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elephvant
5.0 out of 5 stars Wise and Important
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2013
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I originally read this book several years ago after my flatmates rescued a tattered 1970s edition from a wheelie bin in Edinburgh. From the opening paragraphs it gripped me almost like a novel and I am so pleased there is now an edition on Kindle so that I can take it with me everywhere.
The text itself is a classic. In it Fromm explains several ways in which modern, western society operates in a fashion that could be legitimately claimed to be 'insane' (and even, on occasion, 'pathological'). Despite the apparent strength of this claim, this is not, fortunately, another flaming tirade about the corruption and ills of modern society, but rather a careful and considered analysis from a leading psychoanalyst of his day. It is also notable for being one of the rare instances where such a book dares to propose solutions as well as simply identifying problems.
Fromm's style of writing is also praiseworthy. For the general reader this is most definitely an academic book filled with challenging concepts and ideas, but Fromm (most of the time) manages to engage the reader without ever slipping into the light and familiar tone of so many pop-psychology books published today. He treats the reader as neither an expert nor an idiot, but as what his book tells us man should be: a thoughtful and curious creature, engaged with his world and surroundings.
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Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book - provides insights into evolution of man and society
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2017
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The writer takes you through the evolution of man and his character. The writer also discusses various political systems and there impact on man and vice versa. I liked most of what i read as it helps to understand the reasons of why man acts the way he does. What is fascinating is that lot of points are relevant even today. The book is a good read for someone interested in learning about the growth of man esp in 19th and 20th century and the society along with him.
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Ms. R. I. Brewer
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant and though provoking.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2014
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I have been a fan of Erich Fromm almost since I could read. He writes in a clear easy to follow style but leads you to understand complex relationships and social connections and how they impact on individual feelings of self worth.
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Daffy Bibliophile
4.0 out of 5 stars Building a Sane Society
Reviewed in Canada on 13 December 2013
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On the back cover it states that this book belongs in the psychology section of your local bookstore. To me it seems that it belongs more in the sociology or perhaps social-psychology section. Fromm's book does deal with psychology but from a societal perspective and that is what gives it its importance.
Fromm zeroes in on the bureaucratization which develops in any technological society, whether in the capitalist West or in the Soviet Union. This bureaucratization is the main reason for the alienation that individuals feel. In the West we live in a mass society which requires that we are obedient, yet believe ourselves to be free, that we can be persuaded that we want more of anything and everything that is offered on the almighty Market, yet still believe that we are acting of our own free will and that we are good team players and can conform completely while at the same time believing that we are individuals above all else. Is it any wonder that we feel anxious, stressful, perhaps even a little nuts?
Fromm does offer some solutions and he leaves the door open to various options. He states that he is a socialist and that is the basis for his critique of modern society. He states unequivocally that the Soviet Union should not in any way be considered a socialist society; if anything he believed that the working conditions in Stalinist Russia resembled those of early Western capitalist societies with workers subject to overwork, poverty and ruthless exploitation.
Erich Fromm's solutions were based on a Humanistic approach which was diametrically opposed to the exploitation and mind-numbing tedium which he saw in both East and West. The development of a society on a Human scale was what Fromm wanted, a sane society.
This book is definitely worth reading despite being published in 1955 and I wonder what Fromm would have made of our current hyper-capitalist system that seems even more inhuman and inhumane than the system the West had in the 1950s. Are we progressing? Regressing? Going in circles? Almost sixty years after the publication of "The Sane Society" are we any less insane?
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