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Celestine Prophecy, The: Abridged

Celestine Prophecy, The: Abridged

List Price: $17.00
Your Price: $11.56
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: His words on paper are a waste of pulp.
Review: Grammatical errors, sloppy editing, complete lack of research, and TERRIBLE writing all combine in this work by James Redfield to make it one of the worst books ever written in the English language.

Want an example? The author holds up an ancient culture that flourished at Macchu Picchu in Peru as an example of a group that has mastered all nine of the "insights." He states that they were the MAYANS. Just for the record, the ancient civilization that flourished at the Peruvian site of Macchu Picchu was the INCAS. The MAYAN people were in Central America - in the area of the modern day states of Yucatan, Quintant Roo, Campeche, Tabasco, and Chiapas, MEXICO and in parts of BELIZE, GUATEMALA, and EL SALVADOR. The author must have had his head shoved so far into his energy field that he couldn't pick up a copy of National Geographic to save his a**. And what's up with a Latin American priest named Father Carl, a Peruvian official called Hinton, and a Scandinavian professor by the name of Edmond Connor? I suppose giving the characters believable names was asking the author to do way too much research.

Maybe the 10th insight says that we shouldn't be subjected to books that insult our intelligence, stunt our spirituality, and SOLICIT MONEY FROM US. Yes, dear reader, you can fill out the form that is found at the end of the book and send it and your $ to the author for a tape of your astrological chart or you can use your hard earned dough to subscribe to his newsletter.

Space here does not allow me to extoll all the deficiencies in this book, but I will say that you should avoid anyone who reads this book and recommends it to you. Avoid them and keep them from small children and animals at all costs.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrid story telling spoils some reasonable ideas.
Review: The story-telling in this book is simple and predictable. It is very often repeditive. The main chaaracter in the story is a complete dumb-ass but is still able to go through all these stages of enlightenment. It is annoying to read as it has some interesting ideas that are spoiled by very poor narration. It is difficult to imagine why this book was so popular.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: He just wants to show you the way to heaven
Review: A boy hangs food at the end of a pole, he holds it forward before the heads of his geese to get them to a place he wants them to go.Redfield acts the boy,the adventure is the food and who do you think are the geese ? But has he ever thought of the result? The geese have seen it.They act different ,Some are trying to learn flying, some are biting him with angry,and others have seen nothing at all.So the geese are still going all directions.Thanks him all the same.But everything happens if it is the right time.Sometimes doing nothing is doing everyting.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Engaging, but somewhat superficial
Review: I liked the book in that it was an entertaining story that kept my attention, but what I didn't like was that it tried to be more than that. The book seemed almost a bit preachy at times, and Redfield's worldview a little too "new-agey" for my tastes. He makes some good observations about modern society, even if his proposed solution is not practical. My advice to readers is to take this adventure story with a grain of salt.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very entertaining and thought provoking
Review: First, this book is an adventure parable, which means it's not true to fact. It's well written and easy to understand. I totally enjoyed the book so much that I had a hard time putting it down. This was a fun, thought-provoking, and easy read. I would recommend this book to anyone that is beginning their spiritual journey. Another interesting, must-read is Power vs. Force by David Hawkins. After reading these two, you really look at life a bit differently.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Useless and Irrelevant
Review: I had the misfortune of reading this giant steaming pile of drivel in a recent attempt to impress a member of the opposite sex (like that ever gets me anywhere). Fortunately I was able to borrow a copy. I was aware of the sensation this book caused back in the mid-90's, and the passage of time has given an interesting perspective. I'm not sure which is scarier - the fact that Redfield got a publishing contract for this inanity, or that for a few years millions of people were claiming that it changed their lives. That second scenario once again proves the appallingly low level of independent thought among the American public.

First of all, this treatise has no business being in book form. The nine so-called "insights" are nothing but standard psychobabble that are more worthy of being published as a one-page pamphlet with a list of nine trite fortune cookie mantras - and even then these "insights" wouldn't stand up to the scrutiny of a seven year-old. And don't bother with the author's attempts to expand these ideas into a novel, as he merely highlights his appalling skills as a writer. Your reaction to his weak plot elements concerning running from thugs in the mean streets of Lima and getting lost in Peruvian jungles will be "yeah whatever," if they don't make you downright hostile toward the author for wasting your time.

This book is nothing but a thinly disguised self-help book filled with predictable feel-good platitudes, with a thin veneer of so-called "spirituality" that constitutes nothing but a cynical attempt to get this book moved from one category to another at the bookstore. A book of this caliber can be written with minimal effort and sold to the weak-minded who can't think for themselves. The fact that millions of people claim that this book transformed their entire beings scares me to death. These folks should experiment with independent thought instead. Meanwhile, I wonder if Redfield believes this jibberish himself, or laughed all the way to the bank. Now that's the American way! Fortunately the passage of time has condemned this book to where it really belongs - the dustbin of history. The Celestine Prophecy, and all its cash-in sequels, became yesterday's news the minute something even cheesier came along.

Avoid at all costs.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fun adventure
Review: I enjoyed this book. It is a great first book for a person just starting a spiritual journey. The story is fun and easy and makes you start thinking differently about life. You start to understand things differently. Another book I would recommend is The Lost Teachings of Atlantis by Jon Peniel. It goes into a much deeper detail about life and is a perfect complement to the Celestine Prophecy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Don't Blame Shirley Mclaine!
Review: Blame Shirley McLaine is talking nonsense.

The ideas promoted in this book have been the backbone of many eastern religions for millenium.

The idea that there is a universal thread that joins all things is not new, but of course those with a closed mind will just mock.

Read with an open mind.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I new look on life
Review: The book The Celestine Prophecy is a motivational book that is uplifting and entertaining. Redfield does a wonderful job at catching the audience's attention, connecting the first insight to an experience that most people have had. From the beginning, The Celestine Prophecy is filled with action. The main character's interventions with fate are usually suspenseful, although the action quickly falls into a predictable pattern between the unveiling of each insight. The run-ins with the Peruvian government and the help from other "insight" searchers all lead to the proceeding insight. This pattern continues on though the book.
The insights themselves are very uplifting and motivational. The author does a terrific job relating the insights to the audience's own lives. The insights explain how past events relate to future accuracies. After reading each insight the reader is able to relate past experiences and assess them through what they just read.
The Celestine Prophecy although predictable plot wise, is a very moving book. After reading about the insights and relating them to personal experiences it has the power to reshape lives. The uplifting direction that this book takes you is astonishing. The insights allow the reader to understand why they are where they are and what to look for to move on and up in life.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Blame Shirley MacLaine
Review: Yep, blame Mz. MacLaine for putting out her "Out on a Limb" book and opening the door for a deluge of books containing the same type of nonsense. As another reviewer noted after reading the reviews on this site, there is an inverse relationship between writing skill and praise for this book. After a while, I began keeping track of how many times the author used the phrase "I must have looked puzzled, because_____." However, I missed the first 12 or so, and as a result I can't give you an accurate count.

At times this book sounds like one you may have read before. Yeah, you know... the time you forgot to bring your own book so you had to read that dogeared, 3rd-rate mercenary novel you found left behind in an airport (domestic terminal.) The author can't decide if he wants to have his protagonist running from government soldiers doing the dirty work of the Catholic church or sitting by a fire eating potato soup while random person #2,345 spouts Yoda-like philosophy.

To give some semblance of authenticity, the author used light sprinklings scientific concepts probably gleaned from one of those encylopedias sets bought in installments from a local grocery store.

One line review? Just plain silly.

This novel has more characters than 10 Russian novels, only about 3 of which add anything to the story. The author would have been better off just making a mini gift book or a poster out of these tired, cliched concepts on the philosophy of life.


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