The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future by Theodore Zeldin | Goodreads
A guide to new ambitions in work, relationships and learning
Table of Contents:
- What is the great adventure of our time?
- What is a wasted life?
- How can people lose their illusions about themselves?
- What alternatives are there to being a rebel?
- What can the poor tell the rich?
- What could the rich tell the poor?
- How many ways of committing suicide are there?
- How can an unbeliever understand a believer?
- How can a religion change?
- How can prejudices be overcome?
- How else can one think about the future, apart from trying to predict it or worrying about it?
- Is ridicule the most effective form of non-violent protest?
- How does one acquire a sense of humour?
- What stops people feeling completely at home in their own country?
- How many nations can one love at the same time?
- Why do so many people feel unappreciated, unloved and only half alive?
- How else might women and men treat one another?
- What can replace the shortage of soul-mates?
- Is another kind of sexual revolution achievable?
- What can artists aim for beyond self-expression?
- What is more interesting than becoming a leader?
- What is the point of working so hard?
- Are there more amusing ways of earning a living?
- What else can one do in a hotel?
- What more can the young ask of their elders?
- Is remaining young at heart enough to avoid becoming old?
- What is worth knowing?
- What does it mean to be alive?
- Where can one find nourishment for the mind?
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The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future
by
Theodore Zeldin
4.09 · Rating details · 247 ratings · 36 reviews
The story of a search for a new art of living. How can one escape from work colleagues who are bores and from organisations that thrive on stress? What new priorities can people give to their private lives? When the romantic ideal is disappointing, how else can affections be cultivated? If only a few can become rich, what substitute is there for dropping out? If religions...more
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Kindle Edition, 432 pages
Published May 21st 2015 by MacLehose Press (first published October 8th 2014)
Original Title
The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future
ASIN
B00T6CUWC4
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· 247 ratings · 36 reviews
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Mar 30, 2016Suha Hallab rated it liked it
To me, reading this book was like having a long long conversation with someone you love in the middle of the night about all the crazy curious questions you might have… a deep rich conversation…
So, this book represents 28 essays each titled by a question about a certain thing of which I’ll mention the ones I liked:
what is a wasted life?
How can a religion change?
Why do so many people feel unappreciated, unloved and only half alive?
What is the point of working so hard?
What is worth knowing?
Briefing about the author, he is a Russian-Jewish scholar at Oxford, born in 1933 in جبل الكرمل in Palestine. He and his parents moved to the UK where he pursued his studies in philosophy, history and latin. His best work was a 2000 pages book “The French” that was divided into 5 volumes: Ambition & Love, Intellect & Pride, Taste & Corruption, Politics & Anger and Anxiety & Hypocricy. He also wrote a replica of Orwell 1984 of how would the world look like if all desires are achieved under the title of “Happiness”.
This book is published in May 2015, and the author was 81 years and discusses with us the 28 different topics as if he s thinking out loud and talking to you as a friend however, as an 81 year old friend with expertise in life and writing based on huge array of sources and cultures.
For example, in his chapter titled what is worth knowing, I loved how he described that we should be nourished by knowledge and not bloated; nowadays many of us are just obese with knowledge it makes us sick. What use of information if there is no wisdom? He spoke about history as fiction, since past can never be told unless it’s from the perception of the historian… what matters is not how much knowledge we have but what we do with our knowledge, it is more like painting a picture which gradually takes shape.
And in the question of How can a religion change, he speaks about different religions, even the ones you wouldn’t expect to hear about like Zoroastrianism, he also quotes Islamic and Christian shcolars and Chinese and indian religions. He laments the hostility created by religions and that most of hostility is due to people telling each other how to behave. In india, there are 2.5 million places of worship and only 75000 hospitals.
Mainly, the writer would want a better world where people interact more in a meaningful way. He wants the hotels to become a hub for learning about each other whether we’re guests, having dinner or simply work there. In his world, Nobel prizes would be given to humorists instead of economists and the insurance companies would create opportunities for the young instead of creating fear of the old.
Regarding the style, the writing style is pretty simple, the book is fancy and the cover design is nice too. I also liked the notes on the side of each page, the ideas that should be remembered for example: “A family of the mind” , “Einstein and God”, competition “an awful kind of salvery”.
Personally, this book did not add anything to me. However it made me feel like I am sitting with an old friend at midnight with a glass of wine, and just talking y. It also made me think of my own answers and my own understanding of these topics as I also discussed them with my own friends. On the other hand, there are big parts of the book that feels like he just saying things to say, like a friend who is happy sharing what’s on his mind. What I also disagree with, is him stressing on interaction as nourishment, hence the people who prefer to spend time alone and not engage in any sort of conversation are less alive. In my opinion it is the opposite.
I do recommend as a light read, don’t expect to learn but to have a conversation through this book.
Nov 13, 2016Virditas rated it it was amazing
This is a fantastic book. Zeldin is an engineer of optimism, change, and openness. If this book were required reading for everyone, we would live in a very different world. This is a human book about human scaled possibilities. Please read this.
flag3 likes · Like · see review
Mar 25, 2018nedim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: perfect, favorites
one of the most impressive books I've read lately.
the book says "try to see all the colors in the world"
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jul 02, 2016Neglectedbooks rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Building on his 1998 book, Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Livesand his Conversation Menu project, Zeldin offers 29 essays in which he discusses questions ranging from "What is the great adventure of our time?" and "What is a wasted life?" to "What is the point of working so hard?" and "What is worth knowing?"
In most, he starts by introducing a person-- sometimes someone famous from the past (the painter Lucian Freud, the poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore), sometimes someone from the present (Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad), sometimes someone relatively obscure (the Indian memoirist Haimabati Sen)--and describing some aspect of his life and the choices he made. He then considers the larger questions that one might draw from each specific example and the choices they might inspire in us as individuals or as a society.
This is not a book to read if you're looking for simple answers, or even answers at all. Zeldin is really simply interested in opening doors and windows, in stimulating us to ask our own questions. A historian by training, Zeldin is very attuned to the importance of our pasts on our futures: "Humans have never yet created something out of nothing": "No-one lives only in the present"; "Knowledge is never raw."
Some reader may find this book extremely frustrating, as Zeldin often leaves one with more questions than answers. This is, however, his intent:
I hope that eavesdropping on my conversations will make my readers want to interrupt and disagree, and feel impelled to start their own book, from their own perspective, evoking the past that is most meaningful to them, and imagining a future that would give more hope to the present.
File Under: Mind Opener (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
May 27, 2017Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Some wonderful ideas, things to contemplate, especially about being more open to other people's ideas, disagreements, contradictions. I am even more inclined to get out and meet new people, talk to them about what they've experienced, what they've learnt....
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jun 14, 2019Sebastian Beltrán rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: history, philosophy
This book is a collection of 28 essays, each posing a question that "most of us leave half-answered in the back of our minds", such as "What is a wasted life?","How many ways of committing suicide are there?" or "What else can one do in a hotel?". Theodore Zeldin uses these themes as a vantage point from which he starts an argument. He manages to write a book that doesn't feel like a lecture and monologue but more like an intimate and lengthy conversation with a good friend over the dinner table.
A central theme of his and also his patent recipe for many of our problems are conversations. He discusses our lack of them, how our environment whether in our jobs or family hinders them and thinks about alternative ways in which we could increase the quality of our social interactions. In my favorite chapter Nr. 24 "What else can one do in a Hotel" he relates the life of the Russian Author Fjodor Dostojewski and how his four years in Siberia changed the way the thought of the poor and criminals because he got to know them and changed his way of talking with them. Dostojewski felt initially isolated, surrounded by strangers but after talking to them noticed that he had much to learn. From there on Zeldin draws a parallel to the way modern hotels are also quite isolated island. They may offer accommodation but seldom do they offer connection. How else might we relate to the chambermaids instead of ignoring them on the way out ? Isn't there a more exciting way of getting to know a foreign country instead of only looking at monuments of old but never speaking to an inhabitant of now?
What I've really liked is the way in which Zeldin uses history. He doesn't just see history as a collection of events in succession, or a series of stages but rather as a toolbox. He poses a question and then goes on to look at how people from other periods and lands have dealt with this problem. But this isn't to say that he draws on positive examples on how you should live, much rather he intends to show what the possibilites are.
Although Zeldin has said in interviews that he doesn't want to be called philosopher or historian, in my eyes he outshines many members of both professions. This book brings to light the good aspect of philosophy that I so like to read. Not at all theoretical, splitting hairs about the use of this or that technical term but focused on the practical aspects. Not on how you shouldthink differently, but on how you could.
What I wouldn't give to be even half as fluid in thought, open to new ways of thinking and humble with 81 years of age as Zeldin appears to be. He is what I would call in the discordian fashion a Catmatist, the opposite of a dogmatist. Instead of holding to a certain belief, no matter what evidence presents itself, he stresses the importance of the ambiguity of facts, how belief and religion changed. On p. 378 he describes his way of thinking as:
"Every time i encounter an object, a person or an experience, I do not see only it, but also how else it could be. I am always asking Myself: How could it be otherwise? This is the question that has made humans what they are today, for without it we would still be living in the tree-tops."
My biggest issue with this book is that although I really liked reading it, I found it quite challenging to think his questions through for myself and putting my thoughts and his suggestions into practice. Maybe it is because his discussion of the question that he puts forth is filled with a lifetime of learning, thinking and wisdom, making any answer that I come up with seem mostly inadequate in my mind. Maybe this will change with time as my thoughts mature. Maybe the nature of these sorts of questions is that your response will always fall short. (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
------------
and the best of the questions was,
what does it mean to be alive?
Briefing about the author, he is a Russian-Jewish scholar at Oxford, born in 1933 in جبل الكرمل in Palestine. He and his parents moved to the UK where he pursued his studies in philosophy, history and latin. His best work was a 2000 pages book “The French” that was divided into 5 volumes: Ambition & Love, Intellect & Pride, Taste & Corruption, Politics & Anger and Anxiety & Hypocricy. He also wrote a replica of Orwell 1984 of how would the world look like if all desires are achieved under the title of “Happiness”.
This book is published in May 2015, and the author was 81 years and discusses with us the 28 different topics as if he s thinking out loud and talking to you as a friend however, as an 81 year old friend with expertise in life and writing based on huge array of sources and cultures.
For example, in his chapter titled what is worth knowing, I loved how he described that we should be nourished by knowledge and not bloated; nowadays many of us are just obese with knowledge it makes us sick. What use of information if there is no wisdom? He spoke about history as fiction, since past can never be told unless it’s from the perception of the historian… what matters is not how much knowledge we have but what we do with our knowledge, it is more like painting a picture which gradually takes shape.
And in the question of How can a religion change, he speaks about different religions, even the ones you wouldn’t expect to hear about like Zoroastrianism, he also quotes Islamic and Christian shcolars and Chinese and indian religions. He laments the hostility created by religions and that most of hostility is due to people telling each other how to behave. In india, there are 2.5 million places of worship and only 75000 hospitals.
Mainly, the writer would want a better world where people interact more in a meaningful way. He wants the hotels to become a hub for learning about each other whether we’re guests, having dinner or simply work there. In his world, Nobel prizes would be given to humorists instead of economists and the insurance companies would create opportunities for the young instead of creating fear of the old.
Regarding the style, the writing style is pretty simple, the book is fancy and the cover design is nice too. I also liked the notes on the side of each page, the ideas that should be remembered for example: “A family of the mind” , “Einstein and God”, competition “an awful kind of salvery”.
Personally, this book did not add anything to me. However it made me feel like I am sitting with an old friend at midnight with a glass of wine, and just talking y. It also made me think of my own answers and my own understanding of these topics as I also discussed them with my own friends. On the other hand, there are big parts of the book that feels like he just saying things to say, like a friend who is happy sharing what’s on his mind. What I also disagree with, is him stressing on interaction as nourishment, hence the people who prefer to spend time alone and not engage in any sort of conversation are less alive. In my opinion it is the opposite.
I do recommend as a light read, don’t expect to learn but to have a conversation through this book.
Nov 13, 2016Virditas rated it it was amazing
This is a fantastic book. Zeldin is an engineer of optimism, change, and openness. If this book were required reading for everyone, we would live in a very different world. This is a human book about human scaled possibilities. Please read this.
flag3 likes · Like · see review
Mar 25, 2018nedim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: perfect, favorites
one of the most impressive books I've read lately.
the book says "try to see all the colors in the world"
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jul 02, 2016Neglectedbooks rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Building on his 1998 book, Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Livesand his Conversation Menu project, Zeldin offers 29 essays in which he discusses questions ranging from "What is the great adventure of our time?" and "What is a wasted life?" to "What is the point of working so hard?" and "What is worth knowing?"
In most, he starts by introducing a person-- sometimes someone famous from the past (the painter Lucian Freud, the poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore), sometimes someone from the present (Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad), sometimes someone relatively obscure (the Indian memoirist Haimabati Sen)--and describing some aspect of his life and the choices he made. He then considers the larger questions that one might draw from each specific example and the choices they might inspire in us as individuals or as a society.
This is not a book to read if you're looking for simple answers, or even answers at all. Zeldin is really simply interested in opening doors and windows, in stimulating us to ask our own questions. A historian by training, Zeldin is very attuned to the importance of our pasts on our futures: "Humans have never yet created something out of nothing": "No-one lives only in the present"; "Knowledge is never raw."
Some reader may find this book extremely frustrating, as Zeldin often leaves one with more questions than answers. This is, however, his intent:
I hope that eavesdropping on my conversations will make my readers want to interrupt and disagree, and feel impelled to start their own book, from their own perspective, evoking the past that is most meaningful to them, and imagining a future that would give more hope to the present.
File Under: Mind Opener (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
May 27, 2017Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Some wonderful ideas, things to contemplate, especially about being more open to other people's ideas, disagreements, contradictions. I am even more inclined to get out and meet new people, talk to them about what they've experienced, what they've learnt....
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jun 14, 2019Sebastian Beltrán rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: history, philosophy
This book is a collection of 28 essays, each posing a question that "most of us leave half-answered in the back of our minds", such as "What is a wasted life?","How many ways of committing suicide are there?" or "What else can one do in a hotel?". Theodore Zeldin uses these themes as a vantage point from which he starts an argument. He manages to write a book that doesn't feel like a lecture and monologue but more like an intimate and lengthy conversation with a good friend over the dinner table.
A central theme of his and also his patent recipe for many of our problems are conversations. He discusses our lack of them, how our environment whether in our jobs or family hinders them and thinks about alternative ways in which we could increase the quality of our social interactions. In my favorite chapter Nr. 24 "What else can one do in a Hotel" he relates the life of the Russian Author Fjodor Dostojewski and how his four years in Siberia changed the way the thought of the poor and criminals because he got to know them and changed his way of talking with them. Dostojewski felt initially isolated, surrounded by strangers but after talking to them noticed that he had much to learn. From there on Zeldin draws a parallel to the way modern hotels are also quite isolated island. They may offer accommodation but seldom do they offer connection. How else might we relate to the chambermaids instead of ignoring them on the way out ? Isn't there a more exciting way of getting to know a foreign country instead of only looking at monuments of old but never speaking to an inhabitant of now?
What I've really liked is the way in which Zeldin uses history. He doesn't just see history as a collection of events in succession, or a series of stages but rather as a toolbox. He poses a question and then goes on to look at how people from other periods and lands have dealt with this problem. But this isn't to say that he draws on positive examples on how you should live, much rather he intends to show what the possibilites are.
Although Zeldin has said in interviews that he doesn't want to be called philosopher or historian, in my eyes he outshines many members of both professions. This book brings to light the good aspect of philosophy that I so like to read. Not at all theoretical, splitting hairs about the use of this or that technical term but focused on the practical aspects. Not on how you shouldthink differently, but on how you could.
What I wouldn't give to be even half as fluid in thought, open to new ways of thinking and humble with 81 years of age as Zeldin appears to be. He is what I would call in the discordian fashion a Catmatist, the opposite of a dogmatist. Instead of holding to a certain belief, no matter what evidence presents itself, he stresses the importance of the ambiguity of facts, how belief and religion changed. On p. 378 he describes his way of thinking as:
"Every time i encounter an object, a person or an experience, I do not see only it, but also how else it could be. I am always asking Myself: How could it be otherwise? This is the question that has made humans what they are today, for without it we would still be living in the tree-tops."
My biggest issue with this book is that although I really liked reading it, I found it quite challenging to think his questions through for myself and putting my thoughts and his suggestions into practice. Maybe it is because his discussion of the question that he puts forth is filled with a lifetime of learning, thinking and wisdom, making any answer that I come up with seem mostly inadequate in my mind. Maybe this will change with time as my thoughts mature. Maybe the nature of these sorts of questions is that your response will always fall short. (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
------------
Jul 02, 2016Neglectedbooks rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Building on his 1998 book, Conversation: How Talk Can Change Our Livesand his Conversation Menu project, Zeldin offers 29 essays in which he discusses questions ranging from "What is the great adventure of our time?" and "What is a wasted life?" to "What is the point of working so hard?" and "What is worth knowing?"
In most, he starts by introducing a person-- sometimes someone famous from the past (the painter Lucian Freud, the poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore), sometimes someone from the present (Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad), sometimes someone relatively obscure (the Indian memoirist Haimabati Sen)--and describing some aspect of his life and the choices he made. He then considers the larger questions that one might draw from each specific example and the choices they might inspire in us as individuals or as a society.
This is not a book to read if you're looking for simple answers, or even answers at all. Zeldin is really simply interested in opening doors and windows, in stimulating us to ask our own questions. A historian by training, Zeldin is very attuned to the importance of our pasts on our futures: "Humans have never yet created something out of nothing": "No-one lives only in the present"; "Knowledge is never raw."
Some reader may find this book extremely frustrating, as Zeldin often leaves one with more questions than answers. This is, however, his intent:
I hope that eavesdropping on my conversations will make my readers want to interrupt and disagree, and feel impelled to start their own book, from their own perspective, evoking the past that is most meaningful to them, and imagining a future that would give more hope to the present.
File Under: Mind Opener (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
May 27, 2017Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Some wonderful ideas, things to contemplate, especially about being more open to other people's ideas, disagreements, contradictions. I am even more inclined to get out and meet new people, talk to them about what they've experienced, what they've learnt....
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jun 14, 2019Sebastian Beltrán rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: history, philosophy
This book is a collection of 28 essays, each posing a question that "most of us leave half-answered in the back of our minds", such as "What is a wasted life?","How many ways of committing suicide are there?" or "What else can one do in a hotel?". Theodore Zeldin uses these themes as a vantage point from which he starts an argument. He manages to write a book that doesn't feel like a lecture and monologue but more like an intimate and lengthy conversation with a good friend over the dinner table.
A central theme of his and also his patent recipe for many of our problems are conversations. He discusses our lack of them, how our environment whether in our jobs or family hinders them and thinks about alternative ways in which we could increase the quality of our social interactions. In my favorite chapter Nr. 24 "What else can one do in a Hotel" he relates the life of the Russian Author Fjodor Dostojewski and how his four years in Siberia changed the way the thought of the poor and criminals because he got to know them and changed his way of talking with them. Dostojewski felt initially isolated, surrounded by strangers but after talking to them noticed that he had much to learn. From there on Zeldin draws a parallel to the way modern hotels are also quite isolated island. They may offer accommodation but seldom do they offer connection. How else might we relate to the chambermaids instead of ignoring them on the way out ? Isn't there a more exciting way of getting to know a foreign country instead of only looking at monuments of old but never speaking to an inhabitant of now?
What I've really liked is the way in which Zeldin uses history. He doesn't just see history as a collection of events in succession, or a series of stages but rather as a toolbox. He poses a question and then goes on to look at how people from other periods and lands have dealt with this problem. But this isn't to say that he draws on positive examples on how you should live, much rather he intends to show what the possibilites are.
Although Zeldin has said in interviews that he doesn't want to be called philosopher or historian, in my eyes he outshines many members of both professions. This book brings to light the good aspect of philosophy that I so like to read. Not at all theoretical, splitting hairs about the use of this or that technical term but focused on the practical aspects. Not on how you shouldthink differently, but on how you could.
What I wouldn't give to be even half as fluid in thought, open to new ways of thinking and humble with 81 years of age as Zeldin appears to be. He is what I would call in the discordian fashion a Catmatist, the opposite of a dogmatist. Instead of holding to a certain belief, no matter what evidence presents itself, he stresses the importance of the ambiguity of facts, how belief and religion changed. On p. 378 he describes his way of thinking as:
"Every time i encounter an object, a person or an experience, I do not see only it, but also how else it could be. I am always asking Myself: How could it be otherwise? This is the question that has made humans what they are today, for without it we would still be living in the tree-tops."
My biggest issue with this book is that although I really liked reading it, I found it quite challenging to think his questions through for myself and putting my thoughts and his suggestions into practice. Maybe it is because his discussion of the question that he puts forth is filled with a lifetime of learning, thinking and wisdom, making any answer that I come up with seem mostly inadequate in my mind. Maybe this will change with time as my thoughts mature. Maybe the nature of these sorts of questions is that your response will always fall short. (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Jul 12, 2017Venky rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: bibliocase
The 81 year old historian and philosopher Theodore Zeldin in a series of conversational essays, tackles head on the vicissitudes and woes faced by mankind during the course of living. This he does in an unconventional manner. Every Chapter in his book "The Hidden Pleasures of Life" begins with a probing and provocative question. Oscillating between the arcane and the obvious, it is as though Zeldin conceives each question after being racked by a bout of epiphany. One may also forgive the reader for harbouring a perception that Zeldin throughout the course of the book is zealously embarking on a quest to discover eternal serendipity and egging the reader on for company.
Some of the questions for which Zeldin tries to wean out introspective answers are:
What is a wasted life?
What can the poor tell the rich?
Is another kind of sexual revolution achievable? What is worth knowing?
What does it mean to be alive?
What can the rich teach the poor?
What is the point of working as hard as one is currently working?
What else can one do in a hotel?
In answering each of the questions, Zeldin takes inspiration from an eclectic mix of personalities, past, present and future. For example in a Chapter where Zeldin attempts to understand the intricacies surrounding stereotypical prejudices, he resorts to the life and works of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore who aimed to destroy class conventions and caste hierarchies by establishing a non-conventional educational institution and naming it “Shantiniketan” or “The Abode of Peace”. The philosopher poet also spawned a cultural and social revolution through his works which had at its core bridging the schism of perception that separated the ways of the East from the Western style of living.
Similarly in a Chapter concentrating on the perils of ignorance, Zeldin quotes the example of the great and inveterate Iranian traveler of the 19th Century Hajj Sayyah who with a view to escaping a forced marriage, left home and explored myriad realms, kingdoms, Caliphates and countries, both accumulating and imparting wisdom during the course of his extraordinary circumlocution of the world. “The Hidden Pleasures of Life” spans cultures, seeks inspiration from sources both renowned and remote, and seeks to engage the reader in a honest quest for truth. A truth that would facilitate an escape from the mundane and the monotony that has almost come to represent the modern way of life. Zeldin’s “Hidden Pleasures” is more a plea to introspect than a run-of-the mill self-help manual that promises access to the Holy Grail in 21 easy to follow, practical to implement steps. More than proving solutions, Zeldin teaches exhorts us to pose the right questions. Questions which shape the very manner in which should live as opposed to how we desire and continue to live at present.
Zeldin has been termed the modern day Balzac. It is not surprising to understand why especially after grasping the unique mix of curiosity, concern, and clairvoyance permeating the pages in “The Hidden Pleasures of Life”
(less)
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Aug 05, 2019Tony Fitzpatrick rated it liked it
A set of 27 "conversations" with the author, using role models and figures from history to illustrate different approaches to behaviour, lifestyle and beliefs. Interesting but in the end rather frustrating as Professor Zeldin (Wolfson Prize, CBE, Oxford Fellow) reaches few conclusions you can easily take away. Maybe that was the point.
A few nuggets which made me think, especially about the author's rather ambivalent approach to religion. - "I shall not ask you what your religion is. I prefer to ask instead: How do you put into practice whatever beliefs you have?" ..... "His slogan was ‘First a Man, then a Christian’, meaning that an individual needs to start by becoming a person, capable of having fruitful relationships, which could not be found simply by joining a church. For him, Christianity did not originate from the Bible ‘translated from a foreign language’, nor from the commentaries of theologians, but from the behaviour of its adherents. What made a church was neither preaching nor ceremonies but the interaction between its members.".
I also particularly liked the discussion on how people use freedom - "Freedom is not merely a right, but a skill to be acquired, the skill to view the world through different lenses, through lenses other than one’s own, the skill to imagine what no-one has imagined before, to find beauty or meaning or inspiration. Each life is a fable about freedom".
One of his interesting ideas is that some might have a role as an intermediary - "There are alternatives to the ambition to be a leader. One is to be an intermediary, who neither receives nor gives orders and who helps those who have too little knowledge, or money or imagination or opportunity to acquire it from those who have some to spare". Food for thought as an approach in retirement.
Lastly, as the Brexit debate rumbles on I especially enjoyed his view on politicians - "So there are many reasons why the extraordinary number of pathetic people who have been raised to high office have proved to be impervious to ridicule. They are not there to tell the truth, and certainly not the whole truth; they would have to resign in shame if they did; and besides their lies often make people feel better, give courage or hope; they are humorists in their own way too, in that they invent tall stories about their achievements. There can be no winners in this game of tennis balls that explode in the receiver’s face".
Hard work to read, but worth it in the end. (less)
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May 29, 2017Asma rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Zeldin's tone in The Hidden Pleasures is very soothing. There is a certain meticulousness in the questions he asks and explores. He weaves in stories and statistics that are both relevant and enjoyable. It is deeply philosophical that I agreed with what he said, and disagreed with others. The one thing I found lacking while reading the book though, is a definitive stance from Zeldin on these questions. He kind of left it for the readers to decide, and while that's not bad, I was curious to know how he, the writer, would answer these very questions that he posed to us.
This is only a minor frustration though. I enjoyed reading the book, and dwelling on what he put forth.
For more reviews, check out my blog, A Reading Kabocha. (less)
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Jan 09, 2018LWoods rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: 2018, fastinating
Truly a profound book. Found myself noting whole sentences and paragraphs.
It introduced me to fascinating characters in history who I'd never heard which resulted in me sourcing more information on them.
I loved this book! Granted I sort of idolise Theodore Zeldin, as his books always make me think differently, he certainly won't be to everyone's taste.
I'd liken the book to a 'chef's dining experience'; you don't know what you're being served up at each chapter....that you'd never thought of a topic that way...that you're not sure you're going to like it...but when you think on it, it's actually quite interesting. The ideas are just tasters that leave you wanting to discuss more!
Ultimately this book left me wanting to engage with other people differently.(less)
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May 15, 2017Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Reading this book is an enriching experience. Zeldin draws on his exploration of cultures and texts, many from the Orient and ancient, to distill knowledge and wisdom, frequently providing new perspectives on items as diverse as IKEA and American hotels. Particularly interesting to me were his reflections on knowledge, rendered vivid by his analogy with food:"knowledge, like food, tastes and looks different depending on who cooks it and how it is served and what meals the diner has eaten before." This is a book to be indulged in in small sips, leaving time for reflection on the points raised in order to discover and fully appreciate those hidden pleasures. (less)
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Dec 29, 2018Laura Schlosberg rated it really liked it · review of another edition
This is a provocative book to read in spurts. In invites reflection and challenges you to think and live differently, and engage with strangers and those you know with more integrity, courage, and curiosity. “Being alive is not simply a matter of having a heart that beats, it is also being aware of how other hearts beat and other minds think in response to one another.” My only wish for this book was a bibliography listing all the sources fir the quotes.
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Jan 20, 2018Sertac rated it it was amazing
Another incredible book from Zeldin.
Read this book to expand your understanding about humanity, development, history and more...
