I am a big fan of M. Scott Pecks work and have read quite a number of his books. The first was, of course, The Road Less Travelled which I have to acknowledge had a major impact on my life and thinking. For a start it opened my mind to new ideas that where not very much in evidence in late 1980’s Ireland. I picked it up in a small shop in Sligo town which was alive and kicking in an otherwise very dead and closed minded country. My understanding is that it had welcomed into its heart many people who had decided to leave a very troubled and sectarian state of Northern Ireland. And as I’ve said before it is often the brightest and best that leave. It also had benefited from an influx of non-Irish who added a broader perspective, much like the influence of Dutch, German and British into West Cork.
Anyway here I want to include a table of Pecks books that I prepared at a time when I, naively, thought I could bring Community Building into Cork or indeed Ireland. I had attended a Community Building Event in London and some facilitator training in Reading (at which I discovered Open Space). Miserable failure would be a good discription of my attempts and as far as I am aware no CB events have ever happened in Ireland although they are hanging on in the UK and Canada. I’m not sure if the conecpt can survive Pecks recent death. The publishing dates are those for my own personal copies.
The Road Less Travelled
This was the first book of Scott Pecks I read. I remember I was working in Sligo at the time and bought it in a local book shop. It should be remembered that bookshops in the 80’s did not normally have sections on popular psychology and certainly not on Mind, Body, Spirit. My everlasting memory of this book is my realisation that love was a choice I was free to make. In a way it was unfortunate timing as I was married only a few years and still in the romantic stage. I also remember that the statement went down like a lead balloon with my wife who was not impressed with my new-found realisation
First published in the US 1978 and first published in the UK 1983.
My copy is a 1988 reprint, the 3rd in 1988. |
People of the Lie
This is a very powerful and interesting book. It is at times very disturbing but for me it’s main value lies in the clear distinction it makes between evil in terms of the wilful destruction of the spirit and evil as it is used by the general population. Many of the acts we normally consider evil are, in fact, in the realm of psychology and treatable by therapy of one sort or another. The inescapable conclusion is that we as a society are unwilling to invest the time and resources it requires to treat individuals in the appropriate way. We prefer to lock them up in prisons.
Published 1983
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Exploring the Road Less Travelled
I bought this book but never really used it. A workbook format never really did anything for me. At the time I got it, I was already exploring my own personal development with a spiritual support group.
Published 1985
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The Different Drum
This book outlines the theory and practice of community building. I wrote to FCE at the time I first read this book, wanting to find out more. I received a newsletter and what amounted to a request for funds. It was all very American and it put me off somewhat. In any case, I was not in a position to pursue it further at the time.Many years later in September 2001, I was searching for a quotation when I came across the book again. This being the age of the Internet, things were different. I found the FCE web site and from there the CBiB web site. As a result, I attended a Community Building Event in London and two Community Building Workshops in Brazier Park near Reading, in February of 2002. The result was that I acted as sponsor for a CBE in Ireland in September 2002. Unfortunately, the event had to be cancelled due to insufficient numbers.
Published 1987
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A World Waiting to be Born
This book is really a follow on from The Different Drum for me. In The Different Drum, Peck deals with community. In this book, he takes community out into the wider world. Using the word “civility” as his base, he describes what is possible in society as a whole if we can make the necessary choices.
Published 1993
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The Road Less Travelled and Beyond
I read it but can’t remember anything special about it.
Published 1997
Further Along The Road Less Travelled Again
I read it but can not remember anything about it either
Published 1993
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A Bed By The Window
Pecks venture into fiction. I remember it as a good read.
Published 1994
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In Search Of Stones
Someone in CBiB recommended this book to me. I remember looking at it when it first came out but I had gone off Peck a small bit at the time and gave it a miss.
Within a week of coming back from the CBW, I came across it in a second hand bookshop and swapped it for a load of books I was trying to get rid off. Maybe it’s because I am now middle aged and can identify with the subject matter better, but I really enjoyed this book. In it, Pecks seeks to summarise much of his thinking about life. I suspect he also wanted to knock some of the gloss of his own image, as he lays it all out, warts and all. If you are feeling middle aged, it is worth a read.
Published 1995
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Categories: Things I have read/watched
