You want it easy or you want to be happy?

That's one of the very good questions this book nudges you to ask yourself.
Took a star away because of the young actor's performance, as many others mentioned here.

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Fascinating concepts discussed, but . .

Having read The Courage To Be Disliked, I was thoroughly looking forward to reading this sequel. Although I didn't know where it would go as the first book had been such a comprehensive discussion on Adlerian themes. The content of this book is again very interesting and works further to elucidate the more controversial of Adlers ideas such a not praising or rebuking actions amongst others. For this it was an excellent book and very thought provoking.

However, one enormous downside, was the narration. They seemingly had more money for production this time round and well, "jumped the shark". The narrator for the philosopher was excellent, the lady introducing the chapters was unnecessary but unremarkable and therefore tolerable. Yet, the voice actor for the young man/apprentice was just intolerable and ridiculous. I found his poor voice acting was seriously detracting from my enjoyment of the book. To the point I had to stop for several weeks half way through and go back to it as he was so grating. The young mans character issues some ridiculous ridicules and absurd abuse towards the philosopher, which I found trite and all the more incongruous due to the theatrical style if the younger voice actor.
All in, if you don't mind pantomime quality voice acting I would say forge on with the audiobook. If you are sensitive to the quality of the narration and find excessive AmDram style theatrics irritating. I would still definitely recommend this book, however in print / ebook version.

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20 people found this helpful

Good message but irritating

What a shame. The ‘youth’ is so obnoxious as to be distracting from the message. The philosopher should have just punched him in the face. And then, when the youth had picked his teeth up, punched him in the face again.

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2 people found this helpful

Interesting insight into Adlerian Psychology

An interesting insight into Adlerian Psychology, The Courage to be Happy is more of a guide to educational psychology taking the form of a dialogue between a mentor and mentee, the latter who often responds with incredulity to many of the claims of Adlerian Psychology.
A decent book for anyone who wants to explore the psychology of serving and understanding others better, and in turn gaining a greater degree of self-worth.

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1 person found this helpful

First third was annoying. but some gold nuggets still exist

I was ready to put down after the first 1/3 of the book. the focus on education and school relationships bored me somewhat. however the book picked up much after. I am glad I stuck with it as there was subject material much more relevant to me in the 2nd half..
the narration was okay , the student personas voice did feel childish and exasperated tone did get annoying. I wish this was toned down. especially as this was not the main point of the book and just to provide a representation of a new person's view. maybe it's because it was so far from how I would have asked any questions.
the last third was really golden and I will re listen again. nuggets of consideration exist.
although it feels like Adler is too ideal ( coming from someone who is idealistic themselves) it is a framework worthy of diving into further.

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3 people found this helpful

Annoying student

There are two main characters in this book. The teacher who has very interesting voice and explain Adlerian concepts in an easy to understand way, then there’s the student who is arrogant and has a very annoying tone which put me off listening after 3hrs. I’m going to buy the other book which is not structured this way.

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A bit disappointed

After enjoying the courage to be disliked and loving the content I decided to purchase this. unfortunately the youth has this annoying, whiney American accent that is barely tolerable. I will persevere because the content is fantastic.

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3 people found this helpful

Great follow up.

The student narrator is terrible. Terrible casting. Book deserves better.
Particularly good for teachers and parents.

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1 person found this helpful

interesting and inspiring

Great concept for a book. The discussion was really engaging. Introduced to Adlerian psychology for the first time.

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Another superfluous sequel.

Don't get me wrong, the message in this book is okay in some parts. But it adds very little to the first book, in fact, I think it takes away from the pleasure that was "The Courage To Be Disliked". Overall the messages are just echoes from the first version, with the student or professor "recapping" just in case the audience forgot - which again was just repeating content.

The main premise of the book is a teacher ("educator") as the student speaking to an Adlerian psychologist. The problem is that most of the ideas only apply in the setting of a teacher/student (or parent/child) relationship and fails to address topics the reader can relate to.

Overall, this book attempts to build upon the success of the first, but has failed to do so.

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27 people found this helpful