“What art!” – will arise the uninitiated reader as soon as his or her gaze falls upon the title of this book in a bookstore, library, visiting acquaintances, or simply in a review compiled by a professional critic. “What’s so hard about being an airhead and being heartily proud of it? The main thing is not to fill your head with troubles that have not yet happened and may never happen, to sail through life easily, to accept all the good it gives, and not to think too often about the lofty matters that give rise to pessimism and insecurity”? Is it really true that those who have read at least two or three pages of this book written in a deliberately frivolous and showy style feel that it is as addictive as good wine or at least excellent beer, and willy-nilly helps to change one’s attitude to the world, to life and to its values? Not without reason, just one year after its release, it was translated into the major languages of the world, not excluding Russian, and still tops the sales hits, putting to shame many short-lived bestsellers!
What’s the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” about?
As its author, the popular American blogger and part-time renowned psychologist Mark Manson, says, this book is the answer to the many self-help manuals written by his peers. Some of them are eager to lend their unique revelations to an imperfect world, while others are just out to make a buck at the expense of a trendy topic. But almost all books of this kind cause the reader unquenchable longing and dissatisfaction with his or her own imperfect persona. This is also true of those manuals that, like the classic Dale Carnegie books, teach how to look for and find the positive in life, how to adjust to other people’s desires in order to get them to dance to your tune, and so on.
What’s the point of the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck?
So, the purpose of this book is to teach the reader not to mold themselves into Miss or Mr. Perfect, not to trace step by step their thoughts and actions, and most importantly, not to chase hard for happy experiences and positivity like a squirrel in a wheel or a dog that is passionately catching its own tail. Mark talks about the difficulties that make you smarter and stronger, and life – more fulfilling and richer, about the “side effects” of the endless search for positivity. And also about how to learn to distinguish between the main thing in life from the secondary, if necessary – to send away other people’s opinions and uninvited advisers, who either give you a grade, or teach you how to live, or just “wish you well. Not for nothing this book became a bestseller among young men and women 30-35 years – the main consumers of psychological and near-psychological literature, in search if not the meaning of life, the essence of his own self.
An analysis of the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”
Many readers and critics define this book of more than three hundred pages as a mixture of the author’s revelations, musings on topics close to psychology, and tales from the life of the author himself and the lives of his buddies. It is not known how real these stories are, but they give the reader the impression that the author of the book is the same simple guy, with whom you can always talk heart-to-heart, without fearing that he will ridicule you or immediately start to teach you about life. So to read this book you do not need to have knowledge in the field of psychology, or at least “grabbed” the fashionable terms that have become an indispensable part of modern urban slang. Particularly enthusiastic readers of this book even got acquainted with its film adaptation, recognizing, as is often the case, that there is a very big difference between the book and the movie, and most likely in favor of the book, which allows you to “play” all the events in your own head, addressing your own, rather than borrowed life experience.
The Story of the Creation of the Book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”
“I’m just tired of the manuals on positive thinking, which fill the shelves of our bookstores, and the revelations of the gurus of psychology, sounding nowadays from every newspaper,” says Mark about it. Despite inquiries from journalists, he still would not admit whether this book includes the real stories of his clients or it’s pure fiction, designed to inspire confidence in the reader and encourage him to finish the book to the end. Whatever the case, Mark admits that in his early youth he was a complex and shy guy plagued by inner fears and doubts. He tried endlessly to indoctrinate himself with a positive attitude towards life without noticing the real problems, desperately feeling sorry for himself that his attempts to find happiness, to become successful and popular remained in vain. In short, he was close to becoming a lifelong client of psychologists, and later, “if he was lucky,” of psychiatrists who used more powerful means than couch confession and suggestion. It wasn’t until Mark admitted that it was all a waste of time with zero results, gave up jamming beer and went to the gym that he really felt human. Not because he became megapopular and all the young hotties immediately fell at his feet, and employers rushed to offer him millions for his mere presence at work. He simply took a step toward real life and finding himself, not his fictional self.
The Meaning of the Book’s Title, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
Despite the book’s gaudy title and no less panegy, even crude style of presentation, this book teaches not cynicism and contempt for other people, but simply a realistic view of life, which brings more satisfaction than trying to see the world through rose-colored glasses. Positivity is just an acceptance of reality without hovering in the clouds or, on the contrary, becoming a lifelong adherent of “blackness.
The Problematics of the Book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”
Nevertheless, both readers and professional critics compare this book with a popular opus by Napoleon Hill, or with the unfading works of Dale Carnegie. The secret is simple – like Uncle Dale, the author urges the reader to stop being sad over spilled milk and stop dusting sawdust, even if the new way of life will bring him not millions and universal love, but only peace of mind.
What does the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” teach you?
And yet this book is hard to call it a textbook of life, or compare it to the brilliant, revealing the soul confessions of Leo Tolstoy, Rousseau or Mahatma Gandhi. The author is deliberately careless in his presentation, as if he were not a professional psychologist, but a simple as a hamburger guy from Texas, talking to you over a mug of beer. He doesn’t require the reader to accept his conclusions or necessarily follow them through life, much less start a new life tomorrow morning as soon as the alarm clock rings. It is as if Mark Manson is saying to his reader: “This is how I think, live and feel, and I like it.”
The Ending of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”
This book has an open ending, which will someday be set by life itself. And since the author allows the reader to draw conclusions, it turns out that the number of endings, if not infinite, is equal to the total circulation of millions of copies of this book plus the number of people who borrow this book from friends or relatives, borrow it from the library or just download it from the pirates on the Internet. But the main conclusion to which this book leads is the same: “Don’t sweat what others tell you, finally think for yourself!”
