holiday as a solution to all his problems, not realising that he will be bringing all his problems with him, as he himself is going on holiday not some disembodied version of himself. I recommend this book (unsurprisingly) to be read whilst sitting in the airport itself. The text lends itself to its environment effortlessly. However, it will only kill an hour, so it's probably as well to pack another book or two, in case of the inevitable delays.