Hector and The Search for Happiness

Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 165

Lesson no.1: Making comparisons can spoil your happiness

Hector is a successful psychiatrist. He enjoys his job since he likes people and is really interested in them. Until suddenly he had a concern, why were so many people who had everything --career, success, money, family, friends--not happy? It really worried him. So he decided to take a trip around the world, and everywhere he went he would try to understand what made people happy or unhappy.

Hector travels from Paris to China to Africa to the United States and along the way he keeps a list of observations about the people he meets. During the journey, he crisscrosses and meets lots of interesting characters and gets into some very strange situations. Those characters and experiences bring light to the story and they allow Hector to list down some important lessons about happiness. Moreover his professional skills and his genuine interest in people turn out to be very useful.

This book is written down in the style of a child-like book. With its simple language, the book delivers a self-help in a way of a modern-day fable. It's a charming little book. Hector's journey in finding the formula for happiness is touching, funny and quite insightful.  

The author, Francois Lelord, is a successful psychiatrist himself in France. He is the co-author of a number of bestselling self-help books. For this Hector's journey, Lelord has written three subsequent books: Hector and the Secret of Love, Hector and the Passage of Time, and Hector and the Wonders of Friendship.   

4 comments:

Anonymous July 13, 2012 at 4:05 PM  

Waaah saya ada buku ini, baru setengah baca kesela buku lain dan belum tersentuh lagi sampai sekarang, simpel dan saya suka covernya, untung baca postingan Mbak, jadi inget lagi :p

riana July 16, 2012 at 11:42 PM  

@mia: ini sepertinya buku psikologi yg amat sangat simpel, dituturkan dengan sederhana tapi maknanya tetap dalam, ayo...dibaca lagi:)

Ariza July 23, 2012 at 9:52 AM  

mbaaa, ini belinya di manaa???

riana July 24, 2012 at 8:47 AM  

@icha: di Kinokuniya, Pim 2 :)