As an NPR foreign correspondent, Eric Weiner spent many years in countries that were anything but happy. Reporting from places such as Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Afghanistan, immediately after the fall of the Taliban, Weiner was a witness to untold misery, fear, and pain. It seems no surprise then, that he would eventually change his focus, and begin a quest to find the world's happiest locations.
In his book, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Eric Weiner takes readers on a ten country quest to discover the happiest places in the world, and to discover what makes them so. The Geography of Bliss is infused with Weiner's unique humor as well as thought provoking insights into the nature of happiness. Armchair travellers, as well as seasoned ones, will delight as Weiner visits countries both familiar, and unfamiliar and reading groups will find a plethora of material for discussion.
The Geography of Bliss: A Summary
Weiner's first destination is the Netherlands, home of the World Database of Happiness. The World Database of Happiness is the brainchild of Dutch professor Ruut Veenhoven, and is a database of "the human knowledge of what makes us happy, what does not, and which places are the happiest." To his surprise, Weiner finds that "the happiest places don't necessarily fit our preconceived notions". For example, countries with a large difference between the rich and the poor are not by definition less happy than those with a smaller gap. "Many of the world's happiest countries have high suicide rates. People who attend religious services report being happier than those who do not, but the world's happiest nations are secular. And oh, the United States, the richest, most powerful country in the world, is no happiness superpower. Many other nations are happier than we are."
So, full of knowledge from the World Database of Happiness, and sure that the freedom and tolerance of the Dutch does not suit his particular idea of happiness ("Tolerance is great, but tolerance can easily slide into indifference"), he sets out for a variety of locations, some happy, some not.
In Switzerland, Weiner discovers that despite Swiss efficiency, "clean public toilets", and chocolate, the Swiss are more content than happy, and have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. In Iceland, where cold and darkness reign for a good part of the year, people are surprisingly happy. Weiner finds Icelanders to be humble, fiercely proud of their language, and able to "embrace" the winter darkness.
He travels to other places such as Moldova, a place known for its bitter unhappiness (all the other happy places had started to "bum him out"), Bhutan where there is a policy of Gross National Happiness, and Qatar where there is wealth, but culture has to be bought.
Does Weiner find the secret to happiness? The answer is, not really. What he does discover is that there can be many different paths to happiness. He says, " Places are the same. It's not the elements that matter so much as how they're arranged and in which proportions. Arrange them one way, and you have Switzerland. Arrange them another way, and you have Moldova. Getting the balance right is important."
Conclusion
The book, while well written, informative, and thought provoking, does have one major drawback; Weiner, at many times, seems to over generalize. After spending only a short period of time in each country, it seems unfair to say that, "Moldovans have a culture that belittles the value of trust and friendship.", or that "Icelanders could have easily chosen despair and drunkenness. They chose another option: happiness and drunkenness." These statements and others, while they may apply to many in a particular country, do not apply to all.
The Geography of Bliss is a book with a unique twist on the age old, "what constitutes happiness" question. As readers travel with Weiner on his journey, they may find themselves reevaluating their own ideas of happiness, and formulating new ones.
Awards
The Geography of Bliss has won the following awards:
- New York Times bestseller
- Borders 2008 Original Voices Award winner
- BookSense Notable Book
- Barnes and Noble "Discover Great New Writers" title
- Washington Post Best of 2008.
About the Author
Eric Weiner is a former NPR correspondent and reporter for the New York Times. Weiner has written for the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and The New Republic. He was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and won a Peabody Award in 1994 while working for NPR.
Sources
Weiner, Eric, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Hachette Book Group, New York, 2008, ISBN: 978-0-446-58026-7.
Andrea Ruiz - I am a graduate of Boston University with a degree in International Relations. I was born and raised in the Boston area, and even though I ...
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