Contents
This is not a collection of tips “How to make a million” or “Become happy in 21 days.” There is no magic and ready-made business recipes on the pages of these books either. But there are frank stories of men who were not afraid of difficulties and fulfilled their dreams despite the circumstances. Perhaps one day you will have to write a memoir about your extraordinary life. In the meantime, read and take an example.
1. Stephen Fry “Enough Dope”
“Wisdom is, perhaps, the ability to overcome, no?”
According to the Observer newspaper, Fry is one of the funniest people in the world. Recognized carrier of the reference British spirit and impeccable English. Among his many talentedly written books, this one is perhaps the most frank.
Enough Dope is the third book in Stephen Fry’s autobiography series, and it’s good because he briefly talks about the first two at the beginning. On this, its advantages do not end there. Frankly, honestly and sometimes funny, the English comedian and actor talks about the most difficult period of his life. It is not customary to share such stories with someone other than psychotherapists and the closest people. Fry took the risk.
Obtaining the status of a star added to his life not only fans, new roles and fees, but also drugs, sex and constant depression. This book is about psychiatric treatment, self-combat, regretting lost time, filming the legendary TV series Jeeves and Wooster, and a bit about Britain. Rapid ups and downs are always tests. This book will help you understand how you can overcome them and remain yourself.
Who to read: not indifferent to the work of Fry, lovers of high-quality humor and the English language. The book motivates to pull myself together when it seems that the strength has run out and the desire to live is no more.
2. Ashley Vance “Elon Musk. Tesla, SpaceX and the road to the future
“People today are somehow too carried away by the Internet, finance and law. This is one of the reasons why we have little innovation.”
The author of the book, journalist Ashley Vance, spent more than 50 hours talking with Musk, interviewing about 300 of his acquaintances and friends, in order to enthusiastically tell the story of the founding of PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity.
An interesting and exciting book in which, next to business and work on SpaceX and Tesla, there are stories about the childhood of the best businessman in Silicon Valley, personal life, five children, memories of the difficulties and risks that one has to take to achieve one’s goals.
On the pages of this book, Elon Musk appears not as a rich and successful entrepreneur, but as an innovator, creator, scientist who created cheap and efficient rockets capable of delivering everything necessary to the ISS, and did it not for his own benefit, but for science. Musk here is a living person, with his childhood fears, ridiculous flaws and helplessness in many practical matters.
Who to read: lovers of technology, science and leadership stories. Easy to read, inspires great things.
3. Richard Feynman “Of course you’re joking, Mr. Feynman!”
“You keep telling yourself, ‘I can do it, but I won’t,’ but that’s just another way of saying you can’t.”
One of the creators of quantum electrodynamics and the atomic bomb, the Nobel Prize winner in physics, tells the story of life in the language of an ordinary American. After reading, you can hardly say that mathematicians and physicists are boring.
You will find an endless number of interesting stories, presented in chronological order: repairing radios for my mother’s friends, the first successes in solving mathematical problems, working as a porter in a hotel, deciphering the Dresden Code, desensitization experiments (placing a person in a water capsule that “turns off” the action of all organs ), learning Japanese, deciphering codes.
There are no boring terms and difficult tasks in the book, only important events from the life of a scientist, described so excitingly that they read like an adventure novel. Feynman teaches us to look beyond the usual framework and improve even what already seems ideal – in life, work and ourselves.
Who to read: mathematicians and humanists, teenagers and adults, everyone who has sat in their comfort zone and wants to start inventing.
4. Viktor Frankl “Man’s Search for Meaning”
“In inhuman conditions, only those who look to the future, believe in their calling and dream of fulfilling their destiny can survive.”
Autobiography of a famous psychiatrist, the creator of logotherapy and an eyewitness to the most terrible events of the mid-twentieth century. Frankl was among the few who managed to survive Auschwitz. A cruel and life-affirming story about the search for the meaning of life after the horrors of war and a long stay in a concentration camp, told in the style of spiritual instructions to those who find life boring and monotonous.
According to Frankl, the book was written by him in the concentration camp itself (of course, not on paper) and is based on observations of the life of prisoners, their suffering and struggle for life.
Who to read: to those who like to complain about bad weather, traffic jams and high prices, to everyone who wants to learn to appreciate what they have.
5. Chris Hadfield “Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth”
“Fear arises when you don’t know what to expect and doubt that you can control what is happening. If you understand what to fear, then you no longer feel helpless and you are much less afraid.
At the age of 9, the Canadian boy Chris began to dream of flying into space. A popular boyish dream, but not everyone succeeds in making it a reality. Chris did it 27 years later. Hadfield made three space flights with a total duration of 20 days 2 hours 00 minutes 44 seconds, and he has a lot to tell.
The author of the book about 4000 hours in outer space tells about the life of an astronaut and life on the space station with humor and kindness. In space, you also need to brush your teeth, cut your nails, clean the room and go to the toilet. Yes, and all this in a spacesuit. Many funny stories and memories of hard work: constant training before the flight, great stress after, unforgettable days in a state of weightlessness away from the home planet.
The path to space was not easy for Hadfield, and in this book he teaches how not to give up and survive even in extreme situations. In addition, there are stories about how he learned Russian in space and made barbecue.
Who to read: space dreamers. If you don’t have time to read, check out Hadfield’s Youtube videos: a weightless version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity and instructions on how to cry in space. Who knows, it might come in handy.