How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division

Henk

Rating: really liked it
Shafak’s writing in support of pluralism, democracy and moderate standpoints is a warm bath in these troubling times
Do not be afraid of complexity.
Be afraid of people who promise an easy shortcut to simplicity.

Elif Shafak investigates in this short bundle what is still possible against decisive powers that affects the "old" narrative that progress is unavoidable and liberal democracy is the only viable way (as most clearly represented by The End of History and the Last Man of Francis Fukuyama).
In How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division she pleads for the power of pluralism and she looks into the power of story telling and language for both progressive and regressive purposes.
Her writing is emotional and hope filled in a way we are not so accustomed anymore; how many people do we still know who can convincingly (and without irony) plead for the value of liberal democracy?

Off course she already did this stunningly in her Ted talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak...) but we are fortunate enough to have a bit more of her magic storytelling, and we can in only a few hours feel uplifted and more empowered.

When the world is blatantly infuriating we can't keep repressing our anger. At the same time, we need to go out and connect with our fellow human beings and stand by those who are hurting; we shouldn't forget to look within, critically examine our own assumptions and hidden stereotypes, expand and soften our hearts; and as we do all that, we must go on and continue working just as others have before us.

AJ

Rating: really liked it
Elif has a way of phrasing things as though she’s a friend who’s always in a mood to give some stern advice when you need it the most & only if you remain a good listener will you b able to get the essence of her wisdom. Beautifully written & brutally honest, hence, highly recommended!! 💜

Deepti Srivatsan

Rating: really liked it
This could have been a long blog post than a full fledged book. Elif Shafak is one of my favourite authors and I deeply admire her. This book is a reflection of her thoughts keeping the current pandemic and it’s impact at the core. Although there were some deep, meaningful points, at times it felt like she was rambling on - jumping from one issue to another.

Alice Lippart

Rating: really liked it
Timely and interesting.

Raphael Lysander

Rating: really liked it
I hate it when authors publish anything they write just because they are famous and can. Shafak didn't present anything new in this book, sentences such as "OURS IS THE AGE of contagious anxiety" are boring cliches, and it is all written as if an elementary school's essay about the effects of technology and social media.
Plus, half of the book is self praise instead of solution for the promised title!

Amal Bedhyefi

Rating: really liked it
ساعات نستحقّو نقراو كتاب موش باش يعلّمنا حاجات جدد، أما باش يعاونّا نتعدّاو مرحلة صعيبة.
How to stay sane in an age of division is the book that I can't stop recommending to people.
There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about this book. However, its beauty resides in Shafak's magical storytelling and delicate prose to examine politics and culture in this new digital age.
Like she mentioned, ours is the age of contagious anxiety. We feel overwhelmed by the events around us, by injustice, by suffering, by an endless feeling of crisis.
Reading this short book felt like having an honest and heartfelt conversation with a friend. So,If you're going through a rough time, read this one, for I'm sure it will provide a much needed comfort.

Sara

Rating: really liked it
To tackle the concepts of cultural devision, social media and emotional reflection in under 100 pages is no easy task - yet Elif Shafak has an exquisite way with words. Drawing on her own experiences, she lends her voice to political and social issues in an eloquent and accessible way that really gets to the heart of current life within a pandemic. It gives examples of how we have the power and ability to change society on the other side of such a world altering event, why this is so important, and why apathy is the most dangerous emotion of all. I'm still amazed at how much reflection and information was packed into this.

Excellent and informative, everyone should be reading this to enhance and diversity their views.

Salamon

Rating: really liked it
Reading this short book is a need for everyone not because it astonishes you with very new ideas or magical solutions to the problems contributing to the current human condition, but because it summarizes what we're dealing with and what we (as a species) will have to deal with more in the future. It paints a picture of us and a clear one for that matter. It tries to raise awareness about all we are ignoring, all the issues that won't vanish into thin air while we're not watching.

I believe there should be more significant and prominent voices shouting the message of sanity.

Paloma

Rating: really liked it
Review in English | Reseña en Español

Well, I don’t know. This is the first work I read from this author and while it is clear she knows how to write, I felt this was a random essay putting together some of her personal thoughts about the convoluted world we live in today. This is not bad per se, but I felt some of her commentary seemed to be taken out of a personal diary and not so much a text worked for a contemporary essay. There were also some parts when I felt I was reading a self-help book and this was very confusing. However, while I would have preferred another way of execution, I acknowledge the message Shafak delivers is very important and relevant as ever when our societies seem to be moving towards less dialogue and more authoritarian regimes and leaders. Technology, the free flow of information and social media should have given us a more clear understanding of the world and make our interest on other communities and cultures grow, but this seems to be the opposite, particularly in the West. In this context, is easy to be discouraged and people appear to be burned out. I certainly am. Hence, as the author points out, it is important to read, to research, and to hear as many stories as we can so we keep empathy towards others and above all, be reminded of our shared humanity.
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Este es el primer libro que leo de la autora y si bien resulta evidente que sabe escribir, en varios momentos me parecía que el texto era un ensayo muy general que reunía sus reflexiones más personales sobre el mundo complejo en el que vivimos hoy. Esto no es malo en sí mismo, pero siento que algunos de sus comentarios pudieran haber sido sacados de un diario personal y no textos trabajados para un ensayo contemporáneo. Incluso, hubo partes en las que me pareció estar leyendo un libro de superación personal, lo cual fue bastante confuso. Sin embargo, si bien me hubiera gustado que el texto fuera ejecutado de otra forma, lo cierto es que el mensaje de Shafak es muy importante y relevante que nunca, particularmente cuando nuestras sociedades parecen encaminadas a un menor diálogo entre los grupos y regímenes y líderes cada vez más autoritarios. La tecnología, el libre flujo de información y el acceso a redes sociales parecían ser los instrumentos que nos darían un mejor entendimiento del mundo y aumentar el interés por conocer a otras comunidades y culturales pero lo contrario parece ocurrir y en particular en Occidente. En este contexto, es fácil sentirse desanimado y las personas parecen estar agotadas emocional y mentalmente. Sin duda yo lo estoy. Por ello, y como señala la autora, es importante leer, informarse, investigar, y escuchar el mayor número de historias para mantener la cordura y quizá, sobre todo, nuestra humanidad.

Lukas Vermeer

Rating: really liked it
Does not deliver. She’s not wrong, I just don’t see the point.

Kavitha

Rating: really liked it
If you've spent any of your time on social media networks in the past few months (especially since the pandemic started) and experienced anxiety or what Ashley 'Dotty' Charles calls in her book Outraged: Why Everyone Is Shouting and No One Is Talking(my recent read) as "Outrage fatigue", then this book may offer some comfort to you by validating your feelings first. It may also empower you to be more mindful of such feelings the next time they occur. Shafak writes elegantly about the "group narcissism" that seems to be happening a lot on social media networks lately. She argues that it causes anxiety first, but it ultimately leads to apathy. She empathizes with the anger under oppressive and unjust circumstances, but she calls for restraint. She argues that anger, by itself, is a destructive force. The sheer intensity of anger, she says, can become a substitute for doing anything productive. She advises to channel the anger into a calmer and more productive force that can lead to substantial results.

The speed at which people are judged, stances are taken and strong opinions are expressed against other people on social media platforms purely based on a single tweet or a couple of tweets, without ever having interacted with them in real life, continues to disturb me. In real life, I find people to be so complex and multi-faceted that it often takes several in-person interactions to be able to understand them, their character and their motivations. As Shafak says in this book, “Be afraid of people who promise an easy shortcut to simplicity”. She urges everyone to always embrace complexity over simplicity.

I find it disheartening that instead of being united by our shared human experience of navigating the world under the grip of a pandemic, the social media platforms are playing a significant role these days in polarizing the society, dividing people even more, labeling them, and encouraging the "us" vs "them" thinking. It's a strange world we live in! Shafak points out that there are greater forces at play that benefit from polarizing the society. “It is not a coincidence that all across the world authoritarian demagogues go to great lengths to incite and inflame polarization. They know they will benefit from it. They love it when there is more division, friction, mutual exclusion. They love it when the river between 'us' and 'them' overflows its banks and drives us apart, so that we no longer see or hear each other above the roaring torrent....The less that people from different backgrounds can communicate and empathize with each other, the smaller our appreciation of our common humanity, the less egalitarian and inclusive our shared spaces, the more satisfied the demagogue.”

The solution that she suggests for all of this is to get comfortable with experiencing the negative emotions first. Become more aware and mindful of them. Sit with them a bit longer until they calm down. Seek in-depth knowledge on current issues via books and investigative journalism. And ultimately, channel the outrage into more productive outlets. “We live in an age in which there is too much information, less knowledge and even less wisdom. That ratio needs to be reversed. We definitely need less information, more knowledge, and much more wisdom.”

Overall, a very timely and a very well-articulated book that will give you a decent amount of food for thought.

chooksandbooksnz

Rating: really liked it
How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division - Elif Shafak

This is a short book (under 100 pages) but man it packs a punch 👊. Such profound writing where you sit there nodding along because everything just makes sense!

Elif Shafak briefly touches on so many big issues in a simple, bite sized way. She reminds us to widen our lense and continue to seek and welcome diversity, understand our anger, frustration, anxiety, while highlighting the importance of communication and taking action and SO MUCH MORE.

This book has by no means solved world peace but it certainly makes us as readers in the modern world feel heard, understood and that our feelings are valid. The title literally says it all.

I definitely wouldn’t class this as a self help book because it’s not full of advice on how to live your life. It’s more comforting and gives that feeling of a mutual understanding that the world is overwhelming and that we are not the only ones experiencing this crazy ride called life.

I feel like every single person should read this book at some stage to be reminded of all of these things.

All of the stars for this impactful little number!!
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Udit Nair

Rating: really liked it
This book is indeed an apposite to the present scenario of the world. The book is very brief and concise but does cover topics which has great magnitude and importance. Some of the lessons I gathered from the book are -

1. We must strive to become intellectual nomads, keep moving, keep learning, resist confining ourselves in any cultural or mental ghetto, and spend more time at margins where the real change comes from.

2. In a world that has increasingly become complex and challenging, group narcissism has become a compensation for personal failures, flaws & frustrations.

3. Democracy is much more fragile than we thought it was. It is a very delicate system of checks and balances that constantly needs to be nourished and nurtured.

4. In a world that is ever shifting and unpredictable it is totally fine not to feel fine. It is perfectly okay not to be okay.

5. One of the greatest paradoxes of our time is that hardliners are more passionate, engaged and involved than many moderates.

6. Dont be afraid of complexity. Be afraid of people who promise an easy shortcut to simplicity.

d.

Rating: really liked it
a must read me thinks

Alan Teder

Rating: really liked it
No Magic Pill... but Affirming Nevertheless
Review of the Wellcome Collection paperback edition (August 2020)

Turkish-British author Elif Shafak (author of the Booker nominated 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019)) provides an affirming essay about the importance of education and the amplifying of unheard voices in the current age. Providing a partial glimpse into her own multicultural upbringing she takes the reader through stages of "Disillusionment and Bewilderment", "Anxiety", "Anger", "Apathy" to "Information, Knowledge, Wisdom."

Purposeful quotes from her own grandmother to recent writers are sprinkled throughout:

'Don't thank me, ' Grandma said. 'You focus on improving your daughter's life. We inherit our circumstances, we improve them for the next generation. I had little education, I wanted you to do better. Now you need to make sure your daughter has more than you had. Isn't this the natural way of the world? - excerpt from pg. 51

I get angry about things, then go on and work. - Toni Morrison

What we call the beginning is often the end...
The end is where we start from. - T.S. Eliot "Little Gidding" The Four Quartets (1941)

I read How to Stay Sane... thanks to a shared subscription to Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company's Year of Reading 2020 New Releases.