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Roman Krznaric's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Roman Krznaric recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Roman Krznaric's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

An Intimate History of Humanity

A provocative work that explores the evolution of emotions and personal relationships through diverse cultures and time. "An intellectually dazzling view of our past and future."--Time magazine

Contents
1. How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of spectacles, revive them
2. How men and women have slowly learned to have interesting conversations
3. How people searching for their roots are only beginning to look far and deep enough
4. How some people have acquired an immunity to loneliness
5. How new forms of...
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Recommended by Roman Krznaric, and 1 others.

Roman KrznaricZeldin helps us to understand the big picture that who we are – the way we think about love, fear, death and so on – is partly inherited from the past. (Source)

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2

Out of My Life and Thought

An Autobiography

Published to commemorate Albert Schweitzer's only visit to the USA 60 years ago, this anniversary edition of his autobiography gives 21st-century readers a unique & authoritative account of the man John F. Kennedy called "one of the transcendent moral influences of our century."
Schweitzer is celebrated around the world as a European pioneer of medical service in Africa, a groundbreaking philosopher & musical scholar, & a catalyst of environmental & peace activism. Yet people most revere him for his dedication to serving others & his profound & influential ethic...
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Recommended by Roman Krznaric, and 1 others.

Roman KrznaricHis autobiography traces his transformation from his literary and intellectual work to the way he gave himself to human service. (Source)

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3

Walden

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize human development—a cycle of life shared by both nature and man. A celebration of personal renewal through self-reliance, independence, and simplicity, composed for all of us living...
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Laura Dassow WallsThe book that we love as Walden began in the journal entries that he wrote starting with his first day at the pond. (Source)

Roman KrznaricIn 1845 the American naturalist went out to live in the woods of Western Massachusetts. Thoreau was one of the great masters of the art of simple living. (Source)

John KaagThere’s this idea that philosophy can blend into memoir and that, ideally, philosophy, at its best, is to help us through the business of living with people, within communities. This is a point that Thoreau’s Walden gave to me, as a writer, and why I consider it so valuable for today. (Source)

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4
This unusual fictional memoir - in good part autobiographical - narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-outs of two great cities. The Parisian episode is fascinating for its expose of the kitchens of posh French restaurants, where the narrator works at the bottom of the culinary echelon as dishwasher, or plongeur. In London, while waiting for a job, he experiences the world of tramps, street people, and free lodging houses. In the tales of both cities we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and of society. less

David DownieThat is a book I read when I was young – in my teens – and it really marked me. (Source)

Roman KrznaricOrwell is one of my great empathic heroes. He went tramping in east London, trying to empathise with people who lived on the social margins. (Source)

David KramaleyI really enjoyed Down and Out in Paris and London. I think it’s meant to be a semi-autobiographical novel by George Orwell. I liked it because it was one of those books that had a big influence on the way I perceive and think about the world. Highly recommended. (Source)

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5

Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 psychiatrist Viktor Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory—known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")—holds... more

Tony RobbinsAnother book that I’ve read dozens of times. It taught me that if you change the meaning, you change everything. Meaning equals emotion, and emotion equals life. (Source)

Jimmy FallonI read it while spending ten days in the ICU of Bellevue hospital trying to reattach my finger from a ring avulsion accident in my kitchen. It talks about the meaning of life, and I believe you come out a better person from reading it. (Source)

Dustin Moskovitz[Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

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