This is a book review of The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by the late M. Scott Peck, M.D. of M. Scott Peck, M.D..
How I got the book:
Gift from a family member
Background:
M. Scott Peck, M.D. was a psychiatrist who wrote a number of books about life, spirituality, psychiatry, and growth. Over the course of his psychiatry career he collected stories, developed ideas, and ultimately wrote about these things. The Road Less Traveled, first published in 1978, was his first big success as an author and helped to make him famous.
The Road Less Traveled was a very striking book. It started with a stark acknowledgment: “life is difficult”. Instead of being a downer, Peck proceeded to describe his “new psychology” in terms that were ultimately uplifting to the reader who was prepared to do some reading and thinking with an open mind.
The strengths:
Peck divided his book into four sections:
- Discipline
- Love
- Growth and Religion
- Grace
Each section is filled with compelling writing about the topics as well as anecdotes based on his own psychiatric practices and from his personal life.
Peck was a clear writer and wrote well. His concept of discipline (tied to the important principle of delaying pleasure for future benefit) and his insights into the nature of love, particularly on how it can and does change over time, may seem a bit foreign to an “instant gratification”, “always on” culture, but they make a heck of a lot of sense to anyone who has perservered and triumphed over adversity, as most people do over the course of a life. Love isn’t just a romantic, happy, pleasureable feeling: it’s a source of strength and courage that can help fuel discipline.
The two sections related to religion and grace go beyond the tangible and practical into more philosophical discussions of spirituality and humanity. They foreshadow the subject matter of the book’s sequel, Further Down The Road Less Traveled, but, in my opinion, are more palatable than in the sequel, where Peck’s religious and spiritual agenda came to dominate that book in a more forceful fashion.
I’ll make no bones about it, including my own personal bias: this is an excellent book. It will forever be one of my personal favorites, certainly a top three book. My own life and experiences have undoubtedly given me a personal bias towards this book, but at the same time this permits me to write, with authority, that it’s a great book and the ideas work. Period.
The areas for improvement:
One of the common critiques of Peck’s worth was that he overemphasized the difficulties of life and he also came up with an ultimately pragmatic, unromantic view of love. It’s possible that he went too far.
At the same time, though, there’s so much writing that sugarcoats and creates pleasurable fantasies about the nature of romantic love that the psychic “kick in the pants” is probably necessary for many many people. As far as I’m concerned, this isn’t much of an area for improvement, although it’s worth noting that Peck himself failed to live up to these ideals on a number of occasions, which ultimately lead to estrangement from his children and the end of his marriage only one year before his death in 2005, although he did remarry prior to dying.
However, these failings are more about the man himself, not his ideas. Thus, it’s really, really hard to critique this book: it is what it is.
Other points of interest:
- The Road Less Traveled was re-released in a 25th anniversary edition, which I haven’t seen. It includes a new introduction by Peck.
- Although published in 1978, the book did not become a best seller until 1983, which makes an interesting, slow rise to success for this book.
Verdict (out of 10): 10 (highly recommended; a must-read book)
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M Scott Peck says blaming yourself is neurosis. Fair enough
but then he says blaming the world is a damaged character or character flaw i can't quite recall.
Sorry dude. That's wrong. There's enough damage coming in at you in this wretched place that to have the strength of character to stand apart from it and suffer solitude for that stance is strength of character. I know this, cause it's my own deal. So many times, and not for the sake of being better. No matter how humble, polite and respectful i am, i'm ostracized and slandered, just for being me. You're wrong anyway Peck. I'm sure you've made enough money to care but your bland generalization doesn't wash.
Without knowing your personal story, it's hard to comment. However, on a personal level, I've found this book to be very helpful; sorry if you haven't.
I found this book as my go to book whenever
I needed a dose of reality…M Scott Peck tells us it is up to us to decide how we want to live life…No one is a victim , we are just volunteers …. It’s a tough read for a lot of people who don’t want to do the work that is required to live a better life… “If we want to grow spiritually we need to prepare to experience and deal with life problems( in some cases that means to suffer more)
Great Book!!!