Book Notes: "General and Social Letter Writing" by Andrew George Elliot

General And Social Letter Writing by Andrew George Elliot

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This work was a quaint historical oddity, dating to the early 1950s. I recall learning the fascinating rules and etiquette of letter writing in the 1970s and early 1980s, from the days of the address slanting from top left to bottom right, and new paragraphs indented under the first end point of the previous paragraph. Then came golf ball typewriters and later word processors, and the formatting was all left aligned for speed of communication. Letter writing is a lost art, and although there was little in this book I was not taught previously, it does remind me of a time when communicating in writing was an act of good grooming. It is regrettable that email and more recently social media-speak has deteriorated written communication to an ego-driven demonstration of bad manners and laziness. Reading Elliot's guide to the art of the simple, meditative function of letter writing was a peaceful activity. I am glad to have read it, and I immediately put it to good use by pursuing one of my favourite hobbies (letter writing) and wrote to my dear mother.

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Book Notes: "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've had this book on the shelf for nearly three years but decided to read it after reading Do the Work. I have been procrastinating by reading about ways to stop procrastinating, but since starting this book, I am now 6,000 words down and off and running. TO keep the momentum going, I have Turning Pro on the way, too. Usually when I read modern self-help books, the authors are either overtly atheist or overtly Christian. Each to his own, and while it is always possible to absorb some insights or (at least be exposed to) wisdom from books, I find it difficult to identify with the author when their approaches differ markedly from mine. Not so with Pressfield. There was one part where I felt like I had bought the same book twice (many parts of Do the Work are more or less replicated here, but the overall experience was quite different. As a handy reference to flick to for inspiration when stuck, the Tom Peters-esque format suits this function well. It is interesting how, once you name something (Resistance), and label it as the enemy, one's subconscious takes over the battle. I find my subconscious rising up with words such as "That's Resistance, that's the enemy. Do the work!" And my obsessive compulsiveness is having a field day. Whenever I go to leave something (the washing up, putting something in the drier, changing the chook's water, you name it - oh, better change the chook's water straight after this), my subconscious says "Do it now!" Of course, when I wake tomorrow, I will have to go to war again, but Pressfield has made available to me Somerset Maugham's approach: "I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp". Better change the chook's water now.

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Book Notes: "The Art of Manliness - Manvotionals" by Brett McKay

The Art of Manliness – Manvotionals by Brett McKay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This work is an anthology from the team at The Art of Manliness, with the content organised around seven 'manly' virtues. Manliness in this case is defined by its opposite - childishness - and I would be lying if I were to say I had not learnt a great deal through the Art of Manliness website. Many of the excerpts were familiar, while others were real gems unearthed from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At times, the identification of virtuousness with nationalism had me cringing and I could hear "We rule you, we fool you, we shoot at you" echoing in my subconscious. Then, without warning, Thoreau or Emerson would rescue me and I could take the best while leaving the rest of the conservative where it belongs. The book itself is well-presented in textured paper, with superb artwork and an interesting cover. The seven virtues work well as the organising principle of the book and many of the excerpts have given me glimpses of other works that I will read in full. This is an inspiring and entertaining read, and a good starting point for my reading journey for 2017.

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