The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck (A Review)

“Pergi mampus!”

“Lantak kau lah”

“Maleh aku”

“Ikut kau lah nak buat apa..”

All those lines are very synonym in our daily life when we had enough of shitty things that happened around us, right? It can be anything—from having to deal with our annoying asshole friends who like to give us headache, or when we are pissed off with our phone that always lagging, or when you arguing with your partner about where you guys actually want to eat for dinner, or when you are about to sit for your final exam tomorrow morning but you are still don’t have any idea what the hell you were actually learning during the whole semester (this is so me lmao, usually it will end up with saddaqallahulazim, tido lu! ).

Usually all those lines are the most perfect ‘answers’ when it comes to dealing with such situations. It symbolize that our unconscious mind are actually telling us to stop bothering about those things, to stop overthinking it. To actually ignore it for good. Like what people always said—IDGAF! 

Ignorance is bliss. Yes it is. Our mind will eventually be at a very calm state when we SUCCESFULLY ignore something that gave us a pain in the ass. Just don’t think about it—they said. Sounds pretty easy right? But let’s be honest here, how many times that we actually tried to not think about something, but at the end of the day, it is that ‘thing’ that we are trying so hard to forget that always popped up in our mind. That is when the paradox happened. We are likely to think more about something that we want to forget the most.

I am very certain that it always turn out to be that way right?

Mark Manson realizes this kind of  antics and foolish behavior are actually common among people all over the world. We share the same kind of problem. Therefore, this author from Texas, USA comes with his masterpiece which I found the title of his respective book is somehow quite appealing to the readers—The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. Not giving a fuck is an English slang that refers to situation where you are actually tired of caring about something, and it can be anything; from personal matters to your work hassle in the office.  By the way bear in mind that, please… don’t use this phrase in your English essay, be it SPM or MUET exam. The examiner would likely to spit out his coffee while marking your essay if he founds out you literally use that F words in your essay haha.

If you go to the bookstore like Popular or MPH, you will notice that this book will be arranged at the “Self enrichment” or “Motivation” section. Yes this book is basically and generally a motivational book, but somehow the way the author try to portray his message throughout the book may be quite different than those mainstream motivational books—at least for the early chapter.

So what is the point of this book anyway? Judging from the title itself, it suggest that the author want to teach us on how are we going to ignore any related problem that will ruin our peace of mind. The reason why we become unhappy, dissatisfied or regularly pissed off by the things that happen in our daily life is probably because we are giving too much attention towards something that aren’t really relevant in our life. To put it easy, the author wanted to teach us how to “IDGAF!”. For me myself, it is actually not that easy to be able to don’t give a damn about things that sometimes bothering me all the day. Like I said before about the paradox things. Easier said than to be done.

In his book, Mark Manson will guide us on how to choose the most relevant problem for us to pay attention to. He suggest that, no matter where you go, there are actually thousands of pounds of shitty loads that awaits you in front, that’s just how the nature work. In order for us to be able to face this bitter truth, he suggest that we must CHOOSE wisely which problem that we are ‘enjoy’ to deal with. Only then, according to him, we will be able to not give a fuck like a pro, and our life will likely become more at ease.

If I might want to recall the part in the book which make me think twice about the reality of our life, it would be the section in which he suggests that life itself is a form of suffering. I know this sounds so Stoic--depressing. If you haven’t heard of Stoicism, it is actually a big deal in philosophy discussion. Stoic often take life as a tragedy, and they prepare for the worst case scenario-The Pessimist I would say. Mark recommend us to have at least a little bit proportion of how the Stoic view life.

The mainstream idea of life must be looked at a very bright and positive side sometimes can be overwhelming. Yeah a big congratulations if you somehow managed to do so! But the thing is, let’s be real, how many of us did actually able to be positive all the time. I would say not that much. Mark tells us that life is just like that; nothing goes accordingly as we thought it to be the way we want—I believe that we must have at least experienced this once in our lifetime. Therefore in his book, Mark tells us on how are we going  to cope with the feelings of dissatisfaction or depressing thought that always haunting us, especially this generations of youngsters who always indulge themselves in the short-term happiness of social media.

Another part which I think really land a spot in my head is the story of a Japanese army named Hiro Onoda. It was really a mindblown, awesome or some might find it is a fucked up story!! I won’t spoil the  story here, but the rough plot of the story would be like this—How does it feels when you are actually fighting a ‘Ghost War’? And to make things even worse, you are combating it ALONE. This is the real story that happened during the WW2. I found it as an eye-opener that gives me some new perspective about how we see our ‘suffering’. There’s actually a value in our own perceived-dismay and sorrow.

If you ask me “Why should I read the book?’. Then I would say, if you are someone who are actually caught in your own thoughts about how to not give a fuck about something, if you are someone who actually want to know the art of how to transform your calamity into a tools that actually help you to grow wiser, then I would say this a good book for you! Talking about if there is a part in the book which I found not suitable with my opinion about life itself—yes there are some. But maybe it’s me who fail to grasp that particular idea from the author himself. Who knows maybe you can understand it better?

The book will cost you a little bit, because it is quite pricey. The last time I saw it at the bookstore, the price was about RM70-80 something. Well actually the Engllish Self Enrichment book is somehow quite expensive compared to our local books, I won’t deny that. I suggest you to just borrow it from your friend if they had it,  especially my fellow students friend who are actually broke haha. I would say think twice before buying it hahaha. Well don’t get me wrong, it is not that the book is not good, but personally I think the price doesn’t suite it haha. If you happen to see your mate reading the book, quickly ask them to lend that book to you! Haha at least that’s the best method I should recommend. Otherwise if you have some buck of cash in your possession, then just buy it yourself. Rating? Hmmm I would say…7 out of 10.

So that’s all from me. Hopefully you enjoy reading my review about the book—The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. If you have any idea or critique, put it in the comment section below. And oh yeah, if you know me, than just hit me up if you want to borrow it from me huhu. InshaAllah in no time I will come up with a next review. Until then, goodbye!

Thanks for reading!

-Shah Rizal-