Plot:
The book is narrating the story of life of two middle/upper class American characters, Erica and Harold, from birth to death. They lead wealthy, mostly stable lifes in a safe environment.
The added value of the book
In itself, the protagonists’ life journeys are neither especially exceptional nor dramatic and also the pen of the writer is rather functional than thrilling. However, the author David Brooks adds a layer of rationale to the story by commenting on the various events from a scientist’s point of view. For example, when he describes the first romantic date of the young people who are to become the parents of Harold later on, he explains what science knows about the conscious and subconscious, chemical and psychological processes commonly known as “falling in love”.
Brooks repeats his pattern of analysing the various events of the story, drawing upon philosophy, history, psychology, management theory, cultural theory and many more. As a result, the reader learns about the underlying models influencing many a human behaviours.
Besides conveying knowledge on specific settings, the books also illustrates possible stages of human lifes, letting the reader reflect on their own story and provides an reference example for comparison.
My Opinion
I liked the book because I enjoy learning about the underlying patterns which explain our behaviour – and that is what the book provides: scientifc explanations in an easily consumable form, embedded in a story. I think the book is valuable for younger readers, as it may help them to broaden their insights and use the knowledge and references from the book to find their way quicker. I recomment having a highlighter at hand when reading this book – to remeber some of the bits and pieces from the story which may fit in well with the jigsaw puzzle of making sense of our own human behaviour.
However, it has to be said that all in all, it took me two years to read through the story, as the life stories of the characters are partly tiresome. To me, the depth of the science referenced is sufficient – but it may not for truely scientific minded readers.
About the author
David Brooks is a journalist writing for The New York Times. He has published the book Bobos in Paradise in 2000 and On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense in 2004.
Further Information
No doubt the free market has brought great benefits to people throughout a diverse array of nations. But there are two fundamental problems to Western style capitalism – it destroys nature and it destroys people.
This book was recommented to me by an Austrian entrepreneur whose company might expand to south-east Asia in the medium run. He thinks it’s a good read to better understand Asia.