Celestine Prophecy, The

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Summary: Mayans in Peru, your kidding right?
Review: In this book, author James Redfield suggests that the Mayans disappeared because they moved to a higher plane of existence. The unnamed main character quits his job within the first four pages of the book to look for a Mayan manuscript (containing nine new-age insights) in Peru. First of all, Mayans occupied parts of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and most of Guatemala and Belize; not Peru. No wonder our intrepid adventurer couldn't find them. Not to mention the fact that Mayans didn't dissapear. Mayan civilization collapsed; however, you can go to these areas and meet thier descendents. So based on the fact that I have met several, I doubt seriously they are invisible due to being on a higher plane of existence. Other laughable elements include a Latin preist named "Father Carl" and the fact that the manuscript is written in Aramaic with no explanation given as to why. I could pass all this off as merely devices by which the author intends to explain his new-age insights but Redfield is really serious about this stuff, so are many fans of this book. Fans of this book are the same people who put a Buddha statue in thier house then claim to be knowledgable about Eastern religions, yet have never attended any Eastern religious ceremonies. I base that statement on actual people who have recommended this rubish to me. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this book. If you are misfortunate enough to have already paid for it; I recommend rubbing garbage all over every page, closing it back up, and then loaning it to a friend you hate. This will give them the same feeling I had while reading this travesty. The tenth insight should be, "If you paid for this book, you proved P.T. Barnum correct."

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Summary: WOW
Review: THIS BOOK FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE KEEPS YOU ON EDGE. IT MAKES YOU THINK ABOUT LIFE WITHIN ITSELF AND YOU START MAKING CHANGES.

Rating:
Summary: Gives me Hope
Review: Hope that I can make it as an author, if this guy can. This book is simply stupid, and its success is a rather sad commentary on humanity. The dialog is laughable, the plot an inch thin.

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but okay.
Review: It has it's good and bad points, but overall I'm glad I read it. It's a very easy read, Redfield is extremely simple and direct in his writing style. I thought the plot was very intriguing, but it got repetitive after the first few chapters. Some of the "Insights" are a bit New Age-y, but they did make me think and do a quick re-evaluation of the way I live. It didn't inspire a life-overhaul, but it did give little bits on wisdom of how to change my life for the better. I give it a 3.5.