A Week at the Airport

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.

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.

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!

As someone who loves travel, and is endlessly intrigued by the happenings at international airports, Alain De Botton's A Week at the Airport is a delightful window into the culture apart that this feature of the modern world embodies.For anyone who has not yet entered De Botton's philosophical world via his writings, A Week at the Airport is short enough, at a little over 100 pages, and put together so nicely (the author has a skilled and touching turn of phrase, deployed as needed), that it's the perfect gateway into his longer and deeper works.Assembled as a series of observations by De Botton and anecdotes from the denizens of this odd other place, A Week at the Airport is a pleasant and well worth it short diversion that should be on your reading list. I finished wanting a longer, deeper tale.I'm giving it 4/5.

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.

All as expected.

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'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.

I bought this book after seeing the author on TV talking about something else. I chose this particular book from his oeuvre because of an interest in airports which goes beyond planes. It is a slim volume; I should have thought that a whole week spent at Heathrow with almost open access could have produced more than this.I found it somewhat disappointing on the whole; as well as the expected stories of individuals, it contains reflections on wider issues such as diversity, assumptions, interconnectedness, separation and so on, but at a fairly superficial level. Perhaps the most interesting parts are those where the author reveals himself, as in his admiration of airline pilots and their (to him) demi-god status. It's not a bad book: one might pick it up at an airport bookshop and use it to while away a flight to Athens. But it wouldn't get you to Sydney.

As books on airports and air travel go, Alain de Botton's 'A Week at the Airport' is likely to rank as one of the least conventional. A mixture of existential philosophy, a series of encounters which seem hard to discern as either actual or apocryphal, reflections on a changing world, and the occasional discussion with a member of British Airways staff; this is a book whose target audience seems to be somewhere between travel enthusiasts and downbeat philosophy students. It is a brief work which contains some dazzling insights, yet is inconsistent, littered as it is with endless abstract ruminations (some of which are admittedly more interesting than others), and penned by an author whose snobbery and class prejudices, such as his suggestion that people in first and business class are essentially better individuals than those who fly economy, are as wrongheaded as they are rather offensive.That said, 'A Week at the Airport', for all its undeniable flaws, has enough positive facets to make it worth reading. De Botton comes up with some superb conclusions, at times, such as his well-wrought contention that though our often troubled minds and lives are something we cannot part with when we fly, there is no service at an airport for existential problems (though the idea of one existing seems both, as he implies, alien, and yet necessary). In terms of comparisons and image, there is no doubt that this is an interesting text. Depictions of Heathrow's architecture, with its nods towards optimism and positive thinking, are excellent; and his linking of his topic to authors, philosophers, artists etc., is something he does with deftness, even if the comparisons are sometimes a touch pretentious. It's hard to say whether I would recommend 'A Week at the Airport', as it is a book which will, with its lengthy abstractions and love of academic reference, certainly divide readers, but if philosophy and flight are both amongst your interests, and you know your Mark Twains from your Milan Kunderas, then this could be the perfect book for you.

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.

This was never going to be one of those Airport Blockbusters that one buys in WHS to read by the pool.This is a slim volume, probably timed to read nicely between Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle.I work at an International Airport- not Heathrow- but have spent a bit of time working overtime in Terminal 4.Therefore I was expecting a inside view of the new Terminal 5, the passengers and the workers, with interesting stories.Unfortunately, I found this book shallow and disappointing. A week is not enough time to garner a good overview of an Airport and all the characters and situations that arise.An Airport is a twenty four hour place with the same number of inhabitants as a small city; everyone has a story to tell- sadly not explored in this book. This a waste of a good opportunity.If you want a good read on what goes on behind the scenes at a busy International Airport- read 'Airport Babylon' or watch 'Come Fly with Me', although that is a spoof comedy programme- it is a lot truer than this book.Sorry- I thought this book a waste of time.

This book was a complete disappointment in 3 aspects: 1) Design (small size, unattractive photos on offset paper, that just makes the look even worse), 2) Typography (too small print, uncomfortable to read) and 3) Contents - nothing that could grab my attention. Travel is my life and print design is my profession, so after some great reviews I read I was expecting something really nice.