Annemaart
Haarlem
A review of this — 1 year ago
As a story, who moved my cheese is kinda crappy. If Mr Johnson would have taken a class in fictional writing, he would have failed miserably, I think. Especially the high school reunion dialogue bothered me immensely. But, then again, storytelling is not the point of this little book. It’s trying to get a point across. Which it does quite well, so in that sense it’s very well written indeed.
The point Spencer is trying to make is: people get used to things, but things change. And you can then either sit around and bitch about how it’s crappy it changed, or you can get up and find something new to enjoy (look for new cheese). Which is a good point. I made the mistake before of staying in a job which wasn’t bringing me any satisfaction anymore much longer than I should have. Because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find another job. I thought that was the best bit about the book actually, it posed the question: ‘What would I do if I weren’t afraid?’ We often let our fears drag us down. So it’s a good idea to ask yourself that question from time to time. I liked that.
Somethings itching me though about this book. And I think it’s that this book, and other books of its self-helpfull kind, are so focused on achievement. It’s all about running through a maze and finding cheese. But isn’t the real question: why do we keep running into that maze looking for cheese? Why don’t we just stay at home and bake waffles? Or go to Japan and enjoy some sushi? Why do we think that cheese is all there is?
Does cheese (and the fight for cheese) really make us happy? When most of us think about what style of living they enjoy most, I think many will say they enjoy their vacation time the best. Why? Because it’s a period of a few weeks in which we don’t give a damn about cheese. We just lie on a beach and get tanned or go hiking or see pretty buildings or whatever. We turn our backs on the maze for a while and do what we want to do.
Change brings succes. But does succes bring happiness?
Anyway, the book does make a good conversation piece and causes some philosophical pondering and I love philosophical pondering so I’ll give it 4 stars just for that ;)
