Hector & the Serets of Love, by Francois Lelord
Publisher: Gallic Books
Reviews by Real Readers
http://brummiebookworm.blogspot.com/2012/02/hector-serets-of-love-by-francois.html *
The idea behind the book is Hector is on the search for a previous colleague who has gone missing whilst researching a pill that helps you fall in love. He sets off across the world, leaving his girlfriend behind, and his quest takes him into Asia and the arms of Vayla. According to the blurb, it's a book designed to give us insightful thoughts into the human desire to find love. I was subjected to the less insightful thought that I would be a happier person without this book and without Hector in my life. I really can’t tell you a great deal more about the plot because the above two sentences actually sum up ¾ of the book. It seems to take the author an awful long time to write not very much. Or for not very much to happen.
In case you can’t tell - I really really disliked this book. From the very start, I did not like Hector, which is a major issue since the book is told from Hector’s point of view. We are given a great deal of insight into Hector’s thoughts and feelings and his contemplation of the age old question “what is love”. Unfortunately, despite the blurb on the back, I don’t feel I gained any insigh
I did not like the way the book was written and I did not like the style of language that was used. Although the book was quite clearly for adults, it was written in a tone of voice as though someone very clever was talking down to someone they considered not so clever. And all in all, I felt patronised and irritated by the novel. And just for the record, I read a lot of books written for and aimed at children, and I rarely feel as patronised and as belittled as I did whilst reading this book.
Even taking the style of the novel into account, and taking into account the fact there had been a previous book (Hector's search for happiness) which I hadn't read (and will never read) - the story itself was ridiculous and really not my cup of tea at all. It’s hard to find anything to like about Hector (who has to be the most boring character I’ve ever met) and I really couldn’t have cared less about his quest. It’s very rare I dislike a book so much, and whilst I have read some boring books in my time, I tend to think at least it’s a book ticked off my to-read list and at least it means I won’t have to read it again. In this case, I wish I had never wasted my time reading it in the first place.
4.5 stars
"Professor Cormorant has gone AWOL. Tasked with developing drugs to cure a lot of ills, by making us fall in love, he has fled with his secrets, his prototypes, and a few samples that may or may not be dangerous. It is down to Hector, a psychiatrist, to chase him down, work out where Cormorant is in his researches, and if possible help bring the trade secrets back to the company his girlfriend, and now himself, works for. With the exotic far East his destination, a partner left behind, and time on his hand to muse on the subject of love, will Hector find more than just a bunch of chemicals in a syringe?
I have to admit this appeared one of the least appealing books the reviewing gods have thrust upon me. A novel all about love, with pointed things to say on the subject, written by a psychiatrist? It smacked of being something awful - a wishy Jostein Gaarder-style philosophical perambulation, perhaps, or, at the other end of the spectrum, something pretentious and ill-formed like Heartbreak, the latest Craig Raine.
Whatever the approach, I thought, love as a subject would be forced down our throats, with arch examples of it being loaded into the plot. But this was not what I got. Yes love is here in countless aspects, but it hits the thinking, the storylines, the reality of the characters in purely natural ways. Hector, as a psychiatrist, does get to peruse the topic mentally, and make notes for papers to come, but so in a way does the narrator, when he isn't postulating on many other things he's describing.
What's more, the number of twists, cliffhangers and other surprises shows this is a novel first and foremost. It touches on a thriller with some omnipotent and omnipresent characters, almost. It seldom leaves a useful character behind, bringing them back when we least expect them - and nor does it leave us behind. The plot, the characters, and even the philosophy of love, all take us through these small pages to the end most satisfactorily.
Love, then, is a diaphanous concept - a multi-edged sword, a coin with more than two sides. Begun with chemical switches in the brain - or in this fiction, in a test-tube - it is never fully measurable, remains elusive, and defies all explanation. Lelord does not try to define it, in the end - his tale's conclusion is just right in its element of being open-ended. But he does manage to convincingly, realistically and most entertainingly put copious examples of it into his novel, and I can't remember many more books that have proved my first assumptions so wrong. Here is an engaging, breezy and witty approach to a philosophical aspect of our life. It comes over as a little bit cloying when thought of as part of a franchise - the one before had Hector seeking happiness, and there's two more yet to be translated into English, but this works as a stand-alone joy.
More accessible than Adam Phillips, more playful even than Alain de Botton - these secrets are quite lovely in their discovery.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag."
Also posted on: www.goodreads.co.uk
www.bookrabbit.co.uk
"This is the second book in the 'Hector's Journeys' series, the first: Hector and the Search for Happiness was published last year. I read, and enjoyed Hector's search for happiness although I found it somewhat childlike and was looking forward to reading about Hector's next step on his journey.
In this little book Hector has been asked by a pharmaceutical company to find Professor Cormarant - an eccentric genius who has developed a love potion, but has used it and disappeared somewhere in Asia accompanied by a beautiful young woman who is less than half his age. It's clear to Hector that Professor Cormarant's potion must work and he is soon on the case.
Hector has a long-time girlfriend, Clara, who works for this pharmaceutical company who he leaves behind to carry on with her work. Whilst on his search for the Professor Hector begins to think seriously about his relationship with Clara and it's clear from the messages that he receives from her, that she too, is wondering if she really does love Hector.
Hector soon becomes entranced by an exotic lady by the name of Vayla, helped along by taking a sample of the love potion that the Professor has left for him.
As in the first in the series, this book is a modern-day fable that tries to work out just what are the secrets of love. Is it possible to continue to love the same person for the rest of your life? How quickly do we fall in love? Can we make someone love us? Again, it's quirky, still quite simple and child like but does make the reader think about humans in love behave."
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9532319-hector-and-the-secrets-of-love
Are you bored of reading the same-old, same-old, love story? Stories that have different characters in different countries but plots more-or-less the same? Yawn, yawn. If you’re looking for an in-depth love adventure with unforgettable characters then this is not the book for you. However, if you ARE looking for a creative and inventive take on the age old emotion of love then read this book and you will not be disappointed with the journey you will take.
My honesty compels me to admit that I thought, at first, that reading this book might be a waste of my time. What I wasn’t doing though was thinking out-of-the-box and being open to a different perception on a love story. I actually found it a refreshing change to read a light-hearted novel about an emotion that inspires and uplifts as well as destroys and rips apart. Despite it’s tongue-in-cheek humour, there are plenty of insights through Hector writing in his notebook and his ‘Seedlings’. I particularly like the way his Seedlings are linked into his own experiences and then pondered on briefly. I also absolutely loved the balance of the negative and positive. The cross-cultural insights can only make you think about humanity as a whole and how universal love is and finally the moral dilemma that Hectors handles so beautifully ………………………..
If you’ve ever been open to life and love (which I think all of us have) you will readily identify with the journey Hector takes. The insights and experiences validate how we have all felt at some point, so reading this may make you feel a lot better in knowing that you are not alone on the emotional roller-coaster.
Of course, it’s possible to see this book in two opposite lights – a humorous approach to the heart-rending things humanity is capable of – or the glossing over of those things. There is already enough negativity in the world, welcome to a book that brings back a little lightness. Read it for an alternative view.
http://meen-readingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/10/hector-and-secrets-of-love.html
"I was send this book by Bookhugger, as part of their Real Readers Programme, for the purpose of reading and reviewing this title prior to its release in January 2011.
This is the Second "Hector" title by Francois Lelord, who is a psychiatrist (maybe even the psychiatrist named Francois, mentioned in the story?). The first book is "Hector and the Search of Happiness", which I haven't read but hope to get my hands on in the not too distant future.
The story in this book is charmingly simple.
Hector is a psychiatrist who is hired by the pharmaceutical company where his girlfriend works, to find Professor Cormorant. The brilliant scientist has disappeared together with his research for the company; a modern day love potion.
Leaving behind his troubled relationship with his girlfriend Clara, Hector travels to the far east, where he finds the trail of Cormorant as well as the beautiful Vayla, with whom he falls in love.
Together with Vayla, Hector travels to find and subsequently join the professor, discovering more about the love potion while at the same time trying to make sense of his own feelings as well as love and heartbreak in general.
Supervisually this is a charming and undemanding little fable about love and the emotions that assault us when we fall in and out of love or a relationship. On a deeper level though this is a very insightful work about all the conflicting feelings and emotions we go through, and try to deal with, when faced with love in all its aspects. What makes this book so special is that it teaches the reader a lot about emotions (s)he will have been confronted with in the past and will probably face again in the future without ever giving the reader the feeling that (s)he is being lectured to.
In fact, the story is written with what appears to be such a detached attitude that I didn't realize how much I had started to care about the characters and their emotional well-being, until I had finished the book.
This is a charming book, filled with wisdom that all of us could do with. Read it to be delighted, or read it to be enlightened. Either way you won't be disappointed. "
4 stars
"A warm snuggly blanket of a book
Hector is a young psychiatrist who has noticed that many of his patients have problems with love: too much, not enough, loving the wrong person or loving them in the wrong way. His girlfriend Clara works for a pharmaceutical company with a more venal interest in the subject. Soon Hector finds himself on a mission to the Far East in search of answers to the great conundrum of human (and animal) relationships. He’s searching for an eccentric scientist, Professor Cormorant, who has disappeared with a potential solution to the love problem, but Hector finds much more than he expects during his journey.
Reading “Hector and the Secrets of Love” is a wonderful treat, like a mug of hot chocolate while snuggling under a cosy blanket. It’s a delightful book which deals lightly but thoughtfully with deep subjects. It is written like a modern fable from which the reader can draw their own moral, and there’s a lot of humour which lightens some of the philosophical messages. Hector is a wonderfully warm, attractive character, and as we see virtually all the novel’s events through his eyes we identify with him completely. He is so honest about his feelings we can’t help but think about what our own reactions would be in similar situations.
While some of the other characters are less three-dimensional than Hector, this does not in any way reduce the power of the book, as it means we can study them almost like scientific specimens to see their reaction to the love they find and lose during the story.
The book is written in short chapters, and I found myself with a case of “just one more” syndrome, meaning that I read it in pretty much one sitting.
The tone and accessibility of the book reminds me of the writing of Alexander McCall Smith, particularly his Isabel Dalhousie novels (which also deal with philosophical issues). McCall Smith’s fans would be wise to make the acquaintance of Hector too.
This book is the second of Hector’s adventures, and as soon as I’d finished it I rushed off to get a copy of the first novel “Hector and the Search for Happiness”. I’m hoping for many more appearances from Hector in the future."
"When I first received this book I thought it would not be something I would enjoy reading but I was wrong.Hectors adventures engrossed me once I had entered his world and left me looking forward to reading former and future adventures of Hector.
The strange mix of novel and psychiatric insights gel well together and made becoming involved in Hectors whimsical world a real pleasure."
"When I got this book at first, the cover made me think 'chick - lit', however, it was more than that. It follows Hector, a psychiatrist on his quest to discover the truth about love. There is a mix of humour and interesting characters through which you are drawn beyond Hector;s challenge and into his personal struggle finding love.
I found this book quite enjoyable, but the extended analysis that appear at points spoilt the flow for me a little.
In saying that, this book is worth a read."
3 stars
"I had always meant to read the first of the Hector books so was very interested to come by Hector and the Secrets of Love; I very much like some other authors from the Gallic Books range.
The story is about the ever questioning psychiatrist Hector who, he feels, is very much in love with long term girlfriend Clara who works for a pharmaceutical company. They are both invited away with some other notable psychiatrists to develop some news lines in medicines to solve ever unfathomable problems with love. As we go on the journey with Hector we are invited to share his musings about love, his clients and the common problems they come to him with. All this is going on as cracks in his relationship with Clara start to surface.
Unsurprisingly, the intentions of the large pharmaceutical company are not altogether genuine and neither is the behaviour of it’s rather austere Director and so we go with Hector on a journey to South East Asia as he tracks down a fleeing, famous, chemist who has cracked the secret of long lasting attraction and love.
Or so we are led to believe.
The book is a strange one. For the most part I enjoyed its gentle simplicity and the way the author snuck in some quite profound thoughts on human relationships and love. There is a sweet naivety about the writing which was very enjoyable. Little things jarred, the strangely dated way Hector talks about the people he meets from different countries and sometimes simplistic plot turns. Overall though, I’ve not forgotten the book and would pass it on for others to read; I’d be interested to hear their opinion."
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/134884942
4 stars
"I approached it as though it were a self help guide written as a fable similarly to "Who moved my cheese"
I confess with a lead charcter called Hector it took me a while to get past the UK cartoon character of the same name.
Hector, a psychiatrist, is sent on a mission to track down a professor who has developed a love drug. The aim of the drug being that when given to two people/animals they will remain monogamous and procreate.
The levels of the drug however are not entirely accurate as yet and the professor wants to finish his own research so he has gone into hiding with the formula to the concern of the drug company funding his research.
Hector has known him previously and is invited by the company to locate him and obtain details of the drug. The scene is slightly complicated by the fact that Hector's wife works for the drug company and also has her own ulterior motives.
The story travels across Asia encompassing environmental issues and ethical issues allbeit in a very vague way.
As he follows clues left davinci style by the professor Hector makes notes on his own observations on love, infatuation, jealousy and monogamy.A simply written book accessible to all with a deeper message. It did prompt me to reflect on previous relationships and a current one and realise that some elements just simply are and others may be changed."
4 stars
"Ok, I admit it! When I first started reading, I thought that I wouldn't finish this book. It took me a few pages to get used to the unusual style (which reminded me of childrens' literature, due to the simple, short sentences and equally short chapters). However, after a few pages I quickly became hooked. In fact, the simple style was actually perfect for bedtime reading, as were the very short chapters.
So, the plot......Hector the psychiatrist heads off on a mission to discover the answer to the eternally baffling question - what is love?. He meets various people along the way and there are a few twists in the plot, which keep the reader guessing. He is searching for the elusive Professor Cormorant, who has diasppeared with the secret love potion, which must be recovered. Hector has left behind his rather tumultuous relationship with his long term partner, Clara, which means that the mission is also about Hector discovering his own thoughts and feelings regarding Clara.
All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book, as it certainly gives the reader food for thought, not just on love, but relationships and humanity in general. At times, the characters (other than Hector) can be a little one dimensional, but generally speaking, this is a thought provoking novel which certainly deserves to be read. So, if you're looking for something a little different, which gently makes you think and isn't the usual boy meets girl love story, then this is the book for you!"
4 stars
"I was asked to read and review this book as part of Book Hugger's Real Readers and as I hadn't read François Lelord’s previous book, I approached this one with an open mind.
When scientist, Professor Comorant goes missing with an amazing potion that reveals the secrets of love, psychiatrist Hector, embarks on a world wide assignment to track down the professor, and the love potion. On his travels throughout the Far East, Hector encounters some quirky characters, and finds himself in some unusual predicaments.
On the whole I found the book easy to read with likeable characters, and whilst the fable like integrity of the book is quite simplistic, overall there is a fundamental message that we are all searching for love. Hector makes this journey an enjoyable one."