"A greatest hits collection of essays from the School of Life, helping people understand their emotional life better."
The School of Life was founded by philosopher and author Alain de Botton and its aim was to help people understand their emotional life better. This essay collection, released to mark the school’s fifteenth anniversary, contains ten of its landmark essays, including those on self-knowledge, confidence, love, work and culture. It says that these are its most important essays, and what it would most want to teach a friend.
The thoughtful essays certainly give food for thought. Some of the essays are a bit shocking, though perhaps that’s intentional so we will pay attention. “Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person” made me stop cold and think, “Wait, have I married the wrong person?” (I’m pretty sure I haven’t.) “How Love Stories Ruin Our Lives”—again, I take the point that love stories can create unrealistic expectations, but on the whole, they enrich our lives, not ruin them. The “Why We Hate Cheap Things” essay looks at the rise and fall of the lowly pineapple—once so prized that only royalty could acquire them, and now available at any bog-standard supermarket.
The book contains questionnaires for self reflection and numerous examples of art to illustrate the many themes it explores. The school believes that reading is key to self improvement, which it lays out in the introduction. “The point of books is to make us feel better.”
This collection would be the perfect gift for anyone looking to reflect more on their own life or want to become a better person. These collected essays would be an excellent place to start.
| Primary Genre | Mind, body, spirit |
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