I found the tone of this book contrived and condescending, with poorly written dialogue (although hard to know how much of that is due to the translation). The worst faults for me, however, were the offensive, compassionaless, victim-blaming ideas such as 'trauma does not exist' (a heading of a sub-chapter), expanded on to state that a person suffering from agorophobia is choosing to do so to treated as special by their parents. Second worst would be the poor logic used to 'prove' these ideas.

This book is insulting to the field of psychology and to humanity in general. The premise is that abuse and trauma just need to be forgotten and people just need to move on because they're choosing to be traumatized. If you don't enjoy critical thinking and just want to brainwashed then this book is for you.

Alfred Adler is the relatively unknown 3rd giant of psychology after the likes of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung but with arguably the most ground-breaking work of any. Adlerian psychology feels counter-intuitive at first glance in many ways, but one powerful idea after another it makes it's case, creating one of the strongest, most foolproof frameworks ever for thinking. I don't think I will ever go back to being the same person again, now that I have read this book.Adlerian psychology is opposed

I don't know if I can get through all of this. I've never reviewed a book before I finished it, but I feel it's warranted here. First, the title is a bait and switch as it is all about Western Adlerian psychology, not anything Japanese.It's outdated. It's almost incoherent if you know anything about psychological or biological research of the last 80 years. Adler has the excuse of not knowing about that because he's dead. The authors of this book do not. So far, the book is a circular argument:

Teleology: The study of the purpose of the given phenomenon, rather than it's cause.The past events does not define our present or future. People are not driven by past causes, but move toward goals that they themselves set.Ever wonder what makes you angry?The first thing that pops in my mind is, people get angry because of others or any external triggers, but in reality, people fabricate anger such that they can make the other person to submit. Anger is a means to achieve a goal. Anger is a too...

I didn't like the "play" format of this book. For me, it would have been much more effective in a traditional non-fiction style.

What do we say to the god of self-help books?Not today. Maybe tomorrow.But this, this isn't a self-help book. And fuck it, I'm going to be brutally honest on Goodreads because you are all wonderful people. And we all need to stop hiding how we feel and have a discussion.Disclaimer No book is a one-size-helps-all. Don't see any self-help or psychologically-directed book as the Holy Grail of "my life is now going to change." You know why? You decide to change. You did the work. The book might help...

This book was really famous in Japan, it became number one on the bestseller list in 2014. After then, it translated in Korean and it stayed on bestseller list for 33 weeks in Korea. At first time I heard this news, I doubt about this book. Because I had some biases about best sellers. But my professor just recommended this book to me, and I read it. And this book was totally different from other best sellers. This book talks about 'Courage'. It says we need courage to be hated. Because peopl

Inspiring, thought-provoking and deeper than a Taylor Swift song. 'All you can do with regard to your own life is choose the best path that you believe in. On the other hand, what kind of judgement do people pass on that choice? That is the task of other people, and is not a matter you can do anything about.'This quote kinda sums up the book. It's about returning the focus to only what you can affect, and living your own life a moment at a time. There are some ideas here that are familiar to

I have goosebumps finishing this book. So many strong pieces of wisdom within these pages that not only had me rethink many of the conclusions I have on life but also allowed me to put new truths into action and feel the weight in the validity of these teachings. I will re-read this for many years to come.

While I can acknowledge that this book added value to my life, I had *serious* issues with several points of this "phenomenon" which is ultimately why I am giving it only one star.I'd like to start by saying that I listened to this on Audible and that was a pleasant experience - as it's written as a dialogue between two people, it is read in that style. If you are going to pick this up, I highly recommend the audio version.I found myself yelling in my car at the old philosopher several times, ag...

My words would be worthless so I just quote:"It is similar with the shock experienced by someone who, after many years of being nearsighted, puts on glasses for the first time"

Victim blaming. “Trauma does not exist” “People CHOOSE to be unhappy”. This is the worst book I have ever read. So glad it was a give away. I’ll be regifting it to file 13.

For a start, readers should know that there is no "Japanese phenomenon" here. This is psychobabble based on Alfred Adler's teachings written by Japanese authors. Framing this book as a "Japanese phenomenon" misleads the reader, and is an outright misrepresentation by the authors.This book is loosely based on Socrates' teachings (I'm being generous here) and the Adlerian School of Psychotherapy, born out the same movement (the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society) that gave us Sigmund Freud and Carl Jun...

I tried to like this book, I really did. I unlearned all of my predisposition and tried to embrace the school of Adlerian psychology that this book preached, but to no avail. To be fair, I completely agree with many of the ideas proposed in this book about how to live your life healthier, like the separation of tasks and that you shouldn't care about how everyone around you think of you, but that's only because I have always considered them to be common sense instead of some profound, radical id...

Apparently "there is no trauma" because you simply just choose to be traumatized and it's really just up to you whether you want to magically snap your finger and get out of this damn trauma rut. So why dontcha already, huh?! Okay. Not that I'm a huge fan of Adler anyway but this is brazenly taking out of context the man's writings too. This book read a lot like other pseudo-scientific books like this whole law of attraction stuff that's been running rampant in the past 10+ years. Ironically the...

Got halfway through and had to give up. The book is set out as a Socratic discussion, but I didn’t like that. It felt condescending rather than interesting. I don’t think I agree with many of Alfred Adler’s ideas as represented in this book, particularly his views on trauma, which he says “does not exist”. Maybe that’s a helpful way of thinking for some people, but it doesn’t sit well with me. His ideas might be more nuanced, but if they are, I don’t think the book did much to convey that. It wa...

I rarely leave reviews here on Goodreads, but this book has the potential to change lives.It introduces the reader to so many new concepts, yet in such an approachable way, that every chapter ends with an aha-moment.Read this book if you're into personal development, if you want to completely change your opinion about happiness. Read it if you are struggling with your introvert personality, if you have trauma to overcome and relationships to heal (especially with your parents).

TLDR: bought a dead tree copy for my daughter. If I leave her with any useful legacy I'd like it to be introducing her to this book.***So, it's not that I'm not a fan of the Socratic Method, it's just that the particular format of this book is tiresome. It's written as a dialogue over 5 sessions between The Philosopher and The Youth, and 90% of my irritation is because of the Youth is written as both extremely abrasive in manner, and dense as a plank.However the contents of the book are excellen...

The content of this book is amazing.I remember me discussing with Himanshu, Abhishek and Ankit, a lot of things which are related to the book. This book gave words to those musings and structured a lot of mental models for me. It made me wonder about a lot of experiences I had and am having. One advice: start acting the way this book suggests at least for the time span of the read.Few lessons:- Your past doesn't determine you, it is how you make of it.- Don't rush for answers, arrive at them. (*...