Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

I am not much of a self-help book person. In fact, I am not a non-fiction person. I can frankly count off on the fingers on one hand, the number of non fiction I would have read in my entire years of reading.

Then why did I pick up this book? The title intrigued and the premise - how to get your mind around the way the world is moving nowadays. Well, who isn't affected by people and how the world is super connected that we seem to see all happy faces always!

Starting off, this was a very difficult one to get around to... I did not connect with the author's writing style, maybe by virtue of being a predominant fiction reader, I was not accustomed to the style which threw many questions at the reader. And being a self- help book, I think that would be a natural style, now that I look back at it.

Once I got around that, the author talks of how we all seem to be drawn into unnecessary thoughts and instances and we care about those things which we ideally shouldn't. Everyone has problems, they might vary and the importance of these problems will be dependent on who faces it. The book suggests that in life, we need to derive happiness in solving problems, and accepting that every solution to one problem, will sow the seed for the next also. Once we accept this, and focus on solving our problems, we create a  path to improvement and eventually happiness. He says finding the meaning to your life is the first step to happiness and to achieve what you yearn for, you should focus on the problems that matter and leave those which do not, essentially, not care a F*ck about them.

If you were to ask me how I felt about the book...

 

I would say many a times, you know all this, but having it written makes you re-think and hope that this time it does stick around to make a difference. It is a breezy read, short and easy, making it great for weekends and travel.

Is this a book which I would suggest to someone...

 

I would say, if you are in a juncture in our life where you need to bring back your energies into things which matter, and start focussing on your happiness, you should definitely pick this up!

Rating: 3.5/5