^ Love Languages

It’s hard for me to both laud and trash a book, but I’mabout to do just that.

The Five Love Languages is a great book,theoretically, but abysmally dogmatic in terms of style. In theory, it’s reallybrilliant, because it condenses love interactions (platonic, romantic,familial) into five easy to digest and remember “languages:”

1)                 Quality Time

2)                 Words of Affirmation

3)                 Acts of Service

4)                 Gifts

5)                 Physical Touch

One can ascertain one's own love language both byhow one relates to everyone in life, not just lovers, and how certainexpressions of love are restorative and fulfilling. If receiving gifts leaves youfeeling hollow, then that’s not your love language. If your spouse taking outthe garbage, even without being asked, makes your toes curl, then you arelikely Acts of Service. Remembering how I show affection and need to be shownaffection has helped me tighten both my marriage and my friendships.

Stylistically, the book is a mess. It’s a little remedial intone, likely because it focuses so heavily on religious propping in order todeliver certain points. The quoting from scripture is distracting and sometimesdogmatic. If I could obtain a copy of this book without the Judeo-Christianovertones, it might be worth purchasing and giving as gifts. As it is? It’s tooheavily loaded with religious counsel to warrant my handing out copies. But Ihighly recommend borrowing it from the library and gleaning out the relevantbits.