Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

El sutil arte de que te importe un caraj* - Segunda Edición: Un enfoque disruptivo para vivir una buena vida by Mark Manson

13 reviews

mattyvreads's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

2.75

I’m don’t think I liked this book very much, although I understand that some of the points Manson makes are extremely astute and well-put. 

I could not get over the fact that this book is so inextricably white, cis, het, and male centered. It is hard to argue keys to a better life when you are starting from a foundation of such extreme, concentrated privilege. He won the privilege lottery. So yeah, I understand how you’re living your best, happy life. Oh, and he mentions he grew up rich, too. 

The advice isn’t ill intentioned, but there are some glaring blind spots in his worldview. He tries (and fails, in my humble opinion) to think outside of his perspective. Those sections feel pretty reductive and out of touch.

The advice is largely anecdotal, which some readers might expect. Occasionally, he’ll talk about

his girlfriend cheating on him

or

how during a rough patch of his life he had indiscriminate sex with many partners

and then tries to connect those points to other people’s lives or stories or trauma. There is a disconnect for me there.

Some of the references in this book are very dated. There are some pretty glaring ageist, misogynistic, conservative or otherwise Puritan values in this book. One story in particular mentions a character who he repeatedly refers to as “the Asian girl” and makes a strange, sexualized joke about her. He implicitly shames the sex positivity / body liberation movement. Almost every example he gives of relationship dynamics is heteronormative and perpetuates harmful gendered stereotypes. There’s a lot to unpack. 

Also, he brings up school shooters like three times and it’s always so jarring and seemingly out of nowhere.

Despite all of that, surprisingly, there are some great things in this book. Truly.

Here are some great insights from the book that I actually think are worthwhile:

1) “Happiness is not a solvable equation”
2) “Whatever makes us feel good will also inevitably make us feel bad” 
3) “Certainty is the enemy of growth.”
4) “Choosing better things to give a fuck about”

I don’t think I’ll read it again. But I’m glad I read it once.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, and War

op3's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

4.0

Really good book, it really did touch on some deeper points and behaviors I didn’t realize affected me so deeply.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Child death and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content

The book touches on dark themes, it’s the self help book that doesn’t fuck around, so don’t think too much is gonna be left out.

shortattentionspan's review against another edition

challenging inspiring medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Violence and Cultural appropriation

sh543's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Deadnaming, Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

battlecactus's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

If you’re easily offended by anything, I think you should read a different book. This read is bold, direct and uses language most people nowadays can’t handle. If you have a bit of distance to yourself and are open minded enough to read something that you might find uncomfortable, you’ll find an excellent book that makes you think and lets you see a different perspective on some things. 
I do not agree with everything that’s written in this book. There are certain things I really was surprised by. Still, it’s probably one of the best books I’ve ever read in this category and I wish I’ve read it earlier in my life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, and Alcohol

Harsh language, in-your-face, difficult topics

lovesbug787's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

It is somewhat repetitive but gets the point across. Gives a lot of good information 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and War

Talks about a lot of uncomfortable or unfortunate situations as examples for ways to change life. They are brief for the most part but are covered and may be unsuitable for some people

essentialnpc's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

damiscous's review against another edition

inspiring fast-paced

2.5

I came very close to just not finishing this book, but, I bought it, so I felt obligated to finish it. 
Somewhere around 40% through, it just didn't seem to be as interesting. By then, the novelty of cussing in a self-help book wore off, and it was harder to pay attention to the ranting. One thing though: the author does make excellent use of anecdotes, save for the

Romeo and Juliet

one, though the work would also largely benefit from not just saying X and Y happened, but maybe showing some data or citations or anything to add credibility. Some of the jokes are distasteful - I know, dark humor, but it's not even very funny. Dark humor is supposed to funny. Some of the things written felt more like they were added for shock value, and it largely took away from the experience.
I must say, the final chapter did really wrap up nicely. Not because it was almost over, but because the author wrote about the topic in a way that one could tell was highly personal and with depth. Though the final chapter didn't make up for the other 40% that didn't land well with me, it was a somewhat satisfying end to the book.
Overall, I wouldn't reread or recommend this book, personally. Despite the hype and recommendations I received in regards to this book, it didn't live up to it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

pidgepodge's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

This was a truly interesting and informative book. It challenges your opinions on how to achieve and what to put energy into. It’s a really hard book to explain, but a highly recommended read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Addiction and Suicide

roaze's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Probably my favourite self-help book, i’ll never stop recommending it to people. Definitely helped me in a lot of aspects of my life. I could go on and on about this for just read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol