Laimis

Losing the self

Revisado: 03-01-24

I purchased the book as I’ve heard an interview of the author with Sam Harris. The conversation left an impression on me, so I was glad to find an audiobook book by Jay Garfield.

Note - I found a few chapters in the middle of the book to be numbing. The philosophical refutation of different views of the self was challenging to digest, having passing knowledge of the differing philosophical arguments about the subject matter.

However, having familiarity with non-dual practice, the chapters on ethics and values were invaluable. I purchased a paperback version of the book to go over slowly at my own pace.

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A thrilling overview of an intellectual movement

Revisado: 02-25-24

Don’t hesitate to jump into this book if you're interested in existentialism or the individuals in the book - Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and Heidegger. While lengthy, the book never got boring for me—quite the opposite in my experience, which should not be surprising, considering the characters covered.

I ended up getting the Kindle edition as well to highlight some of the passages I found interesting. There are multiple other philosophers and authors mentioned in the book, which are now on my wishlist to read.

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Great Content; Would benefit from chapter names

Revisado: 08-15-20

I just finished this book. and... it's great. If you’re looking for something that will make you think - this is great. perhaps you’re curious about Orwell’s essays - a great choice as well. I only read "Animal Farm" & "1984" prior to reading this, but I kept hearing mentions of Orwell as a visionary. Oftentimes it was one of his essays that were mentioned, so I picked this book up. Definitely not disappointed, even though some of the essays are definitely not life-changing. But the recording is worth the investment of time and money, and some his writing most definitely changed some of my views (Charles Dickens, review of Tropic of Cancer, his writing on the English language in particular). When it comes to narration, Alex Hyde-White does an awesome job, I can easily imagine it’s Orwell himself speaking.
I made a list of the chapters and corresponding essays. If the audible/publisher could fix this, it would make this much better audiobook, making it easier to revisit some of the essays later on. With a risk of the update making this review irrelevant, here it is:
Chapter 1 - Introduction Essay
Chapter 2 - “Why I Write”
Chapter 3 - “The Spike”
Chapter 4 - “A Hanging”
Chapter 5 - “Shooting an Elephant”
Chapter 6 - “Bookshop Memories”
Chapter 7 - "Marrakech"
Chapter 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 - "Charles Dickens"
Chapter 14 - “Boys’ Weeklies”
Chapter 15, 16, 17 - “Inside the Whale - a review of Henry Miller’s ‘Tropic of Cancer’”
Chapter 18 - “My Country - Right or Left”
Chapter 19, 20, 21 - “The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius”
Chapter 22 - “Wells, Hitler, and the World State”
Chapter 23 - “The Art of Donald McGill”
Chapter 24 - “Rudyard Kipling”
Chapter 25 - “Looking back at the Spanish war”
Chapter 26 - “W. B. Yeats”
Chapter 27 - “Poetry and the Microphone”
Chapter 28 - “In Defence of English Cooking”
Chapter 29 - “Benefits of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dalí”
Chapter 30 - “Raffles and Miss Blandish”
Chapter 31 - “Arthur Kessler”
Chapter 32 - “Antisemitism in Britain”
Chapter 33 - “In Defence of P. G. Wodehouse”
Chapter 34 - “Notes on Nationalism”
Chapter 35 - “Good Bad Books”
Chapter 36 - “The Sporting Spirit”
Chapter 37 - “Nonsense Poetry”
Chapter 38 - “The Prevention of Literature”
Chapter 39 - “Books v. Cigarettes”
Chapter 40 - “Decline of the English Murder”
Chapter 41 - “Politics and The English Language”
Chapter 42 - “Some Thoughts on the Common Toad”
Chapter 43 - “A Good Word for the Vicar of Bray” Chapter 44 - “Confessions of a Book Reviewer”
Chapter 45 - “Politics vs. Literature: An Examination of Gulliver’s Travels” Chapter 46 - “How the Poor Die”
Chapter 47 - “Riding down from Bangor”
Chapter 48 - “Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool”
Chapter 49, 50 - “Such, Such Were the Joys”
Chapter 51 - “Writers and Leviathan “
Chapter 52 - “Reflections on Gandhi”

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Inspiring story of a great person

Revisado: 07-18-20

Joseph Lister’s story inspires me to be the best I can and not to settle for the ”status quo.” It truly is a fascinating look at Victorian medicine, and it’s advancement in the 19th century.

I bought this book on sale, months before starting to listen to it. While finishing my degree in the medical field, I figured some background history would be careful to know. I found it to be much more than that.

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Practical Advice = 5 stars; Dramatization = 2 stars

Revisado: 07-11-20

If you’re a new to nursing, or thinking about becoming a nurse - this book has some great practical advice. I bought the book 2 days before taking the NCLEX exam, and I really appreciate some of the information I got from the book. The intimate aspect of the book was a double edged sword for me - I liked it in some areas and not others.

I enjoyed the practical advice aspect. Intimate and pragmatic advice about getting into nursing. Things like going for the first job, what to expect when you start your career, the “do’s and don’t’s”.

What I (personally) did not enjoy was the sentimental/emotional parts of the book. I imagine many might find it endearing or relatable (or some other positive adjective). It was just a tad bit too personal/blogger-journal type of material to me. Perhaps that was the autobiographical part of the book.

If you enjoy reading people’s personal feelings on matters - this book will be right up your alley. It might be the right combination of practical and sentimental for some, I just found the latter part of the book, especially the last chapter off-putting.

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Great book, especially today

Revisado: 03-24-20

I read this book over a week, while the COVID-19 outbreak is happening in Unites States. I got the book couple of months before, but this felt like a great time to listen to it.

The book is quite informative, doesn’t go into too many technical details unless it is useful or interesting. The book is hilarious, with dark sense of humor at times, with a great voice actress to complement it.

Would recommend to anyone

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Changed my worldview

Revisado: 11-10-18

I got these lectures after getting a bit of exposure to couple of existential thinkers. I ended up listening to the whole series in about a week (I drive a lot) and now I am planning to work through the whole series again while reading the books of these thinkers.

Overall, the lectures have great examples and are quite accessible to pretty much anyone interested.

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