Title: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Author: Mark Manson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Non-fiction, Psychology, Self help
Dates read: 27th August – 16th September 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: MacMillan
Year: 2016
5th sentence, 74th page: Because we’re brothers; we’re supposed to have a good relationship!
EVERYTHING WE’VE BEEN TOLD ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE OUR LIVES IS WRONG. NOW SUPERSTAR BLOGGER MARK MANSON TELLS US WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO GET IT RIGHT.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. Drawing on academic research and the life experience that comes from breaking the rules, Mark Manson is ready to explode that myth. The key to a good life, according to Manson, is the understanding that ‘sometimes life is messed up and we have to live with it’.
Manson says that instead of trying to turn lemons into lemonade, we should learn to stomach lemons betters, and stop distracting ourselves from life’s inevitable disappointments chasing money, success and possessions. It’s time to re-calibrate our values and what it means to be happy: there are only so many thing we can worry about, he says, so we need to figure out which ones really matter.
From the writer whose blog draws two million readers a month and filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humour, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a **** is a welcome antidote to the ‘let’s-all-feel-good’ mindset that has infected modern society.
Alright, I can see why this is such a big, top selling novel / self help book. It was spot on with most of what was said, and even though I’ve already (funnily enough) started down this road of giving limited “fucks”, I also had a lot more moments that I feel like I should integrate into my daily life. It was such a fun, great and somewhat easy read. Yet, it was also kind of poignant and true. Definitely a book that I would (and have) recommend to others.
Mot of the time when there’s a lot of swearing in a story, I’m a bit “eh” about it all. It doesn’t often add anything to the writing, but just feels a little… titillating. That wasn’t the case for this. Yes, it’s more swearing than any of the books I’ve read. But it helped to make each and every point. For the first time that I can remember in my reading, I actually enjoyed the swearing and found it completely helped along not only Manson’s point, but also had me laughing frequently.
I’ve read this book at a really good point in my life. I’ve been letting go of all of my career goals (I realised that they weren’t quite what I wanted out of life) and started to redecide what I find important in life. And honestly, this novel let me know that what I’m doing and how I’m approaching my life now is actually okay. The stripping back of the bullshit is just what I needed to do, and this novel helped me to see how and understand the ways in which I can do this.
Most of the self help books I’ve read are honestly kind of wanky. There’s honestly no other word for it. But this one I actually found interesting and useful. It was full of great information. And just generally an all round enjoyable read. One that taught me a few things in the process of enjoying it.
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