tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post1125793841975425220..comments2023-06-18T02:23:18.711-07:00Comments on The Book Group: Hector and the Search for HappinessRimshothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10704736086427919860noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-50302169641062050522010-09-25T17:05:26.906-07:002010-09-25T17:05:26.906-07:00Um, I have to say that Hector came over to me as a...Um, I have to say that Hector came over to me as a construct designed to disarm the negative and cynical mind.<br />And I did take the points and they were well presented. But I really didn't think it qualified as a novel. More a sort of illustrated guide. For children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-73534238918528250622010-09-24T14:29:59.203-07:002010-09-24T14:29:59.203-07:00ooo, maybe we should read Siddhartha next?ooo, maybe we should read Siddhartha next?Rimshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704736086427919860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-71145720638907978212010-09-24T07:17:58.460-07:002010-09-24T07:17:58.460-07:00He COULD have been a wandering peasant (Siddhartha...He COULD have been a wandering peasant (Siddhartha comes to mind) but since the author is a head-shrink, he made his protagonist a head-shrink. I'm ok with that.Rimshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704736086427919860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-24964222114826052802010-09-24T00:40:56.254-07:002010-09-24T00:40:56.254-07:00yes, agreed, but what about when he went to the ni...yes, agreed, but what about when he went to the nightclub and picked up the escort girl? if he's a pyschiatrist he's well educated and experienced. . .<br /><br />. . .that's about the only quibble I had with the book<br /><br />if you want him to be an "everyman", then couldn't he have been a peasant wandering around a village making the same observations? rather than a successful doctor who could afford to jet about the world! but I'm not trying to quibble - I think the list is very put together, and the book very readable and I liked Hector as a character<br /><br />maybe I'm just too cynical for my own good<br /><br />don't want that to make it seem like I didn't enjoy the book, because I did<br /><br />I'll go away now<br /><br /><b>*hangs head in shame*</b>english inukshukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11837926498247135299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-27161804578514181072010-09-23T12:03:19.345-07:002010-09-23T12:03:19.345-07:00Hmm, I didn't get the 'prat' bit. The...Hmm, I didn't get the 'prat' bit. The whole tone was written in such a simple, children's book-ish tone that I took it at face value that Hector was just a sort of Everyman, with the gifts and abilities required of such a character to give him a bit of credibility as a knowledgeable and impartial student of 'happiness'. I think he needed to be simple in order to be able to objectively 'observe' what made people happy or unhappy.Rimshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704736086427919860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-88019103226702774322010-09-23T11:31:30.606-07:002010-09-23T11:31:30.606-07:00so, when I read the book I was going to type up th...so, when I read the book I was going to type up the whole list, and use it to refer to everynowandagain. . .<br /><br />. . .however the parts of the list that I currently "don'"t have (and the fact he pointed them out!) made me a little sad. . .<br /><br />. . .the only thing that really annoyed me about the book as a whole, and in general as a read, was that Hector seemed a little bit of a prat occasionally - kind of naive, and altho this made him seem sweet, which I guess was the point, it also bugged me<br /><br />(not that I disagreed with his list)<br /><br />((it made me want to read Jonathan Livingston Seagull again, as a much older person, to see what I thought about it now))english inukshukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11837926498247135299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-42031392992519262242010-09-23T11:25:58.636-07:002010-09-23T11:25:58.636-07:00I totally agree that it works both ways. I learne...I totally agree that it works both ways. I learned long ago that everybody's woes are valid. There's simply no point in the popular act of one-upping. And there's no solace in noting that others have bigger problems. It's not relevant, if one has a problem, it's irrespective of any relation/comparison to any other problem.<br /><br />Now, in the context of the book. Hector is dead on right. To an ex-millionaire, $100,000 is quite a disappointment (assuming that the ex-millionaire is typical of the population at large and can't see things for what they are but only as what they are compared to something else) but to an ex-hundredaire (it's a word! I made it one) that same $100,000 is a FORTUNE.<br /><br />So, perhaps it's not really the comparison after all, but the perspective.Rimshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704736086427919860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8772278006136349766.post-83993096652946878312010-09-23T10:58:59.335-07:002010-09-23T10:58:59.335-07:00well, see, this is what I wasn't doing over at...well, see, this is what I <b>wasn't</b> doing over at Ms Mel's yesterday when I joined in on her whining Wednesday - I was just getting my niggles off my chest (and into her comment box - oops) <b><i>not</i></b> comparing or advocating that my worries are/were worse than hers. . .<br /><br />I wasn't comparing, just adding to (well, not really that either)<br /><br />I remember when I was first diagnosed with post natal depression and the nurse who came to visit me listened to me saying that I had nothing to complain about cos I had a husband who had a job and we had a house and three healthy children and just think of all those poor single mothers in council blocks. . .<br /><br />she stopped me right in my tracks and told me not to compare myself to others - because it's just not relevant<br /><br />so I think Hector's first point works both ways<br /><br />it's just not healthy to be making comparisons the whole time<br /><br />yikes! I'm thirsty now. . .english inukshukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11837926498247135299noreply@blogger.com