Tom van der Linden is the creator of Like Stories of Old, a YouTube Channel that explores the timeless ideas, philosophies and feelings found in films, video games and other media, and communicates them in an insightful and empathic way.
My channel is...
Like Stories of Old
Movies have always had a strong impact on me, they affect the way I look at the world and help make me a better person. With this channel I want to explore this boundary between film analysis and life lessons, because I believe that movies, just like the stories of old, contain valuable ideas and insights, and to better understand them is to better understand life.
Ernest Becker is one of the few authors to tackle to problem of being a human being in a strange, unknown universe head on. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, The Birth and Death of Meaning covers a variety subjects that are at times uncomfortably intimate, yet also incredibly affirming, as if Becker is staring into your very soul to articulate all the things you feel yet fail to properly express. The writing is both accessible and stimulating, with some beautiful passages that are still stuck with me years after reading them.
A rather short, yet rich reading experience. Albert Camus comes right out of the gate by condensing all of philosophy to one single problem: suicide. “Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy,” he writes. Everything else comes second. He engages some of the existentialist philosophers that came before him, but distinguishes himself by avoiding to take ‘the leap of faith’. He seeks for answers in the here and now, in the things we know without having to appeal to some higher power or higher source for meaning, which makes this an excellent exploration of the meaning of life in our more secular times, while still taking the problem of existence seriously.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER • An internationally acclaimed author delivers one of the most influential works of the twentieth century, showing a way out of despair and reaffirming the value of existence.
Influenced by works such as Don Juan and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a meditation on suicide—the question of living or not living in a universe devoid of order or meaning. With lyric eloquence, Albert Camus brilliantly presents a crucial exposition of existentialist thought.
Viktor Frankl’s quintessential search for the meaning of life is as much defined by his logotherapy, his school of thought which proposes that what human beings desire more than anything is purpose, and his experiences in the concentration camps. As a Holocaust survivor, Frankl offers unique observations through a detailed account of witnessing humanity at its worst, which gives tremendous weight to the discussion on our search for meaning in the second half of the book. Both heartbreaking as well as uplifting, this is an essential read for everyone wanting to engage with life’s fundamental problems.
One of the outstanding classics to emerge from the Holocaust, Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's story of his struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Today, this remarkable tribute to hope offers us an avenue to finding greater meaning and purpose in our own lives.
In this fundamental work of Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius discusses not so much the meaning of life, as much as he offers a practical guide for engaging with it. Meditations, as well as Stoicism in general, emphasizes that life isn’t just something that needs to be pondered or engaged with intellectually, it also needs to be lived practically. And for that, Aurelius offers, in beautiful writing (personally, I recommend the George Long translation which in my opinion best preserves the books poetic qualities) useful and easily applicable tips for managing yourself in day to day life.
Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.
Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations…
While at first glance this book is about disasters and how we cope with them, what Rebecca Solnit really offers here is a painfully relevant work on human nature in which she breaks down many of the false beliefs and assumptions we have about ourselves in times of calamities. Through extensive research, she argues that human beings are actually far more altruistic, communal and overall good that we give ourselves credit for, and emphasizes the importance of those beliefs as we move forward and progress as a society. A must read for anyone who desires an effective antidote to the cynicism that seems so rampant nowadays.
"The freshest, deepest, most optimistic account of human nature I've come across in years." -Bill McKibben
The most startling thing about disasters, according to award-winning author Rebecca Solnit, is not merely that so many people rise to the occasion, but that they do so with joy. That joy reveals an ordinarily unmet yearning for community, purposefulness, and meaningful work that disaster often provides. A Paradise Built in Hell is an investigation of the moments of altruism, resourcefulness, and generosity that arise amid disaster's grief and disruption and considers their implications for everyday life. It points to a new vision of…
Gabrielle found her grandfather’s diaries after her mother’s death, only to discover that he had been a Nazi. Born in Berlin in 1942, she and her mother fled the city in 1945, but Api, the one surviving male member of her family, stayed behind to work as a doctor in a city 90% destroyed.
Gabrielle retraces Api’s steps in the Berlin of the 21st century, torn between her love for the man who gave her the happiest years of her childhood and trying to come to terms with his Nazi membership, German guilt, and political responsibility.
Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past
"This is not a book I will forget any time soon."
Story Circle Book Reviews
Moving and provocative, Api's Berlin Diaries offers a personal perspective on the fall of Berlin 1945 and the far-reaching aftershocks of the Third Reich.
After her mother's death, Robinson was thrilled to find her beloved grandfather's war diaries-only to discover that he had been a Nazi.
The award-winning memoir shows Api, a doctor in Berlin, desperately trying to help the wounded in cellars without water or light. He himself was reduced to anxiety and despair, the daily diary his main refuge. As Robinson retraces Api's…
