Movement – DaneCobain.com

Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman – Lives of the Stoics | Review

Title: Lives of the Stoics

Author: Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count: 334

Rating: 5/5

I picked this book up after hearing about it on BookTube, which was a happy little coincidence because I’d already been getting into stoicism after being introduced to it by my girlfriend. I just wish I could remember whose channel I saw the video on.

What we have here is essentially a cracking little introduction to the key figures of stoicism in ancient Rome and Greece, and it’s written by a well-known figure in contemporary stoic circles. In fact, at the same time that I ordered this book, I also subscribed to a bunch of Stoic YouTube channels, and it turns out that the host of one of them is one of the authors of this book.

I found it to be super accessible, with the story told slowly but surely through short chapters on some of the key figures of the Stoic movement. After a while, it gets a little difficult to remember who was who, but that doesn’t really matter. The important thing here is the lessons that are on offer, and the interesting thing about the figures that are profiled is that as well as writing about and teaching their beliefs, they also lived them.

All in all, it’s a pretty accessible read whether you’re new to stoicism or not, and if you’ve been looking to learn more about the philosophy then this is a pretty good place to look. I enjoyed reading it, and I also ended up tabbing out half of the pages for my video review, which meant that I had a lot to say about it. It’s definitely food for thought.

Now that I’ve read this, I’m keen to learn more about stoicism, and I’m also looking forward to watching some more of the author’s videos. You should give it a Google and check out both the book and the YouTube channel.

Learn more about Lives of the Stoics.

Srdja Popovic and Matthew Miller – Blueprint for Revolution | Review

Title: Blueprint for Revolution

Author: Srdja Popovic and Matthew Miller

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 3.75/5

This book reads more like a series of individual essays than a cohesive whole, but that doesn’t make it a bad book. In fact, if you’re interested in the modern history of civil disobedience and peaceful protests, this is a pretty good place to start, in part because Popovic led one of them himself.

It gets a little repetitive from time to time and the writing is occasionally clunky, such as when the authors say “I don’t know if you’ve heard about so-and-so” about twenty pages after talking about them. The little niggles like that here and there just pulled me out of the book and contributed to the way it felt more like a series of essays than a comprehensive non-fiction book.

I’m also not actually about to go and start a revolution, as tempting as it is. Still, it was interesting enough to read and I’m sure there are a few bits and bobs that I can use in my writing. Sure, it’d be a good idea to read this if you’re planning on organising protests or starting a movement, but it’s also not a bad little read if you just want something a little different and if you like learning.

It’ll also help if you have a reasonably understanding of recent history. The book takes us all over the world, and it was interesting to read about events that I remembered happening or that were otherwise somehow relevant to me. For example, the stuff about the Tiananmen Square protests was interesting because that happened around the time I was born.