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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Many of these essays are super super well done and thought provoking, but I shared a few with my high schoolers and we all agreed that Wiest tends to over generalize some experiences (love and loneliness) and can get pretty long winded and repetitive in her ideas.
DNF. Thought this was going to be a collection of essay from various writers. Turns out, all the same author. I got about 30% in and while there were some that resonated with me, I didn't feel compelled to finish.
There were some really good points and essays, but it was really repetitive. There were multiple things repeated either word for word or almost word for word.
This is my July book for #nonfictionbookparty- theme: essays.
I heard about this book from my daughter’s former track coach. She’s also a motivational speaker. She had me interested.
I marked up a ton of quotes/ideas/musings. I really liked the general flow of the book. Despite there being 101 essays I could pace myself reading a couple at a sitting. Some read more like a bullet list and some more in what I think of classic essay form.
I did feel the author was writing to 20 something’s as she referenced this age various times in the book, but I felt it was applicable to any age.
I heard about this book from my daughter’s former track coach. She’s also a motivational speaker. She had me interested.
I marked up a ton of quotes/ideas/musings. I really liked the general flow of the book. Despite there being 101 essays I could pace myself reading a couple at a sitting. Some read more like a bullet list and some more in what I think of classic essay form.
I did feel the author was writing to 20 something’s as she referenced this age various times in the book, but I felt it was applicable to any age.
I picked this up because I wanted to be challenged. Instead, it was a revamp of stoicism mixed with zen Buddhism, a sprinkling of Daoism, and a scientific sheen of "we know this is the Truth now". Sure.
If this helps you, cool.
I, for one, was consistently annoyed at Wiest's constant assertions of "You assume..." and "You feel..." only to be off the mark. These are not new ideas, and many times she makes assertions that feel laughably hollow. To me, the height of this is when she claims, "Avoid making definitive claims about people, politics, or ideas", and proceeds to do exactly that. This is a journalist, and when she speaks on psychology and philosophy, they feel shallow -- probably because they aren't the areas she was actually educated in. She is, however, a good writer which makes sense.
For me, the most concerning parts of this book are how self-focused they are. Self-care is important, my issue is more with the lack of recognition of the role of community. Internalizing a locus of control that emphasizes your own power can be helpful. But that is not the be-all, end-all.
I'm glad Wiest found a way of viewing the world that helps her, but she is out of her depth when trying to form a consistent philosophical perspective, and her active ignoring of real systematic factors like racism, sexism, abelism, etc. Makes it hard for me to treat her views as applicable to the real world.
If this helps you, cool.
I, for one, was consistently annoyed at Wiest's constant assertions of "You assume..." and "You feel..." only to be off the mark. These are not new ideas, and many times she makes assertions that feel laughably hollow. To me, the height of this is when she claims, "Avoid making definitive claims about people, politics, or ideas", and proceeds to do exactly that. This is a journalist, and when she speaks on psychology and philosophy, they feel shallow -- probably because they aren't the areas she was actually educated in. She is, however, a good writer which makes sense.
For me, the most concerning parts of this book are how self-focused they are. Self-care is important, my issue is more with the lack of recognition of the role of community. Internalizing a locus of control that emphasizes your own power can be helpful. But that is not the be-all, end-all.
I'm glad Wiest found a way of viewing the world that helps her, but she is out of her depth when trying to form a consistent philosophical perspective, and her active ignoring of real systematic factors like racism, sexism, abelism, etc. Makes it hard for me to treat her views as applicable to the real world.
2.5 stars. I really wanted to like it but I’m just confused. There’s a lot of repeating ideas (like the exact same wording and everything) and the essays seemed all over the place which made it hard to follow
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced