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A review by alannajane
Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths for a Better Life by Humble the Poet
2.0
First off, I don’t think that I was the right audience for this audiobook. I have done a lot of pondering AND a lot of putting-into-practice of these concepts, so the shallow depth of these 101 points to better living felt more like a blog post than a book. That said, I think their utter simplicity could have made several points confusing for those new to this line of thinking. For example, near the middle of the book the author advises against positive thinking, but then later advises to find as many things to be positive about as possible! I don’t like to assume what he’s driving at, though I can guess that he was advising against putting a positive polish on everything and ignoring the wisdom found in digesting something more fully, while later saying that life is too short to walk around all gloomy every day. The problem is that instead, he keeps everything SO simple as to be quite confusing. Instead of repeating himself word-for-word so often, I wish that the author could have been more articulate in what he was actually saying. This would have made this psychologically simple book much more profound.
If this was all that I didn’t like about this book, I would have rated it higher and just chalked it up to being the wrong audience. Sadly, I just can’t do that.
Other stuff I found hard to digest:
While the author attributes several quotes to others throughout the book, he also has many well-known quotes intermingled into his text without acknowledging their source. It’s possible that this is remedied in the text version of this book and just not made obvious in his audiobook reading, but it didn’t sound like it. (Example: “People may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel”. ~This was DEFINITELY and famously said by Maya Angelou). Also, writing “I’m writing this at 4:38am and I can’t remember the exact quote, but it goes something like ...” is just lazy on both the part of the author and the editor. First, the quote’s source is Dita Von Teese. And secondly, the exact quote is incredibly easy to look up and confirm. She said “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there will always be someone who hates peaches”. GAH! I understand that certain quotes and their sources are contested. But, if you aren’t going to write material in your own words, then at least do their author the honour of acknowledgement.
Editing. Editing this book would have been a really great idea before putting it out into the world.
And now the book’s tone: I hated it. Yes, I absolutely agree with so much of what (I believe) the author was trying to get across, and I’ve already stated that I don’t believe that I am the best audience, but I still found the overall tone grating.
First, there should be some kind of acknowledgement that grief, processing and different traumas will take many different people widely varying times to get to the point of being able to see the learning/wisdom/gift in their life challenge. Here I am not talking about not getting a job you really wanted, but assault, violence, rape, long-term stalkers, and other PTSD-inducing stuff. Unfortunately, all difficulties seem to fall under the same blanket umbrella of “get over it, get back to make the most out of your life before you die and make sure you see the gift and wisdom in everything while you are at it”. Fortunately I HAVE gotten to this place with most if my violent traumas, but it’s still ignorant and potentially harm-inducing. Yes, many with privilege are blind to it, but this treatment of life’s challenges over-and-over again throughout the book is actually quite insulting. Further, there is zero acknowledgement of mental illnesses or disabilities. Finally, telling the reader that everyone in the First World has it better off than those elsewhere is again ignorant. There are thousands upon thousands of people starving every day in Canada alone. Yes, I do acknowledge the great privileges of so many in the “First World”, but so many in deep poverty do NOT have clean drinking water or food or safe homes, many of whom do not qualify for the paltry aid available.
And now, the actual tone of the book. Perhaps with more articulate writing and better editing, this simple book could have come across as tough-love. Or, perhaps it is through my own personal filters that it seems too harsh, too manly-masculine, and too enamoured with the busyness and hustle-loving millennial culture. Gag. I don’t even know how to explain how much I felt more pitying than affronted by the tone of this book. I mean, given the topics, I would probably have an amazing conversation with Humble the Poet in-person. Maybe not - I don’t know for sure - but I’d like to think so. I think he is probably an amazing person. But the tone of this book made me feel like I had accidentally wandered into a men’s locker room and heard some dude giving another advice on life. Definitely not for me.
If this was all that I didn’t like about this book, I would have rated it higher and just chalked it up to being the wrong audience. Sadly, I just can’t do that.
Other stuff I found hard to digest:
While the author attributes several quotes to others throughout the book, he also has many well-known quotes intermingled into his text without acknowledging their source. It’s possible that this is remedied in the text version of this book and just not made obvious in his audiobook reading, but it didn’t sound like it. (Example: “People may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel”. ~This was DEFINITELY and famously said by Maya Angelou). Also, writing “I’m writing this at 4:38am and I can’t remember the exact quote, but it goes something like ...” is just lazy on both the part of the author and the editor. First, the quote’s source is Dita Von Teese. And secondly, the exact quote is incredibly easy to look up and confirm. She said “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, but there will always be someone who hates peaches”. GAH! I understand that certain quotes and their sources are contested. But, if you aren’t going to write material in your own words, then at least do their author the honour of acknowledgement.
Editing. Editing this book would have been a really great idea before putting it out into the world.
And now the book’s tone: I hated it. Yes, I absolutely agree with so much of what (I believe) the author was trying to get across, and I’ve already stated that I don’t believe that I am the best audience, but I still found the overall tone grating.
First, there should be some kind of acknowledgement that grief, processing and different traumas will take many different people widely varying times to get to the point of being able to see the learning/wisdom/gift in their life challenge. Here I am not talking about not getting a job you really wanted, but assault, violence, rape, long-term stalkers, and other PTSD-inducing stuff. Unfortunately, all difficulties seem to fall under the same blanket umbrella of “get over it, get back to make the most out of your life before you die and make sure you see the gift and wisdom in everything while you are at it”. Fortunately I HAVE gotten to this place with most if my violent traumas, but it’s still ignorant and potentially harm-inducing. Yes, many with privilege are blind to it, but this treatment of life’s challenges over-and-over again throughout the book is actually quite insulting. Further, there is zero acknowledgement of mental illnesses or disabilities. Finally, telling the reader that everyone in the First World has it better off than those elsewhere is again ignorant. There are thousands upon thousands of people starving every day in Canada alone. Yes, I do acknowledge the great privileges of so many in the “First World”, but so many in deep poverty do NOT have clean drinking water or food or safe homes, many of whom do not qualify for the paltry aid available.
And now, the actual tone of the book. Perhaps with more articulate writing and better editing, this simple book could have come across as tough-love. Or, perhaps it is through my own personal filters that it seems too harsh, too manly-masculine, and too enamoured with the busyness and hustle-loving millennial culture. Gag. I don’t even know how to explain how much I felt more pitying than affronted by the tone of this book. I mean, given the topics, I would probably have an amazing conversation with Humble the Poet in-person. Maybe not - I don’t know for sure - but I’d like to think so. I think he is probably an amazing person. But the tone of this book made me feel like I had accidentally wandered into a men’s locker room and heard some dude giving another advice on life. Definitely not for me.