I have been procrastinating writing this review because I am unsure of what to say. I requested The Playful Mind: How to Restore the Happiness We Experienced as Children because I thought it sounded incredibly interesting. I read a lot of self-help books, mainly as they pertain to narcissism and trauma, so I thought this would be a good supplement to those and give me a different perspective on how to heal my wounds and change my thought processes.
I don’t know if it was my mental state at the time, but I had a really hard time getting into this book. The ideas seem sound, but the presentation is challenging to get through. It feels incredibly repetitive and overly general. I get that the author doesn’t want to be too specific, as he wants all types of people to apply his advice to various situations, but it comes off bland and unhelpful.It might have helped if the author included some examples from his own life into the text to drive his point home—and maybe he does later in the book. I only read 17% of the book. Still, to get to that point, it felt like a trudge. It’s possible to recognize that what he went through may not be the same as what others are experiencing, but it would give him credibility and make the book feel less general and more focused.
I may come back to this book at some point. There are times when I get burned out reading self-help books, and maybe that was my state of mind. If I give it another try, I will amend this review and give more insight into how I felt about the book.
