I just finished this somewhat brief motivational book called The War of Art, which pertains to overcoming barriers in creative endeavors. That’s a somewhat of a bland description as there’s a real genius to this book.
Really, the author spends a large part of the book developing the picture of a a very real spiritual warfare against creativity. Pressfield’s genius is in personifying the “enemy to creativity,” creating an embodiment of everything that seeks to ruin what we were uniquely created to do. He paints a picture of an evil force that is pretty much 100% committed to giving you the finger every day and hinder the expression of one’s latent gifts, inspiration, and genius. After the first half of the book, you’re ready to step up and beat the crap out of this enemy he calls the “Resistance.”
His discussion at the various mental blocks to beginning, persevering through, or finishing creative endeavors is his wheelhouse and is worth reading the book for. Where he gets into trouble later in the book is when he tries to provide a theology/philosophy of the resistance and it’s spiritual counterpart – God and the angels. He dips into a fair amount of Greek philosophy, some Jungian psychology/philosophy, and some eastern philosophy. Overall, there’s a fairly strong dualism that he promotes throughout the book. I’m not sure it aids his cause, but he lays out a broader framework for the insights and observations he’s made about humans and the challenge to live out a higher calling than the mundane. There was a 30 page section that I could have done without, but he finished strong in his discussions on “the artist and hierarchy and territory.”
In short, Pressfield calls all artistis – all those who sense that something is within them trying to find expression in the real world – to pretty much just man up and “do your work.” His insights related to the creative process are things that everyone can relate to and he demythologizes some of the key myths about the artistic process.
If you’re an artist, writer, musician, or have any other dream or aspiration that you sense burning within you, this is a book that will give you a good kick in the write direction. I don’t subscribe to his worldview or some of his conclusions about “higher reality” and “lower reality”, but I fully agree that there are many dreams and works of beauty and genius that never see the light of day because of resistance, because of fear, because of a lack of courage. It’s got me thinking through those things I’ve not moved on because of either my own fear or my own lack of discipline or proactivity.
I’m not going to recommend this as a must read for all, but if you read the title of this and have had any kind of internal tension or battle over a creative idea or project this book could definitely provide some of the motivation and perspective you need to move from idea to action. I’ll for sure be coming back to portions of it from time to time if I need a good dose of in-your-face motivation and reminders of the enemies to my vision. I actually had the thought that is is like a kind of Screwtape Letters (C.S. Lewis) for creativity and the artist and I’ve found it good to read through Screwtape again every once in awhile because it illuminates various realities that we grow numb to over time. This book can offer similar aid and perspective.
If you have read The Moviegoer by Walker Percy which I recently reviewed – there is a strong similarity to the contrast between “the search” and “everydayness” to Pressfield’s “artist” and “the resistance.”
