
Movies and the Meaning of Life
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Narrated by:
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Gary Roelofs
About this listen
"The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions", said the existentialist thinker Albert Camus. And no less a philosopher than Woody Allen has wondered: "How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and shirt size?"
The essays in Movies and the Meaning of Life look at popular and cult movies, examining their assumptions and insights on meaning-of-life questions: What is reality and how can I know it? (The Truman Show, Contact, Waking Life); How do I find myself and my true identity? (Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry, Memento); How do I find meaning from my interactions with others? (Pulp Fiction, Shadowlands, Chasing Amy); What is the chief purpose in life? (American Beauty, Life Is Beautiful, The Shawshank Redemption); and how ought I live my life? (Pleasantville, Spiderman, Minority Report, Groundhog Day).
The book is published by Open Court. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
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Performance
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Not as insightful as I hoped
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Taking a fresh look at the concept of happiness, Hollis uses a warm, accessible tone to encourage listeners to learn to tolerate ambiguity, embrace growth rather than security, respect the power of Eros, engage spiritual crises, and acknowledge the shadow of mortality. Providing inspiring wisdom and personal reflections to address our deepest worries, What Matters Most yields far more than mere self-help clichés.
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Leaves Other Self-Help Books In the Dust
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Critic reviews
"An excellent achievement." (Midwest Book Review)