Dear Ryan, you have managed to write the least Stoic book about Stoicism ever written. The audiobook version, to add bafflement to bedevilment for this reader, is delivered in what has to be the most disinterested voice to ever read an author’s own work. My favourite book club picked it so I got through, otherwise I would have asked Audible for my money back. You’re an experienced public speaker for Demosthenes’ sake! Anyway, I have some feedback, if you’re interested.
The great Stoics had something in common. They had that strange mix of courage and humility to write about themselves in a way that commands respect without ever being boastful. There is no hero-worship in their work, no lectures on what the reader may be doing wrong or failing to understand until mercifully enlightened by the authors piercing wisdom. It’s their account of how they dealt with their life and their world, pithy statements born of experience, told with great forbearance and little pretence. You’d almost say stoically…
In “The Obstacle is the Way” there seems to be a surfeit of heroes and celebrities of yore who are pressed into service to illustrate some point or other. Never once do you elect to share your own life experience or insight. Instead of authenticity the reader gets a pastiche of purported life experiences of other people, preferably famous and most innocent of ever naming themselves Stoics.
The attempt to lasso together Teddy Roosevelt, Jewish traditions around the Exodus and the exhortation to the reader to build an ‘inner fortress’ was especially jarring. For the record, TR *once* alluded to the Jewish passover customs in his “Tree of Life Synagogue speech”, not exactly the record of a scholar of the Torah. Invoking famous people and ancient customs are not exactly arguments, especially when they are only most tenuously connected. These are barely even narrative devices. This is just mentioning what sounds big and important as a substitute for actually writing something deep and profound. Yes, TR was famous for his ‘Strenuous Life’ attitude to perseverance in the face of adversity. A real tough guy and by the way an adherent of the Reformed Church of America. He may be an exemplar of certain Stoic values. The question is, are you, and how can I be, should I want to? This is never made clear.
There is simply nothing in the book to identify why it is Ryan Holiday (instead of an anonymous curator) who assembled this eclectic collection of stories around the theme of Stoicism. There is even less to convince the reader there is anything there that is not obtained in greater concentration from some of the source material. It is as if you decided, right, this is a great theme to milk, let us milk it, and simply never stopped. Or am I too cynical now?
In the seven years since this book was written, you have worked tirelessly to become the face of Stoic philosophy while managing to keep your cornerstone publication free of any contribution to this school of thought, save fame itself. This is poor philosophy, but evidently great marketing.
The way this book proscribes how to live stoically in the complete absence of any practical advice expresses colossal contempt for the reader. You, who want to educate people on Stoicism, consistently resort to hypotheticals to keep a perfect streak of “all sizzle, no steak” throughout the entire book. From a cursory glance at your YouTube channel, that seems to be in line with your later work. Ryan, us neophyte Stoics (I don’t pretend to be an experienced one) don’t need heroes as a bedtime story. We just need to get through tough days with a little dignity. Do you need to involve all these heroes, really? Because that would be ironic.
I heartily invite you, Ryan, to embrace Stoicism by trying to be a decent guy every day and keeping a private journal of your travails. Perhaps, posthumously, there may actually be something there that this philosophy and future readers can benefit from. Right now the only benefit of your association with this school of thought seems to be to your wallet. You are a great marketeer. Come use those prodigious skills to help save the planet, end hunger or stop polarisation. Stop the quest to be Someone, start to do Something. Yes, that is going to earn less and suck really hard, but hey, you're a Stoic, right? I thought I’d ask, since it is not ever even implied in the book.
To the reader who is still in search for an actually useful primer to Stoicism I recommend starting with Donald Robertson's Stoicism and the Art of Happiness or perhaps William Irvine’s A Guide to the Good Life and working your way backwards through the collected writings of the Stoic sages of yore. I thank you for your forbearance in reading though my acerbic account of Holiday’s attempt. I will try to listen to it more, ahem …calmly… next time.
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