Review 315: Bittersweet

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m in the middle on this book. On one hand I enjoyed listening to Susan Cain’s narration and exploration of this topic, but on the other hand it got a little too deep into self-help and spirituality than I expected. It felt there was more Cain could do to delve deep into this topic without resorting to telling us readers how we can do this or that, such as meditative practices. The book had much more of a memoir aspect than expected as well, explaining how this topic is something she has thought about for much of her life.

Despite the expectations being different I did not dislike the book. Her narration really did pull the book forward. I listened at first for a couple of hours and was a little thrown by what was going on. Then I returned a week later and listened to the rest fairly quickly, accepting what the book now was.

I connected more to the material when she discussed her own personal life, and her experience in doing research for the book. She attended several workshop types and a conference, RAADfest on life extension. How longevity and living forever fits in with bittersweet has to do with accepting, or not, the inevitability of death.

I expect this book will be more polarizing and less successful than her book on introversion, but the topics do seem related. And if you enjoyed Quiet, you may find something here to connect to as well.