Forget self-help, read more fiction.
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
- While I talk about self-improvement and self-help books a bit, my bookshelf is the opposite. I love delving into imaginary worlds through reading fantasy and science fiction stories. In this video I talk about why I read fiction/fantasy more than non-fiction.
Book recommendations
Red Rising (Series)
Rage of Dragons
Way of Kings (Series)
Circe
Song of Achilles
Remains of the Day
Lies of Locke Lamora
Sword of Kaigen
Jade City (Series)
Blade Itself (Series)
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:23 Problems with Non-fiction
01:06 Start Reading Fiction
03:10 Internal Conflict and Metaphors
04:01 Hero’s Journey and You
06:48 Better Ideals and Figures
09:02 Living a thousand lives.
09:28 Fiction creates better habits
11:42 Intentional Reading and Pop-corn fiction
13:30 Book Recommendations Portion
13:48 Red Rising
14:15 Rage of Dragons
16:09 Way of Kings
16:59 Sword of Kaigen
17:59 The Martian & Project Hail Mary
18:13 Song of Achilles
18:43 Lies of Locke Lamora and Jade City
Reading fiction and creative non-fiction, essays and memoirs is 100x more impactful and life-changing than books in the self-help genre, with only a few notable exceptions I’m sure!
Those kinds of self help books are written by people who don't enjoy reading, to make a quick buck off of suckers who won't read it, on the assumption that nobody actually reads anything. It probably depresses publishers to work with those properties.
publishers love quick bucks too.
@katgreer6113 true But its so hard to have to explain to your significant others the cynical view of the world that has calcified in the seat of your soul. Once, there was something that motivated a choice to go into publishing rather than finance, and it later died, and it must have been followed by disillusionment.
The trouble with self help books is they have 1 or 2 good ideas fluffed up to fit 300 pages
Great video man, I completely agree with you and have felt the same way for a while. Stephen King says “fiction is the truth within the lie”, there is so much to be learned from reading literature, a life altering amount really. Those that scoff fiction off as mere storybooks just haven’t experienced the deep impact good writing can have on you. Also, nice shirt.
I recently started reading and I found myself liking fiction more. Nevertheless, I was trying to read more nonfiction, because I thought that it will have greater benefit. But your arguments make a lot of sense and made my mind at ease. I will read more fiction because the stories stick more than heartless guides on how to live life:)
As soon as you started I was thinking about The Way of Kings. One of the best things about The Way of Kings and Sanderson's books in general is that he writes characters that feel real with real problems that don't get solved at the end. Kaladin doesn't magically have his depression removed when he becomes a hero, he just learns to be a hero in spite of it. And it's a recurring thing throughout the Sanderson series. It does bug me in fiction books when a hero is written as depressed, anxious, etc. and after the hero's journey they just magically are all better.
The Mistborn trilogy is another great fantasy series that follows a character with a lot of trauma, resulting in paranoia, anxiety, etc. Through the trilogy there is an immense amount of personal growth that happens in a way that feels real, not "Oh I got powers now I don't have to be scared anymore" that happens so often in fiction.
Also I'm finishing up the Licanius trilogy and that is another great one. One of the characters is someone with great power struggling to process the horrific things they have done in the past and striving to become a better person while still taking responsibility for their actions.
Your video was so pleasing to hear ! Carry on, i guess college was a hard path for lots of us, hope you’re doing better now, looking forward to other videos
When youtube's algorithm finally works 🙏🏻 Also that "because it's boring af" while closing the book was really funny 😂😂😂 and you went ahead and explained what I've been thinking so well 🙌🏻
I completely agree with this, i’ve been intrigued in self help books, especially when I first got into reading for my own enjoyment. But I came to find out it was such a slog to get through, fiction on the other hand i’ve read a three to four hundred page book in 12 hours. It’s so much more fun, and I get so much more out of it.
I'm not a huge self-help guy, but non-fiction is fascinating. Fish biology? Biochemistry? The evolution of compassion? The science of trust? You might find that boring, but i think a good book on these subjects is super cool. I'd rather listen to Richard Dawkins explain compassion over trying to figure out what the hell Steven Erikson has to say about it.
I lost my brother back in 2004 and strangely thought about Harry Potter a LOT when he passed. Book 3 (Azkaban) had made it to theatres right when he passed, and a year later Book 6 (Half-Blood Prince) was published. So many experiences Harry was going through on film and on paper resonated with me. I don’t know why but seeing Harry lose his own loved ones and allowing his friends (especially Luna Lovegood) to cheer him up as he grieved really meant a lot to me. It gave me the courage to go full Samwise Gamgee and just get back to living - once all the tears for the day had been shed. I also remember rewatching Kiki’s Delivery Service a few years after my brother passed and seeing Kiki’s journey in a completely new light. The energy that comes from seeing life in a fresh new perspective are a truly special kind of magic. Funny how stories (even fictional ones) can be so cathartic and healing, and can understand us in ways we can hardly articulate within ourselves.
Thank you for sharing ❤️ sending you all the love. And I agree, most of my moving and memorable reads are fictional stories.
Liked this a lot, your approach to a video about fiction was creative and unique. Definitely needed. Thanks for the recommendations too. More videos like this!
I totally agree with the points, i like self help but fiction is a whole lot more better for me and helps inspire my art, whether fiction books or movies, i hope this video gets more popular 🎉
I agree and thank you!
Love this book! I discovered your channel through this video. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍
Wow thank you! 🙏
Couldn't agree more, ive learnt more or atleast discovered more meaning from fiction. Frankenstein as an example made me think more about 'playing god' and the need for empathy than anything else has. Not to mention authors like Dostoevsky who are about as essential to the field of philosophy as people like Freud are. Plus fiction is more fun!
You bring up good points, but I would advice that people do both.
Of course do what you want, but I for example like to read 1 hour of non-fiction in the morning while taking notes ✍️ on actionable things I can implement to better my life.
While before bed I read 1 hour of fiction to wind down before sleep 😴.
Stormlight Archive is great. Finished Oathbringer and the things you find out are crazy 😧.
Would recommend the Faithfull and Fallen by John Gwynne if you like a hero's journey type stories.
I am currently reading the last book Wrath.
I like where you are filming it must feel so nice
The worst nonfic book I read was the art of seduction. None of the tips mentioned in that book is going to help you get or keep a girl.
But you said it all ❤
Wasn't that Robert Greene? Tbh dating is related to your physical attractiveness not character or personality.if you're struggling you're probably average looking or ugly...it's that simple...but writing a book saying there's really not much you can do other than improve your looks isn't going to sell
@@keithparker1346 yup. He's a nice person but the content of the book is a bit screwed up.
Indeed, non-fiction books are extremely repetitive and shallow. Blog posts bloated to book length. Along with fiction, I've found reading actual philosophy to be so much better at serving self-help purposes (among others). I'm reading Nietzsche right now and the density of the writing, the thought put into the prose, and the deeply self-reflective mood it puts me under is something no self-help book could hope to equal. If you have the patience and willingness to do so, I would highly recommend giving genuine philosophy a shot.
Just here to say Amen!
I had a non fiction phase in late middle school, but even then it was nietzsche and 48 laws of power. I cant imagine reading these awful self help books. But somehow this is what “men” are supposed to read. I recommend, “these small things” by Claire Keegan.
thanks for the rec!
i still think its ridiculous that certain books are assigned "genders"
@@katgreer6113They're not. This is a description, not a prescription. "Men tend to be more interested in this kind of book" is about the extent of it.
True!
I also highly recommend Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series if you love epic fantasy and believable characters who suffer (a lot), it's probably my favourite series especially when you get to its second trilogy. I think my favourite genre of fiction might be southern gothic literature - Flannery O'Connor; William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy etc. but I love so many others, and as your video communicates they remain way more therapeutic and 'helpful' to me in a deeper and far more effective sense than this overly commercialised slop 'self-help' genre of bad prose, diminishing returns and false promises. The author of that 'Subtle Art' book is just some vacuous and mean-spirited bully cashing in on his UA-cam grift - certainly not some insightful or enlightened person anyone should be looking to emulate.
I've been reading self help books after consuming a bunch of self help stuff via social media and man is it fucking boring. I cannot wait to finish 48 laws of power so I can just consume media that I more genuinely enjoy. The self help book I learned the most from, The Courage to be Disliked, is written in the form of a story in which a philosopher slowly instills his philosophy in a young man who resists and actively tries to fight against learning. No amount of advice, no matter how good it is, can match the feeling of actually being touched or moved by a well-written story, bonus points if the story contains a character that you can learn a lot from and model parts of yourself after.
Fiction appeals to the emotions and so will have more impact
I would ditch 48 Laws as it's bs
finally i am not crazy to say so
That is one of the poor, selfish, and empty books that I've ever read. It is full of pseudo-psychology. I think the same, let's read more fiction and learn from the writers, plots and characters.
Hey how about science fiction? Because I read a lot of science fiction and I mean a lot
Some of the smartest books I've ever read are sci-fi. I think asking yourself what you've learned after each book is a great start
I think if you want to grasp the weirdness of modern life the books by Philip K Dick are essential