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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And you thought that "Happiness" wasn't an actual college course., November 8, 2010
This review is from: Hector and the Search for Happiness (Paperback)
After reading this little book, which is quite humorous, especially if you've ever been seen by a psychiatrist, I decided to find out if there was, indeed, a college or university somewhere that actually has a Happiness Studies Department like the one Hector visits on his quest in "the country of More" (aka the USA, though the author calls some countries by their name and makes up different names for others). I mean, we've all heard about ridiculous courses offered at Institutions of Higher Learning, like the old joke about students being able to take "Basket Weaving" for credit, or a college course being offered at the University of South Carolina called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame". But there are other real programs of study that make you wonder where all the money is going that you shell out to send your child to such a school. I know first hand how incredibly expensive a college education is today, as my son's college is siphoning money out of my bank account as I write this. Anyway, there actually is a Happiness Studies Department at Harvard. It's part of their medical school and they've followed something like 5,000 people over the course of twenty years to find out what makes people happy. It seems that happy people associating with other happy people can make them happy. Having happy friends, who have happy friends, who have happy friends, on and on exponentially, leads to happiness all around, I guess. Thankfully, or should I say "happily", the study showed that sadness cannot be passed on from person to person like the flu. So maybe Hector's search for happiness is not that strange after all. Perhaps Dr. Francois Lelord, the author, started out writing what he thought would be a funny book and ended up with a serious position paper on that very subject, or vice versa. Who knows? I do wonder, though, about the two million people who bought this book and turned it into an international bestseller. (I borrowed my copy from the local library.) Are they all seeking the meaning of happiness and how to get it...just like Hector? All I can say is, "Good luck." At any rate, I enjoyed this book and give it 4 Stars.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hector is a Little Self-Centered, August 24, 2010
This review is from: Hector and the Search for Happiness (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I have totally mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, you have to really give some love to someone who writes a book about happiness. There seemed to be a lot of thought put into this book, genuine research with real scientists at UCLA who study what makes people happy, because it is somewhat of an art and skill that can be learned. So kudos to the author for writing a book that tries to share with us his the formula for happiness. And really, there are some good reminders in there for us. If you write down the list (that Hector keeps), which is a pretty simple list, you can pretty much keep remind yourself of when you are straying from thoughts and behaviors that keep you happy. Though some are intagible, like "Living in a country where the government treats you well." So, I compliment the author on his good intentions. Ok, so why only three stars? I found the whimsical parable-like children's book style of writing to be completely inconsistent with the character's behavior. It seemed kind of charming and adorable at first, but then it got totally annoying. Especially since you'd be skimming along quite nicely, thinking it was a Universal tale with Universal themes (and thus the parable-like narration)and then next thing you know the author is sleeping with a prostitute. Of course, the character writes in such a naive tone that he didn't realize it was a prostitute - Oops! But I thought that was really jarring - especially since the main character, Hector, had a girlfriend at home when he did this. He went off and slept with another woman too, just because he could. I realize that he is a young French man, and that is what young boys can do in their quest for happiness, but it really didn't fit in with the tone of the book at all. The character didn't show any remorse or regret about cheating on his girlfriend at all. It was just part of his experiment. Mind you, this wouldn't annoy me in another book, with a more complicated character, but that is not what this book was trying to pull off. He would describe these one night stands as "we did what people do when they are in love". It was pretty annoying. Another totally annoying aspect of the book (as another reviewer pointed out) is that he would say he was in China but would refer to his own country as "the country where Hector is from", and never said France. Why the mystery? He referred to America as "the Big Place with the most psychiatrists". He would say he was in Africa but not what part, and would describe in these childish phrases some countries but could name others. I saw no reason why the author and editors chose to keep the names of these places a secret. Additionally, they kept referring to him and his comrades as speaking English when that didn't make sense either. So many inconsistencies. So, if you are expecting a mystical travel book with insights into different people in different countries, you are not going to find that here. If you are looking for a whimsical way to pass the time, and want something completely light that gives you a little bit to ponder about happiness perhaps you might give this a go.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
trite, adolescent writing style makes this a dud, August 5, 2010
This review is from: Hector and the Search for Happiness (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Is this book supposed to be written for adults? The writing is charming for the first three pages and then becomes increasingly irritating. I found the light-hearted way in which some very real issues were addressed to be trivializing and even moderately demeaning. There are no new ideas presented in this book, only a new way of presenting them. I feel as if the 'lessons' Hector learns are just common sense, nothing new or enlightened. The approach to this book was novel and could have been an interesting way to go about addressing one's search for happiness but the author fails so miserably that I can only really see this book being suitable for adolescents. It is a quick read, very light, and could be enjoyable for someone for a summer afternoon as long as the reader goes into the book without the expectation of learning anything new or having any major epiphanies.
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