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A review by jess_tries2read
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
2.0
I read the intro to this book at the gym and I probably looked like I was a trout for how much my mouth kept falling open. Not an unusual look for me at the gym, but the abject terror in my eyes is usually from my shotty endurance, not the horrific ideas on the page. I've looked through recent reviews on goodreads for this book and they pretty much have all the hits covered: (paraphrased but not embellished)
- Hitler almost became an artist but didn't, and see how he turned out! Think what you'll become if you don't live up to your potential!
- The reason you're not productive is because of fatty food and gorgeous women
- Sickness isn't real, it's just an excuse not to work
- Taking care of your family instead of writing a novel is cowardice
- Not being creative causes more unhappiness than poverty (and erectile dysfunction (??))
- ADHD isn't real, just doctors pushing pills
... it's a lot. These ideas in combination with his insistence that creativty is divine and that he was destined by God to channel his will (not just one God, also the Greek Muses) and that if you don't heed the divine message you'll be miserable... it's a lot to take in. I wasn't sure if he believes he is helping people, thinks he is Alexander the Great incarnated or both. But I was more shocked by the structure of the book, i.e. there wasn't any. Most of the sections are 1 or 2 pages that are loosely connected to the previous, and sometimes only a sentence or two. The rest of the page is empty. It was more like reading a poetry book, or someone's private diary. Or, maybe these days it was like sitting through a commencement speech.
There are good things about this book--mostly the second half. The writing style is great. The stories about his past experiences were wonderful. The author insists creating is something you should only do for you, and that is a helpful message. There was a great section about the importance of not comparing yourself to others. That definitely gets a star from me. Plus, I was talking sh*t about this book on Snapchat and filmed myself falling on the pavement after calling this guy crazy, so, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge lest I be struck down by a higher power. 😬
- Hitler almost became an artist but didn't, and see how he turned out! Think what you'll become if you don't live up to your potential!
- The reason you're not productive is because of fatty food and gorgeous women
- Sickness isn't real, it's just an excuse not to work
- Taking care of your family instead of writing a novel is cowardice
- Not being creative causes more unhappiness than poverty (and erectile dysfunction (??))
- ADHD isn't real, just doctors pushing pills
... it's a lot. These ideas in combination with his insistence that creativty is divine and that he was destined by God to channel his will (not just one God, also the Greek Muses) and that if you don't heed the divine message you'll be miserable... it's a lot to take in. I wasn't sure if he believes he is helping people, thinks he is Alexander the Great incarnated or both. But I was more shocked by the structure of the book, i.e. there wasn't any. Most of the sections are 1 or 2 pages that are loosely connected to the previous, and sometimes only a sentence or two. The rest of the page is empty. It was more like reading a poetry book, or someone's private diary. Or, maybe these days it was like sitting through a commencement speech.
There are good things about this book--mostly the second half. The writing style is great. The stories about his past experiences were wonderful. The author insists creating is something you should only do for you, and that is a helpful message. There was a great section about the importance of not comparing yourself to others. That definitely gets a star from me. Plus, I was talking sh*t about this book on Snapchat and filmed myself falling on the pavement after calling this guy crazy, so, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge lest I be struck down by a higher power. 😬
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism