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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
informative
Compared to 48 Laws of Power, the flow of The Art of Seduction dragged a bit in the first half. Although it was nice to know about the archetypes of seduction, I enjoyed reading about the process of seduction a lot more. It was overall interesting and it allowed me to reflect on unconscious and conscious habits people around me and I do in relationships. But like 48 Laws of Power, this book also has a cynical pov and creates the image that people prefer new and exciting people over those who are comfortable and familiar, as well as fantasy over reality. The thought of constantly putting up a front and playing a game sounds exhausting, but this book held a lot of truths that many of us would not like to admit.
dark
informative
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
medium-paced
I actually liked the historical portions of it. However, I found the writing style a little harsh and subjective that it felt biased. There were also times it was misogynistic and manipulative which annoyed me
If you judge by Greene's examples, you might assume that the heyday of seduction was in the 1700s. If you were lucky, your chapter might get an example from the 1940s. As a result, a ton of the case studies were almost entirely irrelevant - those social constructs do not still exist today. Even though his main points about human psychology seemed solid, the anachronistic stories used to deliver the points home made the book overall boring as hell and almost entirely unrelatable. I took away a few tidbits about seduction, but my biggest takeaway was to be glad I am not a woman in the 18th century.
I rated this book 4/5 not because it’s a great “how to become a seducer” type of the book but because it’s a great way to learn what to look for if you don’t want to be seduced aka manipulated by someone.
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
dark
reflective
medium-paced
A great read for an aspiring sociopath.
When first reading the book, one is given the impression that the word “seduction” is an all-encompassing term used to describe the magnetism that an individual can exhibit, in order to attract friends and improve their social standing, captivate audiences to gain public favour to advance politically, or advance their career through a charismatic display of talent/skill etc. In reading this book, this is exactly the case, with interesting examples layered throughout, to add validity to the points made. They also provide useful context for concepts that may be somewhat alien to the reader. However, this becomes progressively untrue as the book progresses, and not even a modicum of this tone is evident towards the end.
When first reading the book, one is given the impression that the word “seduction” is an all-encompassing term used to describe the magnetism that an individual can exhibit, in order to attract friends and improve their social standing, captivate audiences to gain public favour to advance politically, or advance their career through a charismatic display of talent/skill etc. In reading this book, this is exactly the case, with interesting examples layered throughout, to add validity to the points made. They also provide useful context for concepts that may be somewhat alien to the reader. However, this becomes progressively untrue as the book progresses, and not even a modicum of this tone is evident towards the end.
Many of the (sometimes fictional) people highlighted as examples of “successful seducers” are just immoral individuals, that have highly questionable characters, and perform equally questionable actions. On top of this, a large number of the examples of “successful seductions” are, at best glorified fictitious instances of sexual harassment, assault, or devious manipulations.
If I had to sum it up, I would say that “The Art of Seduction” is a book, written by a man who was in his 40s at the time, that is a somewhat slapdash manual for attempting to create a Batemanesque facade. At best, I would say that Greene had failed to see the point of American Psycho, and just thought that Patrick Bateman was cool, rather than a sad, mentally ill, shell of a human being. Why understand the likeable characteristics of subjectively successful people, to emulate that and hopefully improve your life and the life of others, when you can attempt to don a mask to hide your numerous character flaws.
The rampant use of the words “victim” and “target” to describe an individual that one would hope to seek some type of intimacy with, only serves to further highlight the vile nature of the book. It is not only increasingly morally repugnant with the turn of each page; it also has the absolute gall to become equally as boring as it progresses too. The examples of real-world events referenced are noticeably repeated in several of the chapters, and Greene doesn’t even have the decency to try to hide this. They aren’t even spaced at in attempt to avoid detection. I can assume that this comes from the hubris of thinking that he is an academic or intellectual, willing to squander his reputation to reveal invaluable truths to society. So deep.
However, I can’t be entirely disparaging towards Greene, I must admit that I am somewhat to blame too, and am a part of a larger problem. I was stupid enough to buy the book, and stupider still to read it through to the end.
I have read a decent number of books in my time, and this is the first one that I would say has virtually no redeemable qualities, it was gross. But at least it was printed on good paper. I’ll give you that, Robert Greene.