Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** - Mark Manson

February 2019, Book of the Month

This is my honest opinion on the book, and I do hope that you don't give a F888!

The title was screaming, “this author will definitely curse the whole 100 pages”. Boy was I right! I felt, I could entertain curse words. I mean, I watch Family Guy🤷🏽‍♀️. I get the emphasis factor for using words like that.

The first chapter cursed so much I almost gave up! When I read swears, I unconsciously speak them, I didn’t want that. I had to space my reading.

The book was a pep talk in print. I don’t think anyone should live by this completely. I don’t think anyone can. It had so many principles to remember. Look at me, People have lived by holy books, religiously, so what am I even saying?

I liked that most of his findings were backed by science. However, everything can be backed by research and science on the internet these days.

All in all, Good read! If you already don’t give two spoons about a lot of things, do not take the book too seriously!

Our next book must be fiction or something. Maybe an English writer, to regularise my English once more.

Favourite Quote:

The point is not to get away from the sh**, the point is to find the shit you enjoy dealing with.

Comments and Reviews from Book Club

A member of my book club, decided to write a review on behalf of the group this month. If you are familiar with the members, you are aware that I force them to finish the books.

By Nasiba Thelma Alhassan (Z Book Club)

What did I like about the book

Just like what the book is,  it's counterintuitive.  I liked that it was throwing life's struggles in your face and saying "face it, sh** happens" without smoldering or sugar coating like other motivational books will.

it's blunt and straightforward with regards to the ugliness of life

I like that he says that you can't escape the ugliness of life which is true, however you can always choose better problems to deal with it.

What I didn't like about the book. To others it's a wake up call or an epiphany. but to me, he was stating the obvious. I think he dragged certain things on which made reading it a chore. "like we get the point can we move unto something else?" but there was nothing else. I couldn't connect the dots to some of the examples/scenarios he was giving to his main point. I get that the author is American and all and the book was based on a swear word but he could have minimized the usage of swear words especially in the opening chapters.

Themes that's stuck with me Choices - Ultimately what Mason was trying to say in the book was that, we don't have any control on what happens to us, however our control lies in how we choose to deal with it, which is a step in living a very happy life which we all seek to.

Shit happens- Mason doesn't try to explain why things happen to us or provide us a library of pep talks on how to act when awful things happen to us. What he did was throw the obvious in our faces. Like things do happen, whatever you choose to do or be, problems will abound. your weapon is choosing what is worth your energy to deal with and totally ignore the rest as the baggage that comes with breathing which really is it.

Would I read the book again? No. It's well written and all but I'm not interested in motivational books wrapped in a finer sophisticated package called counter-intuitive

One of the quotes I liked that stuck

 "Greatness is merely an illusion in our minds, a made-up destination that we obligate ourselves to pursue, our own psychological Atlantis."

It was enlightening. A mixture of philosophy and psychology. Some of his ideas were backed by science and that's good , others, someone will have to conduct an experiment. Some things are just his opinion.

-Sedinam

The book is well written. I think the title is a little out there and not generally reflective of what is in the book. He illustrates the lessons well with stories that help you appreciate the story well.

I think the one lesson that will stick with me from the books is that the need to accept that life must not be extraordinary to be worthwhile. To be extraordinary you need to accept that you are average and must improve not that there is anything wrong with being average.

-Albert Agyepong