By Caroline Keller, Y12
Personally, I am not a big reader. Throughout high school I have never really finished any of my books. I decided that this year, that had to change, since I was beginning the IB and all that comes with it. Although, to me, most of the assigned books were not that interesting; they were just another book that a teacher had allocated. Then, winter break came along and we celebrated Christmas in a hotel room with my brother and father. That is when I saw this orange book with the word f**k and #1 New York Times bestseller on it, and as any other person would be, I was intrigued.
This book is a “self-help book” but instead of saying that everything is going to be alright and the typical overly optimistic stuff, Mark Manson takes a counterintuitive approach and flat out says that life sucks. His approach to life in the book is to accept the bad and to choose what to care about. The chapter names make the book seem depressing, they all start on a down. He depicts the whole chapter on how some things that happen in life are somewhat depressing but you can look at it differently. The list of the chapters: Don’t try; Happiness is a Problem; You Are Not Special; The Value of Suffering; You Are Always Choosing; You Are Wrong About Everything; Failure is the Way Forward; The Importance of Saying No; And Then You Die. In “Don’t try”, he starts off by telling the story of a semi-alcoholic gambler that wants to become an author. That story ends by the guy selling books but in his mind he was still a semi-alcoholic gambler and therefore by society’s standards a “loser”. This is a classic example of how the book is, some great story followed by a depressing side note. Manson though explains how in this man’s epitaph it is written “Don’t try”. He compares this to today’s unrealistic and unachievable goals we set for ourselves and society, and he then explains that by doing this we will always feel that we are never enough. He ends the chapter by explaining that life is much more fulfilling when you choose to care about the important and immediate things in life and not unrealistic expectations..
The writing in itself isn’t fantastic or outstanding, but it gets straight to the point and therefore unlike other books doesn’t use many overused metaphors. So there isn’t much thinking in the language but in the ideas he talks about, that is why I think that everyone can see themselves in some of the examples he gives and can take something from the ideas. Though unlike most books about self help and things like that, it uses everyday understandable language which makes it much more accessible to all.
One of my favorite quotes is “Because when you give better fucks, you get better problems. And when you get better problems, you get a better life.” and this is paired with “What pain do you want to sustain? The path to happiness is a path full of shitheaps and shame.” Both of these compliment the whole book and how it is controversial.
I can honestly say that this book is one of the most interesting books I’ve read.
Where to get it –
