Weiblich, magisch, mächtig. Die Kunst, das Leben lächelnd zu meistern

by Harriet Rubin

»Vom Glück, eine Frau zu sein«

Vor allem in der zweiten Lebenshälfte entwickeln Frauen ihre einzigartige Stärke und Persönlichkeit.
Bestsellerautorin Harriet Rubin hat zehn Strategien entwickelt, wie Frauen erkennen, dass die Zeit nicht ihr Feind ist, der ihnen die Jugend stiehlt, sondern ihr Freund, der ihnen die Chance bietet, im Leben alles zu erreichen. Denn jedes Alter bringt seine
Früchte, wenn man sie zu ernten weiß.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Womens

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm listening to Portishead "Dummy" as I write this. Coolness!

I completely fell in love with this book when I read this quote within the book from Edith Wharton in regards to her relationship with the philandering Morton Fulleton, and how she handled it,
"...there is a constant of thought that seems so much closer than a kiss."
Hello!

Harriet Rubin, my new hero of sorts, talks directly about the power of harvesting the effects of age! A most powerful statement to hear...particularly for women.

The Machievallian/Prince/Art of War, impetus for women is refreshing and heartening. In the book, women are given credit for the values, tenacity, and humanity we bring to any situation.

Now, I may not totally agree with each statement and I need not. Rubin, the Magellan has at least provided a written guide, a something we as women and men can refer too to assauge a culture that seeks to make us invisible and our maturation an offense.

Rubin consistently delineates our strength and strengths among the many offerings of the book.
Ms. Rubin's makes me ready to confess that I am a 53 year-old woman (although not on my myspace.com profile. Come on now, baby steps!)

I am (and you are) a mature woman ready to, as Rubin states, "harvest the effects of age."
You do not have to changing yourself (read it to understand).
You do not have to be someone else.
You do not have to leap through more endless hurdles. You simply have to trust enough to harvest the wisdoms, the lessons and learning of a lifetime. How divine!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, what can I say about this book. It blew me away. Rubin's style of writing fits my train of thought so well that it doesn't even feel like reading. It doesn't even feel like conversation. I actually understand the phrase "reading a book like drinking water" - except, in this case, it's like drinking sweet, tender sherry from a cup perpetually filled to the brim.

This is my first feminist literature; my first book on power, even, and I adored it so much I think this genre will be coveted and an indelible part of my future reading habits.

Up next will probably be Rubin's Princessa. Oh, and I too want to read Machiavelli's The Prince.

Smuckers. Oh yeah, recalling back, actually, I didn't quite get everything Rubin meant. Her words, especially the front, were colloquial and I think they were deliberately hazy and meant to confuse. Yes, I was confuszzled, but I enjoyed her writing style so they just floated like pretty ribbons silking through my mind; make a dent they did not. I was happy. However, I took a while trying to decipher her subject titles - I still didn't understand 'em to be honest - they'were like metaphors.

And I didn't get the drift of the ones and twos and threes and fours, except from my numerological understanding. Well, HMMMMMmm. But overall I mined some gold nuggets and gems (stratagems) that I'll keep in my velvet sack for a long time to come.

[idiotwithasword · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my least favorite book of the year. I appreciated the constant references to Leonardo Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa, bur disagreed fundamentally with the author's perspective of femininity, and its relationship to masculinity. Also did not like how we sorted women into numbered categories.

[Melanie Crossley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a light read. Need to give full concentration to this one. The author compares the beauty in aging, which applies to both male and female, but particularly in the sense of woman, to the Mona Lisa painting. Fascinating read. Reading a second time to take it all in. A woman can be memorable and timeless if she uses all she has learned. Things she would have been scorned for as a younger woman, are now seen as her signature, her coming of being, her timelessness. She becomes more of a woman as she loses her looks, as she can no longer rely on looks alone. She leaves behind her a memory of incredible character. Would like to read more books by this author. She often refers to "The Princessa" which seems to be the prelude to this work. Probably a good idea to read "The Princessa" first.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is essentially a college textbook for aging, empowered women. Pre-requisites include feminist literature, art, current affairs and history. If you're not well-versed in the above, you'll likely have some content go over your head. Even more likely if you get the audio version (as I did) because words are chosen very specifically to illustrate ideas and it's harder to understand the exact intent if you can't stop and re-read as needed.

Regardless, the entire book was un-interesting to me. Maybe it was the bland presentation, maybe it's the fact that I'm only 40, maybe I'm more self-confident than most women. In truth, I think it simply wasn't very good and I honestly don't know anyone who would benefit from reading it.

[Sara Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is true. Older women experience loss. Our culture is fixated on youth and physical beauty. The author uses DaVinci's Mona Lisa as an example of aging with power and grace. She presents examples of real women in the arts and history who achieved power in maturity. Georgia O'Keefe and Eleanor of Aquitane are two. She presents stratagems to achieve the power. I am not sure I can ever regain the power of my youth, yet I learned a great deal about how our culture works. The language of this book was a bit more on a textbook level than a self-help book.

[Iky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique in its way at decoding the power of femininity &soft influence following using the symbolism of Mona Lisa.
The book came off as obscure &dreamy. It dismisses concentional beauty. Dominant examples of western leading women, practically no Arabic characters.

[Octavia · Rating 2 out of 5]

A different way to view women as we age... love how she draws parallels from the painting to the modern day woman... very clever

[Jen Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides lots of food for thought for women interested in theories of age, sex and power. The best quote: "A woman will need to administer an occasional dose of stiletto." Amen to that.