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36 reviews for:
The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age
Gordon Marino
3.57 AVERAGE
36 reviews for:
The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age
Gordon Marino
3.57 AVERAGE
2⭐️: rather than a written tale of experiences and ideas, this felt like a laundry-list of quotes the author wanted to get off of his chest. The content is good enough, but it’s not my preferred writing style.
Although the title implies so, this book is not really a "guide", providing almost no advice, tools or anything similar that might be used as help to eleviate existential angst. To a lesser extent the "existentialist's" part could be questioned as well - very Kierkegaard focused with strong Christian subtext. Other philosophers (including the famous French trio) are pretty much ignored, psychology and psychiatrics are also approached from somewhat of a distrusting stance. Basically, a casual interpretation of some of Kierkegaard's writings.
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Esse é um livro de auto-ajuda muito mais do que um livro de filosofia. E que tem uma boa dose de religião. Ele não é exatamente uma introdução ao existencialismo ou mesmo um resumo de como essa corrente filosófica pensava certas coisas, mas uma série de dicas separadas por tópicos. Sartre e Camus fazem aparições breves, de Beauvoir é apenas citada muito vagamente. A estrela do livro é mesmo Kierkegaard, um pré-existencialista. Mas o autor do livro tem ainda mais importância do que o pensador dinamarquês. Em certos aspectos, é quase uma biografia, com muitos causos. E não sou chegado em biografias. De forma geral, foi uma decepção.
Throughout the course of listening to this book, there were moments where I was heavily rolling my eyes and going OK boomer. Not only does the author do a poor job of understanding, modern day therapy, something I happen to be well-versed in as a therapist, but he often takes a paternalistic or condescending approach to some of the students he has had throughout his years as a professor. However, he also seems to be a very personable man, with a lot of learned experience, and in his forward, acknowledges that his experiences are different as a white male than if he was born without those privileges.
That being said, there are some very humble, relatable, and interesting things about this book. I do not believe it should be titled existentialism, however as he really only focuses on Kirkegaard. Which if that’s your thing by all means have had it.
The author also draws heavily on his faith, and what early existentialist believed about faith. As somebody who is a bigger fan of later existentialism, I am not compelled to feel that his faith arguments were particularly fetching. But as somebody who respects those with Faith, it might be a perfect book for someone who wants to grasp existentialism, holding onto their faith.
Overall, I’m glad I did not put it down, but also don’t know why I picked it up. Would’ve been better as a memoir.
That being said, there are some very humble, relatable, and interesting things about this book. I do not believe it should be titled existentialism, however as he really only focuses on Kirkegaard. Which if that’s your thing by all means have had it.
The author also draws heavily on his faith, and what early existentialist believed about faith. As somebody who is a bigger fan of later existentialism, I am not compelled to feel that his faith arguments were particularly fetching. But as somebody who respects those with Faith, it might be a perfect book for someone who wants to grasp existentialism, holding onto their faith.
Overall, I’m glad I did not put it down, but also don’t know why I picked it up. Would’ve been better as a memoir.
Beyond its bumper sticker phrases (e.g. "existence precedes essence"), existentialism has been largely opaque to me. In this book, Marino unpacks how existentialist thinkers approach overarching topics like faith, morality, and death; though he cites at length from some extremely dense passages, he explains their significance through much more easily accessible examples, many of which are drawn from his own life. Still haven't wrapped my head around a lot of the ideas covered, but this book is a great starting point.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
