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applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
1.5
I have a Paddington-esque desire to scrub out my ears with toilet brushes after listening to this book. It was not without its pearls of wisdom, and I do respect the work that it took to compile these observations and their exemplars anna caveats. Some laws, indeed, could even be reinterpreted with a humanitarian lens, namely using a mirror (empathy) and maintaining flexibility of methods. That’s about all the praise I can give. regardless of these methods’ usefulness, many of them are downright wicked. Of course, the author might claim that my moralizing is for the weak, or unintelligent, or easy to fool, etc. (With that said, I won’t claim that I’ve never employed manipulative tactics in the past.) But Greene’s endorsement of deliberate emotional harm in order to achieve… what? One’s goals? Power for power’s sake? Not to mention the fetishization and appropriation of “Eastern” cultures (particularly India, China, and Persia), the blatant ignorance of colonialism when describing the failures and “successes” of Europeans in the Philippines, Ethiopia, and present-day Latin America, and the omission if non-European and Chinese history. I must, therefore, question the universality of these observations.
Would many of these tactics prove effective? Likely so, provided they are properly implemented. I would only implore hopeful users of this book’s knowledge to consider its cost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Racism and Sexism
idkwhatimdoingg's review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
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