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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman
1 review
erebus53's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
2.25
I tried to give this a fair go, but I was left feeling far from inspired. The author is unrelatable to me in many ways, which doesn't make it any easier for me to take advice from him. I was left with the resounding feeling that he is #14-yrs-oldandthisisdeep
I really feel like I could have renamed this book "4 and a half hours I'm not getting back".
In a rat race, where it's all about metrics, and performance, and wage slavery, it becomes unreasonably draining, and you will eventually get to a point where it seems like life is passing you by... as a premise for a book this falls short for me, because I came to that epiphany at around 16 years of age. This is not news.
The mindset that he describes presupposes neuronormativity, and Privilege. It also assumes that you will come to a lot of the realisations that he is finally researching, in middle age, whereas feeling mortality and the finite-ness of life, our loved ones, and the things we hold dear? is stuff that used to wake my middle child up in the middle of the night when at age 6. My youngest sobbed to me in the first year of school that you had to get up every day and just do the same thing over and over again.
I think I'm just way to old and jaded and cynical.. too zen and Disabled to let any of this get to me.
Probably my least enjoyed subgenre is "self help books written by driven, rich, White men". Not only does the Capitalism run strong with this one, but he quotes awful people (eg. a N@zi, Woody Allen, some horrible philosophers, and Sam Harris?) takes part in some romantic Orientalism, and completely misrepresents the philosophy of "Natural Parenting". For every agreeable truism (you don't get bonus points for thinking Trump is an idiot) he manages to predicate an argument on his feelings being universal to the human condition.. and I don't relate.
I did agree that it is impossible to find someone to share a life with who is continually exciting, and also gives you feelings of deep security. Unfortunately the silly relationship advice is about 20 years too late.
I also agree that people need more connection to each other and in general less isolation.
I could shelve this book under "More proof for why I hate Capitalism"
I really feel like I could have renamed this book "4 and a half hours I'm not getting back".
In a rat race, where it's all about metrics, and performance, and wage slavery, it becomes unreasonably draining, and you will eventually get to a point where it seems like life is passing you by... as a premise for a book this falls short for me, because I came to that epiphany at around 16 years of age. This is not news.
The mindset that he describes presupposes neuronormativity, and Privilege. It also assumes that you will come to a lot of the realisations that he is finally researching, in middle age, whereas feeling mortality and the finite-ness of life, our loved ones, and the things we hold dear? is stuff that used to wake my middle child up in the middle of the night when at age 6. My youngest sobbed to me in the first year of school that you had to get up every day and just do the same thing over and over again.
I think I'm just way to old and jaded and cynical.. too zen and Disabled to let any of this get to me.
Probably my least enjoyed subgenre is "self help books written by driven, rich, White men". Not only does the Capitalism run strong with this one, but he quotes awful people (eg. a N@zi, Woody Allen, some horrible philosophers, and Sam Harris?) takes part in some romantic Orientalism, and completely misrepresents the philosophy of "Natural Parenting". For every agreeable truism (you don't get bonus points for thinking Trump is an idiot) he manages to predicate an argument on his feelings being universal to the human condition.. and I don't relate.
I did agree that it is impossible to find someone to share a life with who is continually exciting, and also gives you feelings of deep security. Unfortunately the silly relationship advice is about 20 years too late.
I also agree that people need more connection to each other and in general less isolation.
I could shelve this book under "More proof for why I hate Capitalism"
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pandemic/Epidemic
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