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A review by debdatta
The Book of Why by Nicholas Montemarano
3.0
I have to admit, I delayed picking up this book for as long as possible… Reason you ask? Well, I am not a big fan of self-help books. They are very presumptuous if you ask me. A person may be an expert on handling things and may have knowledge of how people act and react, but it is a big mistake to categorize people and write a book about which category will react how and what they should do. It undermines our individuality. Besides, I hate the idea that a person who has never met me in life – tell me how I will react and what I should do. Why can’t I learn it for myself?
Okay, so now that my rant is over, let me come to the storyline and try and salvage this review. Our protagonist is a very successful writer – of self help books. He is a best-selling author and people flock to his speeches. But when he loses his wife, he is broken. For all the worth his books and knowledge were, when time comes he fails to help himself! He becomes a recluse and hides down in a vineyard until a fan tracks him down and changes his life forever.
This was a difficult book to get into for me because various chapters started with the protagonists speeches and quotes from his best-selling days. But once I made peace with the fact, this book was highly enjoyable. Eric Newborn, our protagonist, had an interesting life to say. His life sectioned into three parts – his early youth till he gets married, his life with his wife and his present without her. While the and forth continuously, I think revealing one bit at a time and then connecting the dots to make a full picture of his life was a brilliant way to tell this story. I soon became a part of Eric, Ralph and Cary’s story. The author’s eye for detail helped create a more vivid picture of the setting.
Overall, I think this book is good for a one time read that will force you to ask yourself a few important questions. Whether it affects you enough to bring a change is up to you. I enjoyed reading it.
Okay, so now that my rant is over, let me come to the storyline and try and salvage this review. Our protagonist is a very successful writer – of self help books. He is a best-selling author and people flock to his speeches. But when he loses his wife, he is broken. For all the worth his books and knowledge were, when time comes he fails to help himself! He becomes a recluse and hides down in a vineyard until a fan tracks him down and changes his life forever.
This was a difficult book to get into for me because various chapters started with the protagonists speeches and quotes from his best-selling days. But once I made peace with the fact, this book was highly enjoyable. Eric Newborn, our protagonist, had an interesting life to say. His life sectioned into three parts – his early youth till he gets married, his life with his wife and his present without her. While the and forth continuously, I think revealing one bit at a time and then connecting the dots to make a full picture of his life was a brilliant way to tell this story. I soon became a part of Eric, Ralph and Cary’s story. The author’s eye for detail helped create a more vivid picture of the setting.
Overall, I think this book is good for a one time read that will force you to ask yourself a few important questions. Whether it affects you enough to bring a change is up to you. I enjoyed reading it.