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1.4k reviews for:
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield
3.68 AVERAGE
1.4k reviews for:
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield
3.68 AVERAGE
The book's message boils down to "Do it or don't do it". On occasion, the war of art has its highlights but they are far few in-between. I would recommend anyone who wants to read this book to read "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" instead.
Meh. Pressfield dishes some useful and frank talk about the dangers of amateurish self-defeat...muddled by mystic undertones. Sure, I can imagine it's all evolution as the author halfheartedly offers, but you can't tell me to be serious about art as a craft and then appeal to magical forces. Is there something ineffable to creativity? Certainly. But I've heard Catholic homilies more on message than this.
I'm also not a big fan that the advice is given so black and white. "You're an amateur if..." The short spurts of wisdom don't really permit much nuance. I don't want to draw comparisons, but consider the tone of The War of Art compared to Stephen King's On Writing. King offers practical advice from his experience, with the caveat that it's what worked for him and (paraphrasing here) "if you get a paycheck to keep the lights on, you're a writer;" I feel encouraged and that there's achievable goals. Pressfield comes more off as "If you're doing this, you're literally squandering God's gift."
Still, the first third is really helpful, and can be summarized as: fear and procrastination sucks. Just create, you dolt.
I'm also not a big fan that the advice is given so black and white. "You're an amateur if..." The short spurts of wisdom don't really permit much nuance. I don't want to draw comparisons, but consider the tone of The War of Art compared to Stephen King's On Writing. King offers practical advice from his experience, with the caveat that it's what worked for him and (paraphrasing here) "if you get a paycheck to keep the lights on, you're a writer;" I feel encouraged and that there's achievable goals. Pressfield comes more off as "If you're doing this, you're literally squandering God's gift."
Still, the first third is really helpful, and can be summarized as: fear and procrastination sucks. Just create, you dolt.
A jolt of motivation for any creative individual, aimed mostly at the artist figure.
I'm going to have to reframe all that stuff about Satan. But, if I can also put the God stuff aside, there are some ideas in this book that are useful. I just have to figure out if there's some work I'm supposed to be doing... and well, what exactly it is.
I thought this book was really well written. It served as a wake up call for me and how I do my life. I mean, how I do one thing is normally how I do everything and I definitely needed to remember that with this book.
fast-paced
Quick, powerful read. I have a deeper, richer understanding of resistance and tools to combat it, not bad for 2.5 hrs of listening
This quick read was a great reminder to get to work NOW on whatever it is that you are meant to do. Despite your previous beliefs, you may begin to view the motivational role of muses and angels in a new light! A great book to pick up and put down when necessary...many pages are only one-quarter of the page long. Enjoy the humor, learn the message....and then GET TO WORK!
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
The only reason I finished this book is because it was for a book club. This is one of those books written by a man, for a man. It is so masculine, not just in the disregard of how women create and flow, or face their resistance to making art a priority, it’s masculine in that so many of the stories used as inspiration to make the point are war stories or sports themed. Even the music played in the audio book is a marching into battle song. It’s written in a format of one-three page short stories which I personally don’t enjoy. I gave it 2 stars because I’m sure it’s inspiring for White Christian Men.
A fantastic summary of what holds us back and what can takes us forward. The power of this book is it's simplified layout, given readers short bites of wisdom.