It was a cool and wet afternoon, and I spent it sleeping, and drinking, and eating, and reading. I read Alain de Botton's lastest book, "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work", which is an exploration of the joys and perils of the modern workplace, beautifully evoking what other people get up to all day – and night – to make the frenzied contemporary world function.
With his characteristic philosophical eye and combination of wit and wisdom, Alain leads us on a journey around a deliberately eclectic range of occupations, from accountancy to art, rocket science to biscuit manufacture, in search of what make jobs fulfilling or soul-destroying.
It's a beautiful book which I've been dipping into several times before, usually when I missed my work which used to give my life purpose and meaning. Unlike most of my other books, I bought this one in mint condition on ebay, and so can you because, unfortunately, the only free online edition is in Korean - click here. So the choice is yours: a crash course in Korean or pay anything up to $20 (postage included) on ebay.
