Thursday 15 December 2011

The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari By Robin Sharma

Just as I promised, this fortnight I'm reviewing Robin Sharma's The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.


Beginning with the title - I really wasn't sure what to expect, and frankly I was a little apprehensive. But a change is always good, no matter how small. So I dove into it with an open mind and found myself enjoying this unusual book. It's not unusual in a sense of originality compared with anything else on the market - it's that it has an unusual premise. The Secret Letters of a Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is essentially a spiritual self-help book in a fictional format. You follow the journey of Jonathan Landry as he collects talismans for his cousin, the monk, who needs them for someone whose life is in danger. It follows a typical hero/quest story line - at first reluctant, he decides to go for it and the journey inevitably changes him. But the content makes the journey a lot deeper than that.

Making the book even more unusual is it's place in the series. The other books follow in the spiritual self-help strain: Discover Your Destiny with the Monk ho Sold His Ferrari: The Seven Stages of Awakening and Leadership Wisdom with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The 8 Ritual of the Best Leaders. Following on from the fictional book, these are non-fiction guides, much like Sharma's other self-help books. It seems the fiction is like a stepping stone into the world of spiritual self-help.

However, this doesn't mean that the book can't be enjoyed for its own sake. For myself, I think I would prefer to leave it at the fictional stage - I didn't feel drawn in by the guide, more by the fable that was presented, the anti-hero turned hero, coming to terms with his past and present and looking forward to a bright new future. Definitely a feel good book!

Overall, I can't say I'm absolutely raving about it, but it was enjoyable enough. If it sounds like your kind of thing, find a copy and see what you think.

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