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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
I mainly rated this 3 stars instead of 4 because of the ending/the ninth insight.
I will say that The Celestine Prophecy was an enjoyable read, adventurous for sure, and that it held my interest all the way through. Here are some of my thoughts:
Positives:
+ The flow of the narrator finding the insights flowed well and captured my attention with each chapter.
+ The spiritual concepts of energy and what was essentially the law of attraction resonated.
Negatives:
- Everything came down to the rapture of Christianity. The big reveal of the ninth insight had very cult-ish undertones and honestly cheapened the entire spiritual message. Granted, I am not Christian and much prefer the spiritual teachings of what I know from Buddhism (interconnectedness, intention, etc.). But I feel that the message of human spiritual evolution could have come in a more palatable form.
- Redfield seems to be making up a lot of pop human psychology as he goes. I don't know much about him, but he certainly is imaginative and hints at the idea of paying the people who impart new insights and wisdom, so I don't trust him, lol. Also, the idea of a "control drama" — where did that come from? I'm curious if he has any actual basis for the claims his characters make about psychology. Then again, it is fiction.
- The women in the book are pretty inconsequential, except maybe Julia. All the characters are pretty similar and I found it hard to differentiate all the wise and friendly male companions the narrator keeps running into and connecting with.
- Why Peru? There was very little interaction with the local culture, and I felt the story could have been set anywhere else, but the fact that Peru has ~*ancient ruins*~ made it more appealing for the author's purposes.
Nevertheless, this was an engaging read. I don't think I'll recommend it to others though, given my negative opinions on some of the most key aspects of the book.
I will say that The Celestine Prophecy was an enjoyable read, adventurous for sure, and that it held my interest all the way through. Here are some of my thoughts:
Positives:
+ The flow of the narrator finding the insights flowed well and captured my attention with each chapter.
+ The spiritual concepts of energy and what was essentially the law of attraction resonated.
Negatives:
Spoiler
- Everything came down to the rapture of Christianity. The big reveal of the ninth insight had very cult-ish undertones and honestly cheapened the entire spiritual message. Granted, I am not Christian and much prefer the spiritual teachings of what I know from Buddhism (interconnectedness, intention, etc.). But I feel that the message of human spiritual evolution could have come in a more palatable form.
- Redfield seems to be making up a lot of pop human psychology as he goes. I don't know much about him, but he certainly is imaginative and hints at the idea of paying the people who impart new insights and wisdom, so I don't trust him, lol. Also, the idea of a "control drama" — where did that come from? I'm curious if he has any actual basis for the claims his characters make about psychology. Then again, it is fiction.
- The women in the book are pretty inconsequential, except maybe Julia. All the characters are pretty similar and I found it hard to differentiate all the wise and friendly male companions the narrator keeps running into and connecting with.
- Why Peru? There was very little interaction with the local culture, and I felt the story could have been set anywhere else, but the fact that Peru has ~*ancient ruins*~ made it more appealing for the author's purposes.
Nevertheless, this was an engaging read. I don't think I'll recommend it to others though, given my negative opinions on some of the most key aspects of the book.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s not good enough to be a good adventure story, though the idea is good; and not good enough to be a good spiritual self-help kind of a book either… But it gave me something
Awful. I only got about 25 pages in to this before I had to give it up. The author was trying to disguise his grandiose thoughts on life and how to live it in a fiction book as conversation between people. Needless to say I almost threw this book away in disgust. It was boring and preachy. A bad combination.
Hated it the whole time but kept reading because my friend insisted it was wonderful. Stopped reading when the author got to South America to "discover" himself while exploiting another culture. I don't even remember much of the book, but the irritation is quite memorable.
I read this book non-stop for 3 days. I’m an energy healer so everything this book said resonated so much with what I’ve learned in reiki and kundalini yoga. For those people who hated this book is probably not woke. They haven’t awakened to the fact that everything in life is energy. How was harness it is up to us. I highly recommend this book to the spiritually woke!
I can imagine that at the time this book was published, some of the idea mentioned in it were not really mainstream. It's definitely a fun story. Not meant to be taken verbatim (as it is fiction), but some of the ideas expressed in it are helpful in living a positive lifestyle. I'll probably read it again at some point in my life.
Another one for the "they made me do it" file. This was an acting class, something about living in the moment.
Which is applicable to acting. The living in the moment, that is.
The ballyhoo that is this book, not so much.
Which is applicable to acting. The living in the moment, that is.
The ballyhoo that is this book, not so much.
A book that allows you to reflect, readdress and change whilst following the adventure.