Review: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin S. Sharma
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Once again I am disappointed by a book because I misunderstood what I was getting into.

I honestly thought this was a biographical account of a dude who really did sell all his posessions and wander off to discover the meaning of life. But that's just the ruse the author uses to tell you what he believes are the secrets of life.

It's basically a beginner's insight into spiritual development in a form similar to both The Courage to be Disliked and The Alchemist, in that it uses a fictional discussion between two characters to deliver all its wisdom.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything new enough here to make up for my disappointment at being jipped on the motivational biography I thought this was.

The setup is this: Julian is a hotshot lawyer who has a heart attack one day in court. This serves as his wakeup call so he sells everything he owns then goes off to India to live among sages who will teach him the meaning of life. Then he comes back and passes on all this wisdom to his hotshot lawyer protege, and this book is essentially that conversation between the two.

Firstly, it's a bit of a stretch that this protege is so open to changing every single aspect of his life so dramatically, and the sporadic attempts at humour just make this more ridiculous. The setup is a poor one, because it's so unrealistic, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the methods. It all ends up feeling rather far-fetched instead of practical - and this from a person who completely supports the seven points that are made.

It's almost like the author was too lazy to provide actual facts, figures and examples, so just put all is own thoughts into these two fictional creations. I guess the point is to make it more accessible but it made it seem phony and conceited to me. I guess the delivery just really rubbed me the wrong way.

But aside from that, the concepts it provides are actually quite useful, and it's all stuff I've read repeatedly in books on personal development. It just simplifies it all, which is what I mean about being 'Spirituality for Beginners'. I'm not denying the information, but it just barely scratches the surface. Ironically, it's like the 'quick-fix' version of personal development.

So overall I hated the delivery and it was a little too basic for me, but I do support the information it conveys and think this is a great entry point for anyone who may be looking to begin a little self development.

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