The Second Mountain
David Brooks
In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity of dependence. more
384 pages, Hardcover
First published Random House
3.76
Rating
10209
Ratings
1408
Reviews
David Brooks
31 books 1702 followers
David Brooks is a political and cultural commentator. He is currently a columnist for The New York Times and a commentator on PBS NewsHour. He has previously worked for Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly and National Public Radio.Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Community reviews
You know what. Nobody can get under my skin like David Brooks. I read all his columns and some of them are just absolutely ridiculous and out of touch. But unlike people like Bret Stephens or other conservatives, I keep coming back to Brooks because once in a while, he can hit it out of the park. This book is the best of Brooks--it's wise and humble and thoughtful. more
THE SECOND MOUNTAIN by David Brooks is a complex book that is part philosophy, part personal disclosure, and part research. It serves as an excellent source to challenge the reader’s thinking about a variety of subjects including religion, marriage, social responsibility and personal growth. It is a book that requires a great deal of thought to absorb what is being said and to time for introspection to ascertain personal reactions. For this reason, I found it easiest to read a section and then put it aside for a few hours or a day to think about what I had read. The writing is erudite in many spots, and as such is not something one can easily skim, nor would you want to. more
Part memoir, part manifesto, and part literature review—this book provides a multifaceted exploration of ways toward achieving a life with purpose and meaning. According to this book the current emphasis in our culture to be hyper-individualistic—focused on the self, achievement, reputation and personal goals—is destructive to the human spirit. Brooks perceives a need to become more “relationalist … where relation, commitment, and the desires of the heart and soul” bring meaning and purpose. Brooks, the author, provides the metaphor of "first mountain" and "second mountain" to describe his own life experience of midlife identity crisis—which included a divorce from his first wife—after which he moved on to his life's "second mountain" with changed priorities. He goes on to suggest that the metaphor of "first mountain" and "second mountain" can also be applied to society as a whole. more
I believe that many people will find wisdom in this book, but I am afraid that I found it irritating from page one. It seems to me that the point of the book is that a life of service is satisfying. It is. But Mr. Brooks writes in a high handed, preachy manner as though he were a psychologist, respected philosopher, or clergy, making statements throughout that are to be taken as fact: "The soul is. more
Milquetoast divorced middle-aged dude pedals pseudo intellectual garbage. Yawn. . more
While I have given the book 5 stars, I have to say it is not as consistently good as this would indicate. Part 1, in which Brooks explains the "two mountain" metaphor, is worth 5 stars by itself. Combining the wisdom of many teachers (including Richard Rohr, James Hollis, Gerald May, Robert Bellah, Robert Putnam, many others), he describes how everyone builds two mountains, the first, to build identity and discover ourselves but often driven by the ego, and the second, after failure, tragedy, or dissatisfaction with the first mountain, we become open to deeper things, deep causes, needs, and are driven by service, compassion, and love. What is especially helpful is Brooks's frank rejection of the siren song of individualism we have been taught as the highest good since childhood. The two mountains, then, offer two contrasting value systems, and our task, both individually and communally, is to move from the first to the second. more
After reading the book one might be left with the impression one has when someone describes how they found God and how that pulled them out of depression, anxiety, lethargy or some other predicament. No one would want to tell somebody to abandon a belief that had such beneficial effects, but a personal experience is just that—personal. Whether it translates from one person to another is highly doubtful. So while I admire Brooks’ bravery in writing such a counter-cultural work, I have to conclude that the book’s overall argument relies on nothing but testimonials. For someone who loves reading of annual awards in the social sciences this feels like something is missing. more
I really wanted to like this book but it mostly irritated me. I found it preachy and stereotypical. He overthinks and drones on and on. I have to confess that I just couldn’t bring myself to wade through it to the end. . more
The Second Mountain is a book stuffed with anecdotes, quotes, aphorisms, and generalizations. While I don't doubt the sincerity of the author, I couldn't learn from what I read. It was too vague, somewhat directionless. If there are 500 ways to find your path or succeed or find happiness or serve humanity, and you want to write a book about all of it, you'll need to narrow the focus, because otherwise, it's just too much information. I couldn't find threads or draw conclusions. more
Dozens of feel-good stories about real-life people making a difference, and dozens of inspiring quotes from moral heavyweights like Viktor Frankl and C. S. Lewis. But David Brooks comes across as just another scam artist working a racket. The thesis of the book, that "hyper-individualism" is bad and "community" is good comes across as unbelievably shallow and hypocritical. more
The smug journalist I remember from the NYT writes a surprisingly vulnerable and personal book about how to live a life of joy. The premise is that people climb their first mountain in life and that looks like career success or a life accomplishment based on what makes them happy. Then something in their life happens to make that happiness go away. So in order to climb the second mountain, people must align to a principled life of the four commitments: vocation, marriage, philosophy and community. Joy is distinct from happiness and living a life of four commitment allows joy to be experienced. more
Terrific book on living a meaningful life. Many of my fellow liberals do a lot of eye-rolling at Brooks' NYT columns, but I've always found him really thoughtful and interesting, even if I disagree with him. He has a unique life story, and he opens up in a very vulnerable, humble way in this book. I enjoyed the many examples of amazing people doing extraordinary things to help others and live full, charitable, and meaningful lives. Brooks advocates connecting with others, building community, and loving and serving each other. more
The Second Mountain is supposed to be about "The Quest for a Moral Life. " My initial thought is that the author and I would define a moral life quite differently. His definition seems to be a spiritual relativism that didn't feel totally coherent outside of serving others being the key. This isn't a book I would've chosen to read, but my church small group decided to read it, so read it I did. Most of the others bought the book, I fortunately only borrowed it from the library. more
Abandoned because it's the pompous wannabe-intellectual drivel of a sanctimonious milquetoast. I could not finish this book and skimmed most of what little I could stomach (though I gotta admit, his style is, as always, easily digestible ((milquetoast. )), but I repeat myself) and I dislike the experience enough to pass judgment on it. Ostensibly, David Brooks's The Second Mountain "explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. "First of all, he is the last person to give marriage or family advice. more
I have never read a book by David Brooks until now. But i have read his NYTs column and watched his thoughtful conservative commentary on PBS News Hour for years. It was on the PBS News Hour that I heard him being interviewed about this book. His passionate description of the book was what caused me to buy it on the spot. He actually tackles a lot in this book. more
Started this book around the same time I watched the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. One could say these two are almost the polar opposites. The Second Mountain focuses on conservative community thinking and interdependence whereas Atlas Shrugged is considered as individualist’s ultimate favorite. It is quite interesting to compare the striking difference in their opinions, both seem to have valid points. Half-way through the book, I was quite convinced this was not my cup of tea but surprisingly it had lot of good points to offer. more
The rise of individualism has created a range of societal and personal problems, which many people will try to overcome by pursuing material success and hapiness. However, the real road to fulfillment leads to a life of service to other people, which can be practiced through our vocations, marriages, religions and/or the tasks of community building. more
اولین کتابی که از این نویسنده رفتم سراغش کتاب جاده شخصیت بودمتاسفانه فرصت نکردم اون کتاب رو بخونم و صرفا به خلاصه اش گوش دادم ولی در همون خلاصه هم کلی چیز یاد گرفتم و این شد که تصمیم گرفتم این کتاب رو کامل بخونمولی متاسفانه با ابن که کتاب بسیار خوبی هست به خوبی و چر کاربردی کتاب اول نیستنویسنده سعی داره بگه هر انسانی در زندگی دو تا هدف دنبال میکنههدف اول که پیش پا افتاده ترو رسیدن بهشراحت تره موفقیت فردی و دنیایی هسترسیدن به ثروت شهرت خانواده امنیت و . اما هدف دوم که رسیدم بهش سخت تر هست رسیدن به آرامش روانی و گذشتن از خودهدر نگاه اول این دیدگاه جذاب به نظر میرسه اما نویسنده کاملا راه رسیدن به کوه دوم رو گذر از کوه اول دونستهاین رو در تمام نمونه هایی که به عنوان مثال آورده هم میشه دید و این موضوع باعث شده که این کتاب برای قشر عظیمی از مردم که هنوز در راه رسیدن به قله کوه اول در حال دست و پا زدن هستن بی فایده بشهبه نظرم بزرگترین اشکال کتاب اینهدر مجموع کتاب خیلی خوبیهنکات مثبتش بیشتر از ضعفهاش هست و خوندنش توصیه میشه. more
Maybe David Brooks thought he was writing the book to end all books, the comprehensive manual to our times complete with a (really helpful) manifesto at the end. If so, he pretty much succeeded in diagnosing the problem and then offering a comprehensive solution including stellar examples of this solution in practice (something the non fiction books I read rarely offer). But it’s not a perfect book. As another reviewer put it, it sometimes feels like more than one book. Nonetheless, it’s a compact, well-paced, rich, honest, hopeful exploration of the hyper-individualism that ails is and the ways that community can cure us. more
I liked it at first, which I believe was the most powerful part, but then it sort of turned into elitist navel gazing that demands a certain level of privilege to have any context at all. Could probably have been a long form essay rather than a book, tbh. I well appreciate his warning against living a merely aesthetic life, which is tempting in DC, but his discussion of community basically turned into the “invite people over for dinner” ethos. I agree there is a higher calling, a responsibility to care for others and improve the world, but this book doesn’t do much beyond making an argument that life CAN have meaning. . more
Rather than hyper-individualism—or its toxic byproduct, tribalism—Brooks calls us to an interdependent life characterized by a commitment to community, creed, morals, and a generally outward-focused life. I can’t begin to describe how many times I was nodding and audibly saying, “Yes. ” through this book. . more
Turned off. Abandoned after the first couple of chapters. more
Loved his oped that summarized the main concept, with which I whole heartedly agree. Hated the full length version (book) which I found preachy and boring. more
Written for Amazon and copied here: I didn't know who the author was (recognized his name as an author, but couldn't remember what he'd written) but the plot had seemed right up my alley so I had reserved it at my library. I started to read this book yesterday, and it seemed so hollow for what it was supposed to be. I came to Amazon to read the early reviews and see if anyone felt as I did, and now I understand. He is a good writer, but he doesn't live the ideas in the book, which comes across in the writing. I read that he left his wife of 20+ years for the stereotypical 23 years younger (. more
The usual windy drivel by one of America's biggest moral hypocrites. Naturally, it's full of the sort of self-serving justifications he uses for his own vile amorality in callously abandoning his long-time wife for a younger woman, then chastising her in the pages of the New York Times, no less, for not taking his abuse with "dignity". He even went so far as to imply she was stalking him, smirked about her desperate love for him, bragged about how much pain he was causing her, and, in a staggering display of narcissistic entitlement, admonished her for not being happy for him, all while implying *she* is a narcissist. He even tried to justify ignoring his children as treating them like adults and helping them to mature. He actually tried to paint dismissive treatment and emotional neglect as a parental duty. more
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually liked it. The concept is great, but it's ultimately a disappointment for me. I found the marriage section to be the most painful/exhausting and the first section, which focuses on the concept of the second mountain itself, to be the most valuable. I think I thought this book would be less about generalized drivel and more about the actual people in his social weave project and the components that make these people different from the general population. I wish there had been WAY more on the social weave project, WAY less on generalized nonsense about faith and marriage written as undeniable fact. more
I expected to like this book but barely made it through to the end. Brooks' writing struck me as pompous and erudite as a background for his endless observations and opinions. Quote after quote fills pages of his opinions on numerous topics scattered through long, mostly unrelated sections as he presumes to tell his readers what to do in order to be good people. The segment on marriage is painfully long, particularly since he could be considered as the last person one might turn to for marriage advice. In summary, what exactly are his qualifications for advising on life. more
Having read The Social Animal when it was released and followed David Brooks since then, I was excited to read this book. I opened the cover willing to surrender to the newfound wisdom it might reveal and prepared to entertain any idealogical shifts it might imbue. Suffice to say, I feel neither wiser nor ideologically shifted after finishing The Second Mountain. The book's introduction is brimming with promise, such that it actually exacerbated the disappointment of the remainder of the book. David Brooks sets out by explaining what he has deemed "The Second Mountain," or a nobler purpose and life's work than the original achievement-based climb that most pursue after college, which he calls "The First Mountain. more
This book has gems in it, and it is strongest when it quotes other thinkers. I read a few of his articles and his white man-ness is off putting; but I appreciate what he is doing here, and can just hope others of his bent, of his moderate conservatism read this and have epiphanies of joy and then realized the errors of their ways. His personal stories were white man this, white man that also, and not sure who can relate to him, but his intention was to promote his endeavors in community building called Weave, and that is all good. I read an interview by Lisa Miller and he actually says, well I don’t think I am privileged, oh maybe I am. Maybe. more
I remember picking this up in Barnes and noble one time and reading twenty pages into in because I couldn’t stop but then didn’t want to buy it because it’s sorta thic. But now I have completed this read and it’s pretty juicy. A lot of ideas to grapple with that’s for sure. Got pretty religious the last third/quarter but that’s sort of to be expected in a book about morals. I will say it is ironic though that in the beginning of this book he contradicts or says he no longer belives things that he did believe and wrote about in “road to character” so I might have to go back and read that one. more