The Road to Character

De: David Brooks

Narrado por: Arthur Morey, David Brooks

Number-one New York Times best seller

David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success - “résumé virtues” - and our core principles.

Named one of the best books of the year by The Economist

With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous best sellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives.

Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade.

Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.

“Joy,” David Brooks writes, “is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes.”

Praise for The Road to Character

“A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance.” (Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon)

“A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.” (The Guardian)

“Original and eye-opening... Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell, culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts.” (USA Today)

©2015 David Brooks (P)2015 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Brooks himself delivers the introduction, clearly and engagingly explaining how a career as a pundit, often rewarded for shallow cleverness, has made him yearn for more depth and significance. But how to achieve it? As read by Arthur Morey with lovely pacing and an interested inflection, he finds that one looks to those who have gone before." (AudioFile)

“[Brooks] emerges as a countercultural leader.... The literary achievement of The Road to Character is inseparable from the virtues of its author. As the reader, you not only want to know about Frances Perkins or Saint Augustine. You also want to know what Brooks makes of Frances Perkins or Saint Augustine. The voice of the book is calm, fair and humane. The highlight of the material is the quality of the author’s moral and spiritual judgments.” (Michael Gerson, The Washington Post)

“If you want to be reassured that you are special, you will hate this book. But if you like thoughtful polemics, it is worth logging off Facebook to read it.” (The Economist)

Good content, disappointing delivery

The narrator overacted the book’s content, for my taste buds.
The content is somber already, for which I was prepared, so in my opinion adding a somber delivery to the text resulted in an overkill.

A deep, insightful guide to living a meaningful life (if a tad overlong)

David Brooks takes a microscope to the lives of some of the truly great individuals of Western history to discover and reveal the commonalities and differences that made those figures into the legends they’re seen as today.

I would be very interested to hear the justification however, for keeping some of the minutiae in the book. I understand Brooks’ desire to not reveal his guide for living a moral life until the last possible moment; however, up until that punchline, it’s not really entirely clear that there is an overarching thesis or even binding thread amongst all the various stories of these clearly great, but otherwise seemingly unconnected characters. That apparent disconnect—up until the very end at least— and perhaps a tad more detail than necessary is the only thing holding me back from 5-stars across the board.

Informative and 'Loaded' wit details

Very diverse with the number and names of people that were used in the story. Too much detail and too many obscure facts, Conclusions were outstanding and thought-provoking. Excellent book but could've been shorter and not left out any vital statistics or information.
I think I would've enjoyed listening to David Brooks narrate the reading but Morey did a fine job as he has done with the other readings he has done.

Very heady stuff and great historic perspective

Where does The Road to Character rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I wouldn't call it "easy listening" but it is highly educational. I learned a lot about important historical figures. LOVED the narrator. Very thought-provoking.

Amazingly insightful and balanced!

Should be required reading for all high school and college students. I recommend it to everyone!!!!

Inspiring

interesting stories of challenge to help us reflect on our own and our culture's quest for authenticity and integrity.

Insightful content

Did a great job exploring the theme of character by telling the stories of very different people throughout history.

Adam 2 vs Adam 1

Chapter 10 was so wonderful and spot on. Can’t recommend this book enough 10/10

Excellent analysis

I loved the combination of historical figures and explanations of their relationship to moral realism.

Essential to our health

A necessary and well articulated look at the shifts in our society and the possible way to ameliorate these problems. Excellent!