Although a follow-up to his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive (which I plan to read and review too), I read this one first because: 1) I did not know it was a follow-up, and 2) I was in my I-hate-social-media-and-our-current-society-phase and this was the perfect book for that. But worry not, one can read this book without having any knowledge of the first one.
Beware, this will not be a proper review. I have no idea how one would review this book. You simply have to read it.
 |
| ★★★★☆ |
"Happiness is not good for the economy. We are encouraged, continually, to be a little bit dissatisfied with ourselves."
This book is literally notes, observations on the world we live in an how it can affect our happiness, talking about social media, sleep, time, the news and so on. It also talks a bit about the author's mental health struggles. It reads more or less like a blog and I absolutely loved that.
This Book Was Written for Me
I find this book to be a personal gem for me as it found me at a time I really needed it. The writer was a great discovery of 2020 for me and it's so very rare to meet someone who thinks almost 100% like you do. It feels more or less like I wrote this book and completely forgot about it! (Ha, ha! I wish!)
It is a messy book at first glance, but that's because it's not trying to be anything more than mere notes and observations on the current times we live in. Haig's way of writing makes me feel understood in a way no book did - at least not in 2020, when I read this book.
Think and Question the World Around You
This book will make you think. You might read a paragraph or two and then have to stop and properly digest the ideas Haig presents. He doesn't really give you the whole picture or research, he is not really trying to prove a conclusion or convince to do things a certain way. He tells you what he thinks, what works for him, and then you take from there what you need.
You won't agree with everything he says and sometimes I get a feeling that he should check his privilege a little bit more than he does, but nonetheless, trough his personal experiences with mental health and his ramblings on the modern society, you might find a little something to inspire you.
"We often find ourselves wishing for more hours in the day, but that wouldn't help anything. The problem, clearly, isn't that we have a shortage of time. It's more that we have an overload of everything else."
Where Do We Go From Here
This book might leave with more questions than answers. Is this really the world we want to live in? What can we do? What's the solution?
The solution is to... actually question the world we live in. And this is what Haig does in his book and what you will continue to do while reading it (and hopefully continue to do after reading it). Think about what's considered normal, question it, rebel against it if need be.
Overall the tone of the book might seem pessimistic, but deep down, Haig reminds us that we are not alone and no matter how crazy the world we live in gets, everything is going to be ok.
"The sky, like the sea, can anchor us. It says: hey, it’s okay, there is something bigger than your life that you are part of, and it’s – literally – cosmic."
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig was first published in July 2018
Check out my Book Review Index!