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nrt43 's review for:
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life
by David Brooks
----UPDATE:
Well, I listened to it again, and I liked/appreciated it even more the second time, hence 5 stars. It would be a great book for high school seniors. He is asking the big questions: What is the point to life? How do we get there? What keeps us from it? His advice for considering a job/vocation, a spouse, and a faith is all fantastic. I wish I could have understood a quarter of the advice/insights when I was first making those big decisions. And, the metaphor of two mountains in life is profound. It's referenced and alluded to all over, but I don't feel like many young people hear it. At least I never did.
A few more critiques/frustrations: I did think his section on commitment to community is lacking, especially compared to his faith exploration in the previous section. And despite his insight into marriage, it feels like he exalts the falling-in-love experience on a precarious pedestal. How often do people really experience what he describes?
That said, a wonderful second read, one I will recommend to others.
----FIRST REVIEW:
If you were to think of life as a metaphor, climbing two mountains is pretty good. The first, according to Brooks, is that of the individual striving of self - building the necessary ego - of success and self-discovery. Our culture (in the West and particularly the US), exalts and honors those on this first mountain - movie stars, the rich, the successful. Money often follow first mountain accomplishments. But one's life, if lived well, must summit the second mountain of giving yourself away in service to others. The ego must dissolve as we move from focus on self to focus on others. The book continues to say that this second mountain experience is found not through self-discovery but making commitments: to vocation, spouse, a faith/philosophy of life, and community/neighborhood. In the final chapter - the chapter I found most compelling - is a manifesto: The Relationalist Manifesto, offered as an antidote to today's cancer - hyper-individualism. And you can read it on his website here.
This is the type of book I really appreciate, partly because of its sheer audacity and breath of vision, and that's part of the reason I didn't like it. He is asking great questions. How do we think of and live out the whole of life? What malady most ails our society? What is life's ultimate meaning? And most of all - I think the question that under-girds the entire book - How do we live well? Some would argue that the whole premise is a futile attempt, but I disagree. These are the hard, impossible-to-answer-but-so-important-we-try questions. Brooks soars at the 35,000 ft perspective on life and then zeros in on the four commitments to vocation, marriage, faith, and community, offering practical suggestion for each, to then zooms out again for his concluding manifesto.
Confession: I liked the book before reading it because the overall premise was confirmation bias… There is a time for exploration and discovery, but as we mature we (should) move toward commitment and depth, rather than breadth. Second, it comes as no surprise that Brooks is an excellent writer - clear, eloquent, and poetic at times. He provides ample wisdom to wrestle with and savor.
However, my overall gripe with the book was I felt its overall structure was choppy. The transition from the second mountain to the 4 commitments didn’t flow evenly. It felt almost like 2 books loosely connected, or maybe even 1 book with 4 longer essays. That being said, I hope to some day read it a second time.
Well, I listened to it again, and I liked/appreciated it even more the second time, hence 5 stars. It would be a great book for high school seniors. He is asking the big questions: What is the point to life? How do we get there? What keeps us from it? His advice for considering a job/vocation, a spouse, and a faith is all fantastic. I wish I could have understood a quarter of the advice/insights when I was first making those big decisions. And, the metaphor of two mountains in life is profound. It's referenced and alluded to all over, but I don't feel like many young people hear it. At least I never did.
A few more critiques/frustrations: I did think his section on commitment to community is lacking, especially compared to his faith exploration in the previous section. And despite his insight into marriage, it feels like he exalts the falling-in-love experience on a precarious pedestal. How often do people really experience what he describes?
That said, a wonderful second read, one I will recommend to others.
----FIRST REVIEW:
If you were to think of life as a metaphor, climbing two mountains is pretty good. The first, according to Brooks, is that of the individual striving of self - building the necessary ego - of success and self-discovery. Our culture (in the West and particularly the US), exalts and honors those on this first mountain - movie stars, the rich, the successful. Money often follow first mountain accomplishments. But one's life, if lived well, must summit the second mountain of giving yourself away in service to others. The ego must dissolve as we move from focus on self to focus on others. The book continues to say that this second mountain experience is found not through self-discovery but making commitments: to vocation, spouse, a faith/philosophy of life, and community/neighborhood. In the final chapter - the chapter I found most compelling - is a manifesto: The Relationalist Manifesto, offered as an antidote to today's cancer - hyper-individualism. And you can read it on his website here.
This is the type of book I really appreciate, partly because of its sheer audacity and breath of vision, and that's part of the reason I didn't like it. He is asking great questions. How do we think of and live out the whole of life? What malady most ails our society? What is life's ultimate meaning? And most of all - I think the question that under-girds the entire book - How do we live well? Some would argue that the whole premise is a futile attempt, but I disagree. These are the hard, impossible-to-answer-but-so-important-we-try questions. Brooks soars at the 35,000 ft perspective on life and then zeros in on the four commitments to vocation, marriage, faith, and community, offering practical suggestion for each, to then zooms out again for his concluding manifesto.
Confession: I liked the book before reading it because the overall premise was confirmation bias… There is a time for exploration and discovery, but as we mature we (should) move toward commitment and depth, rather than breadth. Second, it comes as no surprise that Brooks is an excellent writer - clear, eloquent, and poetic at times. He provides ample wisdom to wrestle with and savor.
However, my overall gripe with the book was I felt its overall structure was choppy. The transition from the second mountain to the 4 commitments didn’t flow evenly. It felt almost like 2 books loosely connected, or maybe even 1 book with 4 longer essays. That being said, I hope to some day read it a second time.