Hector and the search for happiness (Hectors Journeys 1)
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Hector and the search for happiness is a feel-good gem and has already sold two million copies around the world.Francois Lelord has created a 21st-century hero in kind-hearted psychiatrist Hector, who travels the globe to find out what makes people happy. --Good Housekeeping
Even the most aloof, the most detached reader will be won over by this book. --Cosmopolitan
This book is really quite funny.Dryly funny. It also has a genuine edge to it, with on-the-button observations about human behaviour and the way they think and behave. It is these qualities that make this book so clever and enjoyable. Written in the style of a children's book or fairytale in simple language, this book is quite knowing: the faux naive style contrasting with a plot that sees Hector consorting with prostitutes, cosying up to drug barons and being kidnapped by criminals. I found Hector's journey hugely enjoyable and with just that little cynical edge to make it doubly delicious. --Rosy Barnes
Even the most aloof, the most detached reader will be won over by this book. --Cosmopolitan
This book is really quite funny.Dryly funny. It also has a genuine edge to it, with on-the-button observations about human behaviour and the way they think and behave. It is these qualities that make this book so clever and enjoyable. Written in the style of a children's book or fairytale in simple language, this book is quite knowing: the faux naive style contrasting with a plot that sees Hector consorting with prostitutes, cosying up to drug barons and being kidnapped by criminals. I found Hector's journey hugely enjoyable and with just that little cynical edge to make it doubly delicious. --Rosy Barnes
Product Description
Can we learn how to be happy? Hector is a successful young psychiatrist. He s very good at treating patients in real need of his help. But many people he sees have no health problems: they re just deeply dissatisfied with their lives. Hector can t do much for them, and it s beginning to depress him. So when a patient tells him he looks in need of a holiday, Hector decides to set off round the world to find out what makes people everywhere happy (and sad), and whether there is such a thing as the secret of true happiness... Over a million readers worldwide have engaged with psychiatrist François Lelord s modern fable. Narrated with deceptive simplicity, its perceptive observations on happiness offer us the chance to reflect on the contentment we all look for in our own lives. More like Tintin than Freud François Lelord on Hector Intelligently naïve Marie Claire
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I heartily recommend this wonderful little book. It only takes a few hours to read and is written in such a simple style, as if the author was speaking to a child. Yet you soon find yourself reading about prostitution, globalisation and death, as Hector attempts to uncover what makes people happy (or unhappy) around the world. Hector's discoveries about happiness are not new information - you'll find them in any literature on happiness - but the way they are presented, woven into the story, is clever and much more thought-provoking. The penultimate chapter, when Hector meets the professor, is a bit clunky and laboured compared with the rest of the story but I finished the book with a smile on my face and a sense of clarity about what I wanted to do with my career. Not bad for a little book!
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This took me quite a while to get used to the child-like style of writing, and at first I wasn't sure if it was meant for adults or children, but once I'd got further into Hector's story I really, really enjoyed it.
As he travelled round the world from China to the country of MORE (we never actually know the name but would presume it's the USA!) he met many people and as he got to know them and talked to them, he compiled a list of the things that he thought made people happy. I won't list them all here as there's over 20 but I will mention a few :-
Lesson No. 2: Happiness often comes when least expected.
Lesson No. 6: Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains.
Lesson No. 8: Happiness is being with the people you love.
Lesson No. 13: Happiness is feeling useful to others.
This is a lovely simple story told in a way that makes you think about what makes YOU happy. Also, Hector came to realise what really made HIM happy as well, though he didn't know it when he first started his journey.
I thought Hector was a wonderful friendly character who brought out the best in people (probably due to being a psychiatrist), he made me smile more than once, as well as feel sad when we both realised that the beautiful young Chinese woman wasn't just being 'friendly' to him but was just doing her 'job'..... aaahhhh. It was then I also realised that it wasn't a children's book! Not that it was overly graphic or descriptive, some things were left to the imagination.
If you're looking for a light-hearted and easy read then why not give this a try?
As he travelled round the world from China to the country of MORE (we never actually know the name but would presume it's the USA!) he met many people and as he got to know them and talked to them, he compiled a list of the things that he thought made people happy. I won't list them all here as there's over 20 but I will mention a few :-
Lesson No. 2: Happiness often comes when least expected.
Lesson No. 6: Happiness is a long walk in beautiful, unfamiliar mountains.
Lesson No. 8: Happiness is being with the people you love.
Lesson No. 13: Happiness is feeling useful to others.
This is a lovely simple story told in a way that makes you think about what makes YOU happy. Also, Hector came to realise what really made HIM happy as well, though he didn't know it when he first started his journey.
I thought Hector was a wonderful friendly character who brought out the best in people (probably due to being a psychiatrist), he made me smile more than once, as well as feel sad when we both realised that the beautiful young Chinese woman wasn't just being 'friendly' to him but was just doing her 'job'..... aaahhhh. It was then I also realised that it wasn't a children's book! Not that it was overly graphic or descriptive, some things were left to the imagination.
If you're looking for a light-hearted and easy read then why not give this a try?
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Brilliant little novel - a sort of current day 'Sophie's World' (Jostein Gaarder) but much more simplistic in approach and single-minded in ambition - amounting to a deceptively simple exposé of the philosophy of happiness.
Join psychiatrist Hector as he leaves his successful practice and disillusioned clients and journeys around the world in pursuit of the true meaning of happiness. An entanglement of emotions in China, a close shave with a powerful drug lord, interview with a Buddhist monk and a foray into family life in the country of more and plenty all help Hector compile his list of lessons to understand happiness.
I've spent many an idle moment wondering about the modern preoccupation with 'being happy' and 'happiness' and this cleverly-written, witty book narrows my own thoughts in just the right way. It reads so well that I can only assume the translator has done an excellent job, though I like the book so much I'm almost tempted to brush up on my French and have a go at the original (with the aid of my dictionary!). Short and lightweight reading - perfect for holidays, journeys, or just a few spare hours at any time. Fiction, philosophy, self-help? - it doesn't matter how you see it, it's a great book. An unreserved 5 stars - *****.
Join psychiatrist Hector as he leaves his successful practice and disillusioned clients and journeys around the world in pursuit of the true meaning of happiness. An entanglement of emotions in China, a close shave with a powerful drug lord, interview with a Buddhist monk and a foray into family life in the country of more and plenty all help Hector compile his list of lessons to understand happiness.
I've spent many an idle moment wondering about the modern preoccupation with 'being happy' and 'happiness' and this cleverly-written, witty book narrows my own thoughts in just the right way. It reads so well that I can only assume the translator has done an excellent job, though I like the book so much I'm almost tempted to brush up on my French and have a go at the original (with the aid of my dictionary!). Short and lightweight reading - perfect for holidays, journeys, or just a few spare hours at any time. Fiction, philosophy, self-help? - it doesn't matter how you see it, it's a great book. An unreserved 5 stars - *****.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A brilliant, brilliant book.
I read this book last summer, and it was just fantastic. However as a warning to people who expect a strong story with lots of drama and adventure maybe you should try a different... Read more
Published 10 months ago by CKobrak
Simple lessons about happiness
The strength of this book resides in its simple language, written as if it were a fairy tale. We join Hector in his journey around the world looking for what makes people happy and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by M.I.
Charming and thoroughly enjoyable
An incredibly easy read and a quirky and enjoyable book. I loved it and couldn't put it down. It's charming and different and I highly recommend it
Published 15 months ago by CAROLINE
happy reading
This was a chance purchase, at an airport where the rather unusual cover suggested a closer look. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ms. Riane Revah
simple yet complicated
A well meaning book what was easy to read unexpecting aswell predictable giving the book four stars. Read more
Published 16 months ago
Excellent reading for travelers and language learners
The way the book is written makes it easy to read for everyoe who's not English native speaker.
The story is simple and heartwarming, I definitely recommend this as a... Read more
The story is simple and heartwarming, I definitely recommend this as a... Read more
Published 17 months ago by TheBigMtt
Simple yet elegant (and scientifically proved!)
I was sent this book by the book's editor after he's learnt that a lot of what Hector has learnt on his journey in discovering what makes people happy coincides with the real,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Nick Powdthavee
A Happy Book
Francoise Lelord has had a successful career as a psychiatrist in the USA and France, and now writes full-time. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Lincs Reader
Happy Talk
This book has a simple premise. Hector is a young psychiatrist; he loves his job and is good at it, but he's finding that sorting out depressed people every day was beginning to... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Annabel Gaskell
this book makes you happier
It's been a few months since I read this book and whenever I think about it (not infrequently that is), the same blissful buzz of happiness is taking over. Read more
Published 21 months ago by B. Gerov
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