Books

The Courage to Be Disliked

Dialogue lays out the fundamentals of Adlerian psychology as the most effective self help strategy.

The title is so good, the book has tons of sales, the reviews were glowing, and the connection to Japanese culture was so tantalizing. But the book turned out to be just one of the many dime-a-dozen self help books that grab onto some specific mode of psychology and tell you to stop worrying because now you have their special insight. 

If you’re a troubled teenager, go for it. Or for any of its near clones. Otherwise, skip it.

The Cruel Sea

Novel about a group of UK men serving on an escort ship in the Atlantic during WWII. 

Outstanding book. It’s split about 60/40 between sea related narrative and the lives of the men as men. 

The horrors of war are presented unflinchingly, but faced with that famous Anglo Saxon stiff upper lip. The pride of service, the sense of duty, and the onboard camaraderie counterbalance the misery of fighting the elements and the enemy. 

The stories of the men’s lives on shore were particularly good and surprisingly honest given the book’s age. One character falls in love, fathers a child out of wedlock, receives a letter while abroad that the mother intends to abort it, and replies that she should keep it. A few days later he learns that she’d been killed before he even got her letter. Touching stuff and written with deep empathy. 

I’m surprised this book isn’t talked about more. Recommended generally. Strongly recommended for fans of war stories.