A GUARDIAN BEST HOLIDAY READ 2017
`I've started reading Roman Krznaric's Carpe Diem Regained: The Vanishing Art of Seizing the Day - and it's brilliant. One of those rare books that forces you to ask what the hell you're doing with your life.' George Monbiot, Guardian
We've all heard the saying `seize the day'. It's one of the oldest pieces of life advice in Western history, and its promise of radical aliveness has inspired us for centuries. But what does it really mean? And how can we use it to reinvent the art of living? In this age of distraction, carpe diem matters more than ever. It invites us to confront our mortality and live with greater passion, consciousness and intention - a life with no regrets.
But here's the problem: carpe diem has been hijacked and reduced to the instant hit of one-click online shopping, and the idea of being in the here and now.
Carpe Diem Regained: The Vanishing Art of Seizing the Day is a sweeping cultural biography of carpe diem, and a call to seize back its true meaning. The book unveils five very different ways of seizing the day that humankind has discovered over the centuries, ones that we urgently need to revive, from the personal to the political. It explores not just the contributions of great thinkers through history, but also insights from the lives of seize-the-day pioneers including nightclub dancers, war photographers and committed revolutionaries, while drawing on everything from the neuropsychology of regret and medieval carnival rites to existentialism and early Japanese cinema.
In this thought-provoking and empowering book, leading popular philosopher Roman Krznaric unpacks the history, philosophy and modern-day applications of carpe diem while delivering a rousing call to action for anyone up for the daunting challenge of leading a meaningful life.
