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chantal_menzi's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
ameya88's review against another edition
4.0
There are some powerful ideas here about how to approach life - how being 'positive' is not necessarily always beneficial, how to (not!) try to control your thoughts, how to approach goals and failures, the outlook towards death, disassociating from 'moodiness'. All backed up by examples and conversations, written a pretty irreverent manner.
Of course, there are a number of places where you would have further questions (and to be fair to Burkeman he does pre-empt some of these), but that's the limitation of any book. And a lot of the chapters could have been summed up in a few pages (Memento Mori for eg.), but then again - most non-fiction works could be HBR articles and serve their purpose just as fine. Only the authors wouldn't be as richer and hence we plough through....
I've always been a pessimist since my school days and as I grew up - I realised that unlike what most people told me ("Don't be so negative!" is a common lament), it could actually be a strength. Even remember winging one of those pre-MBA questions on the basis of this. So the very premise of this book did appeal to me.
What I think Burkeman does very well is to put some intuitive thoughts into a structured framework - which makes it easier to rationalise with yourself why you do what you do, as well as explain it to other people if the situation so demands. For eg, I've always been big on Prepare for the Worst without knowing the Stoic philosophical moorings behind it. So Antidote is also a good primer on philosophy 101 in some ways. I came away with lots of names and concepts I wanted to Google further.
Of course, there are a number of places where you would have further questions (and to be fair to Burkeman he does pre-empt some of these), but that's the limitation of any book. And a lot of the chapters could have been summed up in a few pages (Memento Mori for eg.), but then again - most non-fiction works could be HBR articles and serve their purpose just as fine. Only the authors wouldn't be as richer and hence we plough through....
I've always been a pessimist since my school days and as I grew up - I realised that unlike what most people told me ("Don't be so negative!" is a common lament), it could actually be a strength. Even remember winging one of those pre-MBA questions on the basis of this. So the very premise of this book did appeal to me.
What I think Burkeman does very well is to put some intuitive thoughts into a structured framework - which makes it easier to rationalise with yourself why you do what you do, as well as explain it to other people if the situation so demands. For eg, I've always been big on Prepare for the Worst without knowing the Stoic philosophical moorings behind it. So Antidote is also a good primer on philosophy 101 in some ways. I came away with lots of names and concepts I wanted to Google further.
starnosedmole's review against another edition
5.0
Fusing philosophy, psychology and anecdotes, Burkeman explores how and why people strive to achieve happiness. With wry wit and self-deprecation, Burkeman muses over the pitfalls humans make and how often dogged pursuit of something isn't worth the reward. A fascinating read.
badmc's review against another edition
The life coaches and guru-s seem to be popping left and right lately. The horror of positive thinking! The toxicity of "you are what you make of yourself" messages! So, this book seemed interesting.
My beef with this book is that Burkeman is not a professional therapist, or anything. He is a journalist. So, he wrote this book accordingly. He writes down excerpts of other doctrines juiced up with some of the real-life investigation of people who still live (or die) by them. If you look at it like that, then it's fine. But alas, this book's title is then not just misleading, but insulting. It's nice to have a summary of, let's say, stoicism. But it's still watered down and infused with Burkeman's interpretation of it. Somehow, I feel cheated. Frankly, if you want to read about Ellis's shame inducing experiments, you are better off reading his book upon the subject.
I feel like the title of the book should have "A journalist's introduction" somewhere. Then I would applaud it for what it is: a glimpse of doctrines that embrace uncertainty, recognize that emotions are not "bad" or "good" but just "are", and hold death as a natural part of life.
My beef with this book is that Burkeman is not a professional therapist, or anything. He is a journalist. So, he wrote this book accordingly. He writes down excerpts of other doctrines juiced up with some of the real-life investigation of people who still live (or die) by them. If you look at it like that, then it's fine. But alas, this book's title is then not just misleading, but insulting. It's nice to have a summary of, let's say, stoicism. But it's still watered down and infused with Burkeman's interpretation of it. Somehow, I feel cheated. Frankly, if you want to read about Ellis's shame inducing experiments, you are better off reading his book upon the subject.
I feel like the title of the book should have "A journalist's introduction" somewhere. Then I would applaud it for what it is: a glimpse of doctrines that embrace uncertainty, recognize that emotions are not "bad" or "good" but just "are", and hold death as a natural part of life.
nicohvi's review
5.0
This might very well be one of the most important books I'll ever read, and I'm very glad that I stumbled upon it (via brainpickings.org). George Orwell once said that the best books are those that tell you what you know already, and in my case this book does exactly that - and more.
Oliver Burkeman tells interesting stories related to even more interesting concepts (spanning stoicism (the real kind), memoria morte, mindfulness (also the real kind), living with uncertainty, buddhism and so much more), and he provides personal accounts of his experiences with these concepts - which in my opinon helps solidify them and make them clearer to the reader. It did in my experience, at least.
I found the ideas behind negative thinking to be, rather unexpectedly, intuitive. They coincided with ideas and concepts from other experiences I've had like reading Stephen King's musings on writing, the exercise of imagening worst case scenarios to realise that they aren't 100% terrifying to cope with anxiety, disassociating with your thoughts and realising that just like your senses of smell and sight aren't you (but rather sensory experiences), this also applies to your thoughts, and the daoist concept of living in the now and not constantly make detailed plans for the future (and despair when they fail).
I think anyone who reads this book will take away something valuable from the experience, and who knows? It might very well be the most important book you'll ever read.
PS: Audible actually has Mr. Burkeman himself narrate the book, which he does extremely well, so if you're considering listening to this rather than reading it I strongly recommend the former.
Oliver Burkeman tells interesting stories related to even more interesting concepts (spanning stoicism (the real kind), memoria morte, mindfulness (also the real kind), living with uncertainty, buddhism and so much more), and he provides personal accounts of his experiences with these concepts - which in my opinon helps solidify them and make them clearer to the reader. It did in my experience, at least.
I found the ideas behind negative thinking to be, rather unexpectedly, intuitive. They coincided with ideas and concepts from other experiences I've had like reading Stephen King's musings on writing, the exercise of imagening worst case scenarios to realise that they aren't 100% terrifying to cope with anxiety, disassociating with your thoughts and realising that just like your senses of smell and sight aren't you (but rather sensory experiences), this also applies to your thoughts, and the daoist concept of living in the now and not constantly make detailed plans for the future (and despair when they fail).
I think anyone who reads this book will take away something valuable from the experience, and who knows? It might very well be the most important book you'll ever read.
PS: Audible actually has Mr. Burkeman himself narrate the book, which he does extremely well, so if you're considering listening to this rather than reading it I strongly recommend the former.
noisydeadlines's review
5.0
Thoughtful book explaining why being realistic is the way to go. It discusses Stoicism, Buddhism, Eckhart Tolle and the "Little Book of Calm" ("Black Books" TV show reference, anyone?).
It's a light read that talks a lot about death. And that's okay!
It's a light read that talks a lot about death. And that's okay!
ayuni's review
4.0
[audiobook] Very British take on the other side of happiness. Life doesn't have to be divided into two: happy vs. sad, lucky vs. unlucky, success vs. failure. Life is as it is.
Three important points to remember,
1. You don't need motivation to do something.
2. Positive visualization will kill you. It doesn't work as well as negative visualization
3. Everyone will die anyway
Three important points to remember,
1. You don't need motivation to do something.
2. Positive visualization will kill you. It doesn't work as well as negative visualization
3. Everyone will die anyway
unrelatedwaffle's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced