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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Yes he overcame challenges to achieve personal success but I couldn’t connect with it. It did give valuable insight into he world of working homeless. But all said the characters didn’t make an impression.
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Wow, I should have read the trigger warnings. Very disturbing childhood, but honest, visceral, beautifully inspiring— with an easy-to-read yet literary writing style.
At the end, when things were getting technical, I actually feel asleep, but the epilogue left me inspired and hopeful.
At the end, when things were getting technical, I actually feel asleep, but the epilogue left me inspired and hopeful.
This is NOT the movie. An eye opener on how limited the job prospects are for a black man. He talked himself into every job he had, and didn't let disappointment poison him. I like to him write a motivational essay for job-seekers in this economy.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
inspiring
slow-paced
This is definitely a case of ‘the movie was better’ for me. Don’t get me wrong, Chris has a very inspirational story and went through a lot of hard times to become a success. The book easily could have been half the length without missing out any key points.
Showing his childhood and upbringing was important but it didn’t need to drag out as much. A lot of Chris’ decisions in early life stemmed very much around who he could sleep with which was very off putting to read about. We didn’t need to know about all of that. I think the epilogue could have easily been left out too. I understand Chris is proud of his accomplishments (as he should be) but the books name and focus was to show how he became the success, not to brag about everything he’s done after.
Showing his childhood and upbringing was important but it didn’t need to drag out as much. A lot of Chris’ decisions in early life stemmed very much around who he could sleep with which was very off putting to read about. We didn’t need to know about all of that. I think the epilogue could have easily been left out too. I understand Chris is proud of his accomplishments (as he should be) but the books name and focus was to show how he became the success, not to brag about everything he’s done after.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism
Minor: Rape, Kidnapping
I was surprised at how vastly different this book was from the movie. This is Chris Gardner's entire memoir opposed to just his year spent on the street that the movie covers. Both great however, and I actually found his memoir to be incredibly motivating!
I am so meh about this book. I admit, I read it because I enjoyed the movie many years ago, and I did not connect with the author.
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner is the amazing, incredible and TRUE story of Chris Gardner's life.
If you have seen the movie (which is pretty good for an adaption) it only tells half the story. The full story, the background to his success on Wall Street and his time as a homeless father, is in this book and it is definitely worth reading.
This book is empowering, encouraging and so incredibly life-affirming. It is all about pursuing your happiness, working towards your goals and achieving your goals.
I would greatly recommend it to anyone and everyone, it is no doubt, one of the best books I have read in a long long time.
It IS a rags to riches story, the story DOES encompass the essence of the American Dream, but it is also a book that is impressively well written and it holds truths that are relevant to all of us.
If you have seen the movie (which is pretty good for an adaption) it only tells half the story. The full story, the background to his success on Wall Street and his time as a homeless father, is in this book and it is definitely worth reading.
This book is empowering, encouraging and so incredibly life-affirming. It is all about pursuing your happiness, working towards your goals and achieving your goals.
I would greatly recommend it to anyone and everyone, it is no doubt, one of the best books I have read in a long long time.
It IS a rags to riches story, the story DOES encompass the essence of the American Dream, but it is also a book that is impressively well written and it holds truths that are relevant to all of us.
It's rare that I enjoy a movie better than the book version, but that's the case with this book. I appreciated going into his back story, but I didn't like some of the choices he made. I felt much more emotionally tied in when I saw the struggle on the screen. I was disappointed that the part in the movie is just a snippet of the book. In this case, sometimes going into depth in the back story isn't always needed. Still, I think it's worth a read, seeing someone work their way up through the ranks, not letting failure be the end result. Very inspiring.