I encountered this sentence which I'm not able to parse/read (in bold):

>
> また恋愛中の相手の恋人に、本の話など仕掛けてはいけない。たとえば遊園地に行って黙って恋人とジェットコースターに乗って遊ぶことに比べたら、ずっと不毛なお喋りに過ぎないからだ。  
>  だが同じ本を読むことでも、同じ本の話でもいいからやってみた方がいい。
> **もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり、これは失敗だったと思えたりしたときには。**

The first part can be translated as:

もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり → If you think that your relationship is going through a
difficult part

But then, I don't know what これは is referring to and what is the meaning of
ときには at the end of the sentence. My translation for that part would be
something like "in times in which you think that this (the relationship?)
failed".
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2020-09-26T16:20:30.337
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2021-10-29T03:45:10.047
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sentence
How to parse this sentence ending in は:「もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり、これは失敗だったと思えたりしたときには。」
The logic in this passage is not in the best of shape, that's for sure (aka
there's some degree of babbling). But I do sense the overall sentiment in the
passage. Here is my translation:

> People in the early stages of a romantic relationship should not have
> conversations about books. That's because unlike getting on a roller coaster
> together where you don't have to say anything, you're just stuck forever in
> small-talk land. But even if it's just about a book you've both read, you
> should go ahead and try to make conversation if you've got absolutely
> nothing else. For instance, do it if you feel you've gone past the climax in
> your relationship, or when you feel like you just ruined the date with a
> mistake.

And here's how I would clean up the logic in the Japanese:

>
> まだ恋愛中の恋人に、本の話など仕掛けてはいけない。そういう話でずっと不毛な喋りをするよりは、遊園地に行って黙って恋人とジェットコースターに乗ったほうがましだ。
> だが本当に話に困っているときは、同じ本の話でもいいからやってみた方がいい。たとえば、恋愛が峠を越えたと思った時や、失敗しちゃったと思ったときにとか。

In terms of what the "これは" means, it actually does not refer to any specific
matter. It's used to express some inner dialogue of the speaker, like "Oh shit
I just screwed this one up". "this one" = これは
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-27T14:44:51.937
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2020-09-27T14:55:18.783
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answer
Judging from the surrounding context
[here](https://note.com/yako4419/n/n64d7032c39e8), the last part means:

> だが同じ本を読むことでも、同じ本の話でもいいからやってみた方がいい。もしも恋愛が峠を越えたと思えたり、これは失敗だったと思えたりしたときには。
>
> However, even if it's the same book, reading it, or even just talking about
> it with your partner, is worth trying — _if and when_ you have felt your
> current romantic relationship was past its prime or was a failure.

  * This おなじ本 is hard to interpret without the previous context, but the gist is "A book is not worth reading or talking about when you are deeply in love, but _the same book_ can be worth reading or talking about (in certain situations)".
  * This 峠を越えた seems to be used negatively ("past its prime"). Usually 盛りを過ぎた or something should be better.
  * もしも～ときには modifies the _previous_ sentence like a subordinate clause. Adding this clause in a separate sentence as an afterthought has made this part tricky and interesting. The は at the end is just a topic marker, which indicates ときに is the topic of the _previous_ sentence.
  * これは失敗だった is "This (relationship) ended in failure".

Basically the whole passage is saying something like this: "Books can't make
your current relationship a success, nor can they undo your mistake you have
already made. But they can help you relive your heartbreak and therefore help
you in the future. So at the end of your relationship, you should read romance
stories and share your thoughts with your partner you are thinking of parting
with".
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-28T04:46:12.640
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2020-09-28T05:21:45.860
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answer