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A review by kalikabali
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman
4.0
I absolutely loved this book. I am one of the people who can't stand self-help books especially ones full of "Get Motivated" "Be Happy" etc
And it isn't that I am a given to negative thinking all the time, I am a fairly optimistic person but have never figured out how just telling yourself to stay away from any negativity in life actually works unless you are either actively choosing to shut your eyes and ears to the stuff that happens around you or are in some kind of a denial.
So, the title itself attracted me to this book. And I quite enjoyed reading it. The author does a fairly good job of presenting arguments for the place for negative thinking and disproving the effectiveness of relentless focus on positivity and happiness in life. He goes through various philosophical traditions (Stoicism and Buddhism), cultural practices (Memento Mori) and a lot of stuff that has leaked from management/corporate speak into a more general "this is the way to live life if you want happiness".
Don't read if books like "The Secret" or authors like Paulo Coelho are your spiritual guides. But do read if you have secretly been dying to rant against all those heavy doses of feel good, but ultimately meaningless emissions from the various operations of the "Cult of Optimism"
And it isn't that I am a given to negative thinking all the time, I am a fairly optimistic person but have never figured out how just telling yourself to stay away from any negativity in life actually works unless you are either actively choosing to shut your eyes and ears to the stuff that happens around you or are in some kind of a denial.
So, the title itself attracted me to this book. And I quite enjoyed reading it. The author does a fairly good job of presenting arguments for the place for negative thinking and disproving the effectiveness of relentless focus on positivity and happiness in life. He goes through various philosophical traditions (Stoicism and Buddhism), cultural practices (Memento Mori) and a lot of stuff that has leaked from management/corporate speak into a more general "this is the way to live life if you want happiness".
Don't read if books like "The Secret" or authors like Paulo Coelho are your spiritual guides. But do read if you have secretly been dying to rant against all those heavy doses of feel good, but ultimately meaningless emissions from the various operations of the "Cult of Optimism"