Thursday, June 7, 2018

Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck by Mark Manson

Publication Date: September 13th, 2016
Publisher: Harper
Genera: Nonfiction, Self-help
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ TBD

Synopsis: In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Mason doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

My Rating
4/5 stars

My Review
It is very rare for me to read a self-help book. What's even more rare is me actually liking a self-help book. So you can see my surprised when I actually really enjoyed this book.

Mark Manson definitely wrote a thought provoking book. It opened my eyes, help me face the fact that my past breakup was my fault just as much as my ex's fault, and definitely left me feeling a lot happier and with a new outlook on life.

My favourite part in this novel was the stories that Mark included. Throughout the novel there are multiple short stories inserted to prove a point about the lesson that Mark is trying to teach, and I think he not only picked the perfect stories to explain his point of view, but he also picked stories that leave an impression and make you remember them for a long time.

Overall, reading this self-help book makes me want to start reading more of these, even though I'm not always a huge fan. Great job.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...