Over the last couple of months, I have had the fortune of reading some brilliant books. This is probably one of the two major perquisites of my current job - the other being an opportunity to share my thoughts with a brilliant , young and energetic set of people.
The first of the books in this genre was The Road less traveled - by Scott Peck. This is a part of a trilogy - the other two being Further along the road less traveled and Beyond the road less traveled. As in most cases , the first book had most of all that the author had to say. This was a book given as a recommended reading during my days in my B School - but I guess, I appreciated it better now.
Then I picked up Man's search for meaning - by Viktor Frankl , a psychologist and psychiatrist. This is a small, but very well written book. VF was in concentration camp for around 3 years, and says even in the most adverse and trying situation, man can find a meaning in life.
Then came the Undiscovered Self, by Carl Jung. Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and a highly influential thinker. This is a short but awesome (and a bit heavy) work - where he addresses the difficult and uneasy relationship between the individual and the society , raising concerns of the dehumanizing effects of the society and the need to know and nurture the self.
I then picked The Art of Loving , by Erich Fromm , a German psychologist and psychoanalyst and philosopher. The Art of Loving is his most popular book . Again a short work in size, this is a brilliantly written book - written in lucid language and in my view is a must read for anybody to have a clear idea of loving. Another of his major work is ' Escape from freedom',which is said to have laid the foundation of political psychology.
The Economics of Innocent fraud is a terrific work by John Galbraith - an economist. Written 2 years before his death, this is too good a work to miss in life. In my view, it is an good antidote to current economic thinking !
I wonder - why these books are not that 'Popular' in this part of the world .....
No comments:
Post a Comment