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doggonebookaddict 's review for:
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
by Rick Rubin
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Ironic that part of this book talks about how not every piece of art is going to be for everyone, and that’s exactly how I felt about this book. But hey, that’s the point right?!
Seriously though, I can completely see why people tend to like this book, but it just wasn’t necessarily for me. Rubin makes a lot of great points, and I appreciate how he takes more of an approach like “here are some different ways to help you strike creativity” vs. “here’s the ONLY and RIGHT way to do things” that a lot of nonfiction can fall into. However, for every great quote or point, there’s about three extra paragraphs of explaining the same thing over and over and over again. Had this book been half the length (or even 1/3 of the length tbh), I think it would have still gotten the same point across.
With that being said though, there are some really great things said here, and this makes for a great discussion! I read this for a book club, and even though I went in initially thinking I’d rate this lower than I have, the meaningful discussion we had made me appreciate the content more, enough to raise this to a 3. I also listened to the last half or so via audiobook and MUCH PREFERRED that over trying to read it physically.
Seriously though, I can completely see why people tend to like this book, but it just wasn’t necessarily for me. Rubin makes a lot of great points, and I appreciate how he takes more of an approach like “here are some different ways to help you strike creativity” vs. “here’s the ONLY and RIGHT way to do things” that a lot of nonfiction can fall into. However, for every great quote or point, there’s about three extra paragraphs of explaining the same thing over and over and over again. Had this book been half the length (or even 1/3 of the length tbh), I think it would have still gotten the same point across.
With that being said though, there are some really great things said here, and this makes for a great discussion! I read this for a book club, and even though I went in initially thinking I’d rate this lower than I have, the meaningful discussion we had made me appreciate the content more, enough to raise this to a 3. I also listened to the last half or so via audiobook and MUCH PREFERRED that over trying to read it physically.