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retrofrench's review against another edition
4.0
Not really what it says on the tin but a nice review of all the self improvement adages.
anne0's review against another edition
Libby app switched to only letting me read it via Kindle, which I don’t have an account for.
mjestel's review against another edition
4.0
I was very excited to read this book because I had enjoyed their first book (Ikigai) which had interviewed hundreds of Japanese elders on their thoughts on the meaning of life and finding your purpose. Although the book wasn't bad and I enjoyed it, the authors took the book from a Western lens and quoted Ben Franklin, Tim Ferris, and other Americans. I was hoping this would have built on their research from the first book and acted as a guidebook in "The Japanse Way" as mentioned on the cover, but it felt like any other American self-help book, there were good tips/tricks, but I felt like there was some missed potential.
ragnatela's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.0
The reason this book gets one star and not less is that it was a gift, which I appreciated, despite the content not being my cup of tea.
I usually prefer fiction to non-fiction, but when I read the latter, I have some reasonable – I dare say – expectations.
Starting with the fundamentals, the authors seem not to understand the concept of "list of pros and cons": this particular feature makes sense if you are comparing two different approaches citing all the positive and negative aspects of both of them, whereas it seems quite meaningless when you only underline the pros of your thesis and the cons of its opposite. Personally, I don't trust miraculous solutions to all your past, present, and future problems without any side effects.
Secondly, the content of this book feels trivial most of the time: I didn't need 200+ pages to know that having a purpose in your life improves its quality. Oh, and for those who were not yet aware: smoking reduces life expectancy.
I usually prefer fiction to non-fiction, but when I read the latter, I have some reasonable – I dare say – expectations.
Starting with the fundamentals, the authors seem not to understand the concept of "list of pros and cons": this particular feature makes sense if you are comparing two different approaches citing all the positive and negative aspects of both of them, whereas it seems quite meaningless when you only underline the pros of your thesis and the cons of its opposite. Personally, I don't trust miraculous solutions to all your past, present, and future problems without any side effects.
Secondly, the content of this book feels trivial most of the time: I didn't need 200+ pages to know that having a purpose in your life improves its quality. Oh, and for those who were not yet aware: smoking reduces life expectancy.
On the other end of the spectrum, if we already know everything a book has to tell us, we’ll get bored right away.
Here comes the sore point: the bibliography. This book, in the Italian edition, totally lacks one, which makes almost every statement an act of faith. To be fair, the English edition seems to have one, although I couldn't find a reference – assuming Yeshiva University published more than one article – for some pretty vague claims:
One study, conducted at Yeshiva University, found that the people who live the longest have two dispositional traits in common: a positive attitude and a high degree of emotional awareness.
Additionally, I might have some reservations about citing Aubrey de Grey and his Life Extension Pseudoscience as a source. This shouldn't surprise me though, given the way the authors declare to write research papers:
For example, if you have to write a research paper, you might sit down at your computer and use Google to look up the information you need.
I probably should have stopped reading at page 31, titled Aging’s Escape Velocity.
On a more personal level, I didn't need to be constantly reminded that I'm quite useless and don't have a purpose in my life: my brain keeps repeating it over and over without any further stimulation.
My ikigai is dead.
(January 2025)