Book Club. Usually the third Sunday of every month, and cause of frantic reading in the days prior. I’m a relative new comer. We’ve read a couple of great books and movie (I cheated with The Time Travellers Wife) but I was quite surprised when we were tasked with a philosophy book.
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton was found in the self-help section of the bookstore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of self-help. Trips to bookshops with friends often result in the individual wander through genres of interest only to conclude with the inadvertent meeting point – the self-help isle. So I’m not afraid. But,The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, was neither helpful, nor that philosophical to my mind. It was more candid documentary meets witty commentary on matters from accountancy to logistics.
Now as I write this blog, I must confess – a nautical themed pub crawl last night flared up my throat infection, and I’ve failed to show face at Book Club, but in my mind, I’m making up for the no-show by blogging about de Botton’s insights on work.
Sitting on my desk on top of the pile of the unread newspapers and trade magazines, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Workhas received considerable attention from my work colleagues over the past fortnight. Some have read his previous works, some found the title alone interesting, others thought I was making a political statement; as though it were for display purposes only.
The book takes you on a journey of ten different working environments, or careers, from that of a biscuit manufacturer to rocket scientist, career counsellor and transmission engineer, containing mostly detailed descriptions, thought-provoking observations and illustrations to further the point. One of the most interesting pints I’ve taken from the book is the debate around the idea of work being meaningful identifier. From the biscuit manufacturer chapter: “It is surely significant that the adults who feature in children’s books are rarely, if ever, Regional Sales Manager or Building Services Engineer. They are shopkeepers, builders, cooks or farmers – people whose labour can easily be linked to the visible betterment of human life.”
To illustrate the point, over lunch a couple of weeks ago, my work colleague quipped that none of us aspired to middle management when we were little. Fair call.
Overall, while a good read, the book required a concentrated effort. I do appreciate the efforts de Botton went to in explaining the life journey of a tuna in the chapter Cargo Ship Spotting, but aside from the thought-provoking nature of the book (I won’t look at a factory the same again) I did struggle.
Critics seem divided as to whether de Botton investigated the sorrows or the pleasures more, however a good review can be found from The Guardian's Sukhdev Sandhu
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