You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
_moomin's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
“[Democracy] will triumph over the forces of nihilism only if it can imbue people with a faith that it is the strongest the human mind is capable of, the faith in life and truth, and in freedom as the active and spontaneous realization of the individual self.”
Recommended read for anyone and everyone.
Recommended read for anyone and everyone.
james_z's review against another edition
3.0
Very concise argument on the paradoxical phenomenon of modern men fighting for freedom while at the same time feeling an extreme sense of loss, confusion, fear and loneliness once freedom is attained. Although the language is written mostly in prose, at times the book oversimplifies some of the more complex issues. Overall, a great read for anyone who wants to break the self-perpetuating, vicious cycle of feeling a sense of helplessness, loneliness and a lack of direction in the modern world. The solution is in this book.
unsecuredstation's review against another edition
4.0
A bit dry at the beginning, but way better later. Deeply insightful and brilliant. If you are interested in psychology, anthropology, politics, or sociology, this book is for you.
whirrgirl's review against another edition
5.0
the subject matter prompts a generally dense read. regardless, this is required reading for anyone interested in cultivating self and social awareness.
doruga's review against another edition
4.0
(3.5) I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I usually don't vibe with psychology theory. I find it to be a lot of academic nonsensical babble thats super western, individualistic, and with weird projections about human behavior that seem far more based on preconceived theories and hypothetical insane situations than on any real observation. Also psychology theory and books like this always strike me as kind of tending towards social darwinism no matter how much the author tries to disuade me that psychology isn't social darwinism. And, dont get me wrong, this book has plenty of all of these things I just mentioned. Like, it used as an example this insane hypothetical story about this guy that went to a party and then later had a dream about being an undercover agent in the nazi army thats then supposed to mean that he was angry at one of the german guests of the party which of course means that his frustrations with his work boss resulted in him faking happiness at the party therefore our opinions are not our own but are mostly external from us. Like THAT level of academic rhetorical bullshit hahahaha. But it had enough nuggets of great observation and interesting ideas that were enough to make me want to keep reading. I think its strange that this book claims to want to discuss "modern man" (whatever the fuck that means) and his various behaviors regarding freedom but starts that discussion with the protestant faith?? So modern man is the european christian man lol I dont know shit like that bothered me but again I did come out of this book with an overall sense of feeling grateful that I read it. Definitely learned things while reading that, for me, justified the pain of reading through the academic flowery nonsense that is such a deal breaker for me most of the time.