Michael Witbrock

Better than Zoe's tail.

Trivial; a sort of literary experiment in rewriting a story from another point of view. As the author notes, this has previously been done by Tom Stoppard in "Rozencranz and Guildernstern are dead" (and he even quotes "Hamlet" in the book, presumably out of boredom). Unfortunately, as the author also notes, the book was also written in response for requests for "more about Zoe, and a pony". Perhaps this should have been printed on the cover as a warning.

(truth: the pony quote may not be exact, and I read this on a kindle, so, in point of fact, it had no cover).

Mildly entertaining.

Mildly amusing

Haidt attempts a synthesis of the proto-psychological observations of the sages from the western, middle eastern, Chinese and Indian cultural traditions with modern psychological research into the cognitive and emotional functioning of healthy minds. There is much that is interesting in the book, from both the psychological and historical perspective, but the author's concern for accessibility (for which he thanks, or perhaps blames, an employee of his publisher) has come at the expense of achieving any sort of depth - scientific, philosophical or literary. The book doesn't know whether it is work of popular science or pop-philosophy, a self help guide, or an autobiography. They only good thing about the writing (and about that of most books that have suffered the attentions of a specialist in "creative" or "accessible" writing) is that it serves to throw the quality of the writing or rhetoric of the sages or their historians into luminous relief. The book also panders to either its presumed audience, or the author's American guilt about his atheism, but devoting disproportionate attention to the mechanisms and psychological implications of religious thought; all of which is interesting in moderation, but which in superfluity reduces the books effectiveness in discussing all other forms of healthy human mental functioning.

For all that, I found the book well worth reading, and am now motivated to find a text on positive psychology, and dig into the Haidt's extensive and well considered biography to get learn about the research progress in some technical depth.

This book taught me a great deal about what it is, and what it isn't, to be a New Zealander. It made me think about social and individual differences, and about social constraints (especially as compared with restraints) in new ways, and it did so in the context of a richly situated and compelling plot-line. For me, the book was deeply moving; I felt compelled to write to Imihaera to thank him for writing it - something I haven't done before, or since.

Coincidentally, as I write this, I notice another review by David Brass who was moved to do the same, and was also answered.

Poorly written, poorly characterised, poorly researched. Oscar Wilde said that there are no good or bad books, only books that are well written or poorly written. This was close to being a bad book.

Interesting overview of the movement of corporate focus from manufacturing to image management, and the responsibility-weakening effects of this change. The basic premise is compelling, the prospects for mitigating the effects of this change, and especially for doing so by means of a mass social movement, seem less clear. The book also seems overly long, and at times borders on being repetitious.