The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World [Hardcover]

 

 

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More travel log than happiness study. I'm glad I didn't know that or I probably wouldn't have read it. It was a very enjoyable read. Weiner's style is engaging, honest and often hilarious. As for happiness, I didn't learn much about it that I didn't already know. And, his research about the countries he writes about is certainly not exhaustive. I've been to some of them and I didnt find the same attitudes he did. It is totally subjective and that was fine with me. Moldova, on the other hand, "the unhappiest place on earth", would not be happy with his findings.

I think the concept of this book is great. Different cultures breed different people, and maybe there is something to that. However, instead of being an interesting sociological study, Eric Weiner's research only goes as far as talking to expatriates and a handful of locals in a very short period of time. He extrapolates on this an makes gross over generalizations and/or states the obvious. Also, he supports his tired humor and cliche metaphores with one-liner quotes from "dead white guys" as he affectionally calls philosophers, as if doing so proves his point. This book reads more as an ignorant tourist travelogue than the interesting concept the title would lead you to believe.

The only saving grace is the small tidbits of information that you sadly can get more information on Wikipedia than in this uninspired piece of work.

"I just want my children to be happy." How many times have you heard an American parent say that before sighing out of concern for how junior might turn out?

Eric Weiner's family must have shared that vision over him at some point because the self-described grump decided to read all the research about the factors that seem related to self-described happiness . . . and then to traipse all over the world to take a closer look at extreme conditions. Such an assignment would have turned me from a joyful person into a grump. Fortunately, Mr. Weiner tolerated it all pretty well.

I'm a little puzzled by the book's premise: Why doesn't Mr. Weiner just makes notes about when he is and isn't happy and test out spending more time in the former circumstances and less time in the latter to see if his happiness grows or his grumpiness recedes? That's the scientific method of experimentation to test hypothesis.

Asking people how happy they are on a scale of one to ten seems awfully subjective and arbitrary. Cultural norms in some countries might lead people to answer more positively than those in other countries, even if people were experiencing the same amount of happiness.

But if you crave a summary of what factors are more often associated with those who describe themselves as happy, this book is pretty efficient at spelling that out early in the book.

From there, the book turns into an amusing travelogue primarily taking the reader to places you probably haven't visited (Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Qatar, Iceland, Moldova, Thailand, and India) and some you probably have (Great Britain and the United States). Mr. Weiner is most imaginative in his choice of locales and his exploration of life style choices (looking into the flesh and drugs of the Netherlands, riding on the clean trains in Switzerland, passing the flesh pots of Thailand, wandering around in the darkness of an Iceland winter, trying to meet a local Arab in Qatar while escaping from luxury and service, checking out the local culture in Qatar and Moldova, living like the locals in Moldova, studying at an Indian ashram, enjoying the beauty of Bhutan, talking to those who were part of a happiness-inducing experiment in Slough (near Heathrow Airport in England), and exploring how some people find locales that fit their personalities better than others).

I didn't learn anything about happiness research that I hadn't read in more detail somewhere else, but I thought that his summary was a fair one.

My main disappointment concerning the book was the lack of exploring a devout Christian community to see how faith adds to happiness in that context.

As a travelogue, it was all great fun . . . but few of the places attracted my interest. I was intrigued, however, by what he had to say about Bhutan. I'll have to add Bhutan to my itinerary for future travels.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Book
I checked The Geography of Bliss out from the library and after a few pages, decided I needed to own it. I bought the book and savored every page. Lisez davantage

Published on April 16 2008 by Norma Lehmeierhartie

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