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A review by xtinaji
The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi
2.0
Listened to this on audiobook, which I think enhanced the experience! The book is written like a Socrates-Plato dialogue, so actually hearing the two characters make their points made it feel a bit more convincing to me. That being said, I think what makes this book so popular is that it (1) distills Adlerian Psychology into one text and (2) was tailored for Japanese society. Not to say that it has takeaways that are specific and exclusive to Japan, but some of the examples the Youth mentions, and some of the social ailments (for example: NEETs and hikkikomoris), were pretty on the nose for who the intended audience was. This by no means retracts from the book's points, but I thought the cultural lens was a pretty critical part for how the book should be read.
The actual content itself is pretty digestible, and I think that ease of access/understanding is what makes a lot of the psychology references feel more approachable. It does a decent job of trying to explain its points in simple terms. However, I think they also made it a bit too casual - there's anecdotes and hypotheticals but not much else to support the ideals boasted here. I can agree with some of the perspective shifts that the book mentions, but without anything concrete or nuanced to hold onto, it does fall a bit flat for me. I wish the book tried harder to convince me of its philosophy. It pushes a lot under the rug to make its points. That, and with the pretty condescending tone, was the biggest turn off for me. I wouldn't go so far as to say it victim-blames as some reviews here say, but it definitely comes from a place of privilege.
Overall, it's a pretty engaging summary of Adlerian psychology, which is what I assume the writers set out to do in the first place. All in all, evocative title that also kinda sums up the entire book's message. Come with the expectation that this book might not ring as true for you, and that's okay.
The actual content itself is pretty digestible, and I think that ease of access/understanding is what makes a lot of the psychology references feel more approachable. It does a decent job of trying to explain its points in simple terms. However, I think they also made it a bit too casual - there's anecdotes and hypotheticals but not much else to support the ideals boasted here. I can agree with some of the perspective shifts that the book mentions, but without anything concrete or nuanced to hold onto, it does fall a bit flat for me. I wish the book tried harder to convince me of its philosophy. It pushes a lot under the rug to make its points. That, and with the pretty condescending tone, was the biggest turn off for me. I wouldn't go so far as to say it victim-blames as some reviews here say, but it definitely comes from a place of privilege.
Overall, it's a pretty engaging summary of Adlerian psychology, which is what I assume the writers set out to do in the first place. All in all, evocative title that also kinda sums up the entire book's message. Come with the expectation that this book might not ring as true for you, and that's okay.