Bastian Roth grows up in a house divided. While his mother is a sympathetic caregiver, she is overshadowed by misery, completely under the control of her husband. Bastian’s father also wraps his hands around his son’s life in an effort to constrain and keep him from experiencing freedom. He flounders between trying to satisfy his father while developing indifference toward a young girl who lingers in the background of Bastian’s awareness.

Bastian’s work attempts to understand love from an academic perspective. Although love, in theory, is to be felt, how does it fit within the grand scheme of academia? Thousands of words have been written about love. The idea of love has been dissected, studied, and taken apart-but what if love is supposed to be treated not with intellect but with innocence and simplicity? Bastian wars with these thoughts, obsessed with understanding this ethereal emotion.

Romance is indeed within his reach, although he remains shaped by his upbringing and his study. He dives deep, experiencing meaningful kisses and touches-possibly the very love of his life. However, the obstacle to Bastian’s happiness becomes a mix between want and love, mere satisfaction over adoration. He now must decide between love itself and the understanding of love, which lessens its power and could leave Bastian empty and alone.