Customer Reviews

Hector and the Search for Happiness

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

The book is written as it were told to a 4 year old. Not cute, very grating after page 3. The Little Prince it is not. It's the tale of Hector, a psychiatrist who is alarmed that many of his patients come to see him even though they are successful. He takes a vacation to go around the world to study happiness. He travels to China, Africa, Eastern Europe, and America adding points to his list of what does make people happy as he interviews people, most of whom have had hard times. His method of talking to a four year IS sometimes slyly funny, discussing hard issues (cancer, possible death, unfaithfulness, etc.) in this naif manner. Unfortunately it goes on too long. The book is not really a novel, but a self help type book - it might be enjoyed by people who liked the Alchemist or that book about meeting people in heaven. I found it annoying (style), at times patronizing (women care more about men about making others happy), sexist (I kept trying to tell myself it was because he's French, but felt that was anti-French) and rather obvious (happiness is feeling useful to others).

It's the type of book that will be called heart-warming, cute, feel-good, charming, inspirational, etc. People will probably buy it for others as gifts. Others will see his list of what makes people happy and just say "Duh!" With a list price of $14!! you had better figure out if you really need this kind of book. If you have common sense and are over 11 you probably DON'T need this book.

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.

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.

A perfect cozy bedtime story. EXCELLENT-clever, light and sweet book. I promise it will put a smile on your face...and tell you how to keep it there.

I enjoyed this book, but I definitely wouldn't say it changed my life or impacted my levels of happiness in any real way.

Hector is a psychiatrist who decides to take a trip around the world to see how happiness is cultivated. Along the way he learns simple lessons from the people he comes in contact with- everyone from the fellow traveler who is no longer happy to fly in business class (a nice upgrade for most of us) because he's flown in first class too many times, the beautiful call girl in Asia who has lovely possessions but is unable to enjoy them because of the work she does, a businessman who is so obsessed with his job that he can't enjoy the fortune it brings him, monks in a temple who share simple philosophies on the every day, etc.

It was a sweet little book, to be sure, but definitely nothing I haven't read before. It's almost written like a children's book (the narrative and tone, *not* the content, although I liked the sly humor in which "adult" situations were described).

It's an interesting twist on the same theories of happiness that are bounced around by virtually every self-help author out there. But Hector was sweet and quirky, as was his travels, so it was all a new approach. Not the best book I have ever read, but I enjoyed joining Hector on his search for happiness.

My title just about sums it up. I have a feeling that the author was going for some kind of Paulo Coehlo type of tale here -simple parable to share Deep Truths, but it just didn't do it for me. I found Hector as a character ridiculously annoying. At some points he seems really stupid. And yet we're supposed to believe that he is an intelligent psychiatrist. The writing-for-children style grated me, as it did other reviewers. It's a fast read, but left me with no lasting insights, or indeed much of anything memorable. We learn along with Hector that happiness is feeling useful. Happiness is caring about the happiness of those you love. And over a dozen other lessons. But at the end of it, I don't know how Hector grew. I didn't see any real growth in him, except to realize that he loved his girlfriend back at home. There wasn't any kind of great moment of insight for Hector, and things that I would think would have left him reeling for months (especially a certain kidnapping in Africa) seem to weigh on him about as heavily as the conversation he had with the guy in the Business Class section of the plane. Overall this was pretty bland, and I won't be reading the sequel. But it wasn't bad, and I don't regret the time I spent on it. It just left me feeling blah and uninspired.

I overlooked this book more than once, thinking it was a children's book. Thank goodness I finally gave it a go!

From the moment I started reading the first chapter, I was hooked. The language is that of a child's fable, explaining things in simple language. It certainly made it entertaining from the start.

The book itself, a tale about a psychiatrist's search for the meaning of happiness, isn't a new one. Hector's search takes him on many adventures to China, Africa and the country of "More". He meets several people who help him define happiness in different ways.

If you are looking for an end of the book heart swelling moment, you will be disappointed. It does not take away, however, from the joy of reading this tale. Simply written, simple story, wonderful experience.

I absolutely loved this book. The writing style reminds me of the film Amelie, I could practically hear the narrator's voice in my head as I read. It presents a detailed, not always very happy, story in a sweet, simple way that is kind of a statement in itself: even the most tragic situations need not be so complicated that we can't sum them up simply and sweetly and get past them somehow. Beyond the style of the prose, it really is a very interesting novel that I couldn't put down. If you don't like the "fable" style of writing then it might not be for you, but I absolutely adored it.

I usually like to read my books once and pass them on to someone who might like them, but I'm going to have to keep this one to read again in the future. I'll buy my friends their own copy!

"Hector and the Search for Happiness" felt a little like Roger Hargreaves was telling me the story of "The Catcher in the Rye" through the eyes of Mr. Bounce. The naïveté, which was refreshing at first, gradually wears out its welcome.

A psychiatrist takes time off from his practice to do some traveling and tries to find what makes people happy. Pretty general, right? So are the realizations he comes to. His intercontinental hops are occasionally punctuated with observations on happiness that are so banal, so pedestrian, that I almost cringed when reading a few of them (being with the ones you love...really?).

Hector the psychiatrist takes this big no-duh list to two "experts" on happiness; a Chinese monk and an American professor, both of whom more or less validate his findings. Is it really that easy? The author, a psychiatrist himself, seems to think so. But I've always hated it when others set up happiness as something so easily attainable, like falling off a log.

Painting life and the outside world in a simplistic way is one thing. Reducing the struggle for happiness to an act as simple as grabbing a physical object in front of you is another. Putting them together is what gets you "Hector and the Search for Happiness."