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A review by nadia
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
I am so disappointed in this book, especially as the founder of Goodreads, Otis Chandler, says it is "the best self help book any entrepreneur could ever read. Perhaps the only one they need to."
Initially I wasn't even sure I was reading the right book, so confused I was by the content and tone. I had to go on a little research hunt to check I was indeed reading the business classic that people rave about.
I am aware that this book is a product of its time (published in the late 1930s), but I found it a difficult read. For a start, nearly everyone is a man and the overwhelming majority of the pronouns are "he/him". The first time a non-man is mentioned is to tell an anecdote of a "coloured girl" who dared speak up to a white man. "From where did someone in such a lowly position (i.e. not white and not a man) get such confidence?", Napoleon Hill wants his readers to wonder.
At a later point in the book, when Napoleon Hill calls out people who "complain that this is man's world", he says that women "owe it to themselves" to "study carefully" the life of Wallis Simpson who stopped at nothing to secure the world's most desirable bachelor in the world (King Edward VIII). In a business book that ultimately ignores anyone who isn't a man, it was a great shame that the best example Napoleon Hill had for others striving to succeed was a non-business one.
Apart from that, I found the tone was patronising and irritating.
The 1.5 star rating is because I did agree with some of the messages that Napoleon Hill espouses, including those around determination, persistence, and believing wholeheartedly in the successes you want for yourself. But just the packaging of the message — no, thank you.
There was one part I surprisingly really enjoyed, and that's when Hill discusses his "Cabinet of Invisible Counselors". Each night before bed, he'd shut his eyes and have imaginary meetings with a range of characters, some dead, some alive, including Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford. The point of the meetings was to rebuild his own character inspired by the strengths of each council member. Hill goes on to explain some of the meetings in detail, down to the mannerisms of the imaginary people, so it felt like a fun, fictional interlude.
I also started to think about who my own cabinet would consist of. Maybe Madam C.J. Walker, Serena Williams, and Beyoncé to start... 🤔
Who would be in yours? 🤓
Initially I wasn't even sure I was reading the right book, so confused I was by the content and tone. I had to go on a little research hunt to check I was indeed reading the business classic that people rave about.
I am aware that this book is a product of its time (published in the late 1930s), but I found it a difficult read. For a start, nearly everyone is a man and the overwhelming majority of the pronouns are "he/him". The first time a non-man is mentioned is to tell an anecdote of a "coloured girl" who dared speak up to a white man. "From where did someone in such a lowly position (i.e. not white and not a man) get such confidence?", Napoleon Hill wants his readers to wonder.
At a later point in the book, when Napoleon Hill calls out people who "complain that this is man's world", he says that women "owe it to themselves" to "study carefully" the life of Wallis Simpson who stopped at nothing to secure the world's most desirable bachelor in the world (King Edward VIII). In a business book that ultimately ignores anyone who isn't a man, it was a great shame that the best example Napoleon Hill had for others striving to succeed was a non-business one.
Apart from that, I found the tone was patronising and irritating.
The 1.5 star rating is because I did agree with some of the messages that Napoleon Hill espouses, including those around determination, persistence, and believing wholeheartedly in the successes you want for yourself. But just the packaging of the message — no, thank you.
There was one part I surprisingly really enjoyed, and that's when Hill discusses his "Cabinet of Invisible Counselors". Each night before bed, he'd shut his eyes and have imaginary meetings with a range of characters, some dead, some alive, including Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Ford. The point of the meetings was to rebuild his own character inspired by the strengths of each council member. Hill goes on to explain some of the meetings in detail, down to the mannerisms of the imaginary people, so it felt like a fun, fictional interlude.
I also started to think about who my own cabinet would consist of. Maybe Madam C.J. Walker, Serena Williams, and Beyoncé to start... 🤔
Who would be in yours? 🤓