Subtitled ‘Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking’, Oliver Burkeman’s latest book is a refreshing response to the self-help industry.
In an attempt to understand the most strived-for emotional state of the Western world, Burkeman weaves schools of thought including Buddhism, Stoicism and behaviour therapies to argue for the psychological necessity of incorporating negativity into our conscious thoughts in order to achieve long term contentment. He dismisses the goal-oriented materialism typical of motivational speakers, replacing it with a more humane philosophical meditation that questions conventional assumptions about happiness, perfectly suited to the particularly English tradition of cynicism and the stiff upper lip. This is a genuinely insightful and unpretentious ‘antidote’ for those wishing to understand themselves further without straying into ‘Mind, Body, Spirit’ territory.
Comments