The Road Less Traveled - About The Book
The
Road Less Traveled, published in 1978, is Peck's best-known work, and the
one that made his reputation.
It is, in short, a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being, based largely on his experiences as a Psychiatrist and a person.
The book consists of four parts.
In
the first part Peck examines the notion of discipline,
which he considers essential for emotional, spiritual,
and psychological health, and which he describes as
"the means of spiritual evolution". The elements of discipline that
make for such health include the ability to delay gratification,
accepting responsibility for oneself and one's
actions, a dedication to truth, and "balancing". "Balancing" refers
to the problem of reconciling multiple, complex, possibly conflicting factors
that impact on an important decision—on one's own behalf or on behalf of
another.
In the second part, Peck addresses the nature of love, which he considers the driving force behind spiritual growth.
He
contrasts his own views on the nature of love against a number of common
misconceptions about love, including:
that
love is identified with romantic love
(he considers it a very destructive myth when it is solely relying on
"falling in love"),
that
love is related to dependency,
that
true love is linked with the feeling of "falling in love".
Peck
argues that "true" love is rather an action that one undertakes consciously to
extend one's ego boundaries by including others or humanity, and is therefore the
spiritual nurturing—which can be directed toward oneself, as well as toward
one's beloved.
In the third part Peck deals with religion, and the commonly accepted views and misconceptions concerning religion.
He recounts experiences from several patient case histories, and the evolution of the patients' notion of God, religion, atheism—especially of their own "religiosity" or atheism—as their therapy with Peck progressed.
The fourth and final part concerns "grace", the powerful force originating outside human consciousness that nurtures spiritual growth in human beings.
To focus on the topic, he describes the miracles of health, the unconscious, and serendipity—phenomena which Peck says:
nurture
human life and spiritual growth,
are
incompletely understood by scientific thinking,
are
commonplace among humanity,
originate
outside the conscious human will.
He concludes that "the miracles described indicate that our growth as human beings is being assisted by a force other than our conscious will".
Random House,
where the then little-known Psychiatrist first tried to publish his original
manuscript, turned him down, saying the final section was "too
Christ-y."
Thereafter, Simon & Schuster published the work for $7,500 and printed a modest hardback run of 5,000 copies.
The book took off only after Peck hit the lecture circuit and personally sought reviews in key publications. Later reprinted in paperback in 1980, The Road first made best-seller lists in 1984 – six years after its initial publication
Source: Wikipedia
DR.DENNIS EKWEDIKE: Looking forward to having exciting experience from the book "The road less traveled" The experience Peck had in eventually publishing his work s and subsequent making the best-seller lists in 1984 – six years after its initial publication typifies what we say in my region that one does not use morning to know bad market ( Ejighi ututu ama njo ahia)
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeleteA book cannot be judged by its cover
The author talks about 4 key points according to the book, self discipline, love, religion and grace. He pointed out how each contributes to human success and behaviour especially as it relates to his medical field. He also talked about the positive impact the book made after the second publication.
ReplyDeleteChukwuebuka Asadu
Having read the introduction to the book, what are your expectations?
DeleteHoping to learn from the experiences of the author of the book "The Road Less Traveled"
ReplyDeleteI salute his determination in ensuring that this book is published to impact the lives of others despite the initial rejection he experienced at publishing the book.
Determination is one of the keys to success
Delete