Are self-help books a help or a crutch for the times
By Dewi Kurniawati
JAKARTA (JP): Are you someone whose idea of curling up with a good book is to have in hand one of the numerous simple "how-to" works on making yourself into a better person?
If you answered yes, then you fit into a growing trend of those who find the books the easiest route to self-improvement and to overcome problems in this frantic world.
"My favorite is the first edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul," said 27-year-old "Susan" from South Jakarta. "The stories are not just touching but provide a meaningful idea about life."
The huge success of the book by Jack Kenfield and Mark Victor Hanson and its spinoffs has been a windfall for publisher Gramedia Pustaka Utama (GPU).
"The first edition of Chicken Soup for The Soul was priced at Rp 27,500 and has sold up to 16,734 copies over the past four years. The complete series of Chicken Soup titles, now amounting to 20, including the pocket book A Cup of Chicken Soup, has sold a total of 320,775 copies and is considered a bestseller by Indonesian standards," said GPU's head of nonfiction marketing Danang Priyadi.
He said the imported books are translated to cater to the standards of the Indonesian public, with adjustments made for cultural differences.
"The price of the original books is almost three to four times more expensive then the translated ones. Translated books sell better for the Indonesian market," Danang said.
Local books have not fared as well.
"They are not as successful, so the writers receive a smaller royalty and it also takes a longer time to sell local books ..." he added.
Although GPU's self-motivation books sold 524,886 copies as of July, sales of other books pale in comparison, such as those on psychology (57,090 copies) and Indonesian culture (a meager 1,672).
"These self-motivation books give practical and simple tips on life's problems. For example, Food Combining written by Andang Gunawan, providing tips on staying slim, sold 10,000 copies a month at a price of Rp 45,000," Danang said.
Reading habits
Many members of the literary community do not consider the trend an indication that the public is developing a taste for "literature".
"This has nothing to do with reading habits -- do you think those people also read other books, like thick philosophical books? I doubt it, it's just a part of our instant culture", said writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma.
"The Chicken Soup series, books by Anand Krishna, or on yoga, or whatever it takes to achieve happiness, they are not natural, they are ignoring the beauty of life. People pray because their colleagues do."
Others see the phenomenon as a quest for people to find something missing from their lives.
"This phenomena shows that our society is thirsty for happiness," said Dadang Hawari, a psychologist and Muslim scholar.
"Stress and confusion in everyday life leads to spiritual emptiness, and the readers need some way to quench their thirst. When one cannot identify the substance of the problem, one will run in search of instant answers."
He feared negative aspects of the trend.
"My main concern about this phenomena is that the penetration of imported culture or ideology does not always suit ours. What is their message? Does the ending significantly influence the readers? What about the moral and religious messages?" said Hawari.
For Seno, the books and their messages are a crutch.
"People just need something to hold on to, and basically I think this is an impact of a trade culture, a symbol of capitalism. It gives birth to a creativity that devalues the beauty of life," he said.
"The mass media has helped to construct an image of life. Advertisements have taken away the meaning of happiness, these days. If you don't have a fancy car, a large house or a good job, then you don't deserve to be happy. That's why we feel guilty if we are not in a rush every morning."
Hawari said the popularity of the books showed that religious leaders were slow to accommodate the changing needs of believers.
"Some scholars just cannot cope with reality, they always comes up with an explanation about heaven or hell, sin or good deeds. Life is now more complicated than that," said the author of Al-Quran, Ilmu Kedokteran Jiwa dan Kesehatan Jiwa (The Koran, medical science and health for the soul), now in its 10th printing.
Seno believed dealing with life's problems was a matter of coming back to basics.
"One way to get through this is with education, not just formal, but also spiritually. We have to struggle against that brand of ideology by encouraging human pride itself, basic things that involve our social life and environment," Seno said.