HAPPY

Derren Brown is largely known by his performances as a mentalist magician, so readers may be surprised by the contents of this book. It is primarily about philosophical tenets starting with Socrates and Plato through to modern day philosophers and psychologists, with the teachings of Stoicism running throughout the work.

'Happy' is written for public consumption; nonetheless it is by no means inferior because of that, giving well-researched information of philosophers down the ages. Brown suggests that in modern times, philosophy has become highly academic 'concerning itself more with matters of language, logic and metaphysics rather than the business of living well. ' He says that prior to the Christian age, philosophers were in amongst the people opening discussions to help understand themselves and life.

Brown berates the notion of positive thinking being the panacea of all ills and in a chapter named, 'The considered life' he warns us to be careful about our response to these ideas, as we may be 'at the mercy of whatever voice happens to be the loudest around us. These may come from the church; from forms of cheap spirituality… or from what Jung describes as, 'the unlived lives of our parents'. Leading a considered life, Brown says, is about getting our story right for ourselves.

Although he clearly is not in favour of the worst aspects of the New Age he notes that ancient wisdom has become the source of many of our modern day self-help therapeutic methods including neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The main bulk of the philosophy running though this book is about Stoicism, from which the ethos of some of these therapies has been formed.

He relays ancient philosophies, acknowledging that these do not always take account of 'the turbid domain of the unconscious.' He says that the Stoics' most powerful and prevailing idea was that we should 'limit our desires and if we change our attitude, the pain of those external factors can disappear'. The ethos is echoed with such quotes as Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher emperor that 'problems are not by events in the world but rather by how we interpret them. Get rid of I am hurt and you are rid of hurt itself.'

This is primarily a book for the pragmatists, not in the vein of the abundance of New Age writing, of which he is critical, but Brown gives a fulsome account of different ways of living. It is, however, somewhat disappointing that he dismisses anything remotely spiritual. Like so many other people, it seems that he has confusion over the difference between spirituality and religions. Nonetheless, he quotes Pierre Hadot, the French philosopher who says Stoic works must be read in their context as 'spiritual exercises as they were interested in an entire transformation of self and its relationship to the universe' Along the spiritual pathway we understand that we must reach a point where it's not so much that we no longer care what people think about us but we no longer mind. In that vein Brown amusingly quotes novelist David Foster who says 'you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realise how seldom they do!'

He talks about the Christian notion of original sin, which he believes alienated humanity from the divine. However, he propounds that, finally 'we are getting ready to release ourselves from the trammels of religion', in revisiting the philosophers prior to the onset of Christianity. Seneca, one of the few Stoic writers whose words are extant, preferred to encourage his pupils to apply their own thoughts and teachings to their own lives. This of course is in line with the current social science research into one's 'lived experience'.

Continually using the Stoic theme there is a hefty chapter on anger, in which amongst other things Brown suggests that Bible stories are influenced by Stoicism, for instance John 8:7: 'he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone', to Seneca's 'If we are willing in all matters to play the just judge, let us convince ourselves first of this, that no one of us is free from fault.'

As death is something many people fear, he is arguably justified in bring this subject into four chapters of a book entitled, 'Happy'. He quotes Andrew Marr who said, that whilst he was waiting to die, ' It was the most important time of my life'. Philip Gould also says' 'I now regard terminal illness as a weird kind of privilege.' Those who have had transformative spiritual experiences would understand this, as they can often give the feeling of a form of death; death of self.

This is a highly readable book whether or not you are familiar with the philosophers Brown copiously quotes. He says; 'I hope that some of the ideas will take root and affect you for the better.' In that he has fulfilled his own brief, as Happy is thought provoking and raises valuable questions about ourselves and the world in which we live.