The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure

Probably one of the worst books I've ever read!

The Celestine Prophecy is not a literary masterpiece by any measure, but it does offer a number of interesting (and sometimes common-sense) insights into how people think. Redfield's New Age bestseller was an entertaining, easy read peppered with observations that caused me to pause and think about

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my actions toward others, and myself. As Redfield states, it's meant to be more of a parable, a thought-jogger for readers of all ilks to take in and use in their own lives. It's not supposed to be, as I said, a literary masterpiece.

The plot's structure is made up of a number of "insights," or philosophical ideals about how people should treat one another and themselves. Woven into this adventure story are archeological and scientific ideas, facts and fallacies. If you take this book for what it's meant to be, an easy and effective look at Redfield's life philosophy, then you'll enjoy this little book and may even seek out the sequels he has since published.

It's hard to hate on a book that's full of good messages about trying to heal the world and it's peoples. Try it out. There are copies available in just about every book shop, new and used, as well as libraries and friends bookshelves. See if it works for you, but don't bash it if it's not your style. Redfield's suggestions as to how people should treat one another could benefit some of the snarky, cynical reviewers who have tossed this book aside. It's a heck of a lot better than the Twilight-esque rubbish flying off of the presses, these days.

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really awful book, full of quasi-spiritual hogwash, and yes, I read the whole thing, what a colossal waste of time!

A man goes to south america in search of a friend who disappeared and ends up becoming part of a search for a manuscript of great spiritual importance. He meets people who help him on his spiritual journey while trying to evade the government and catholic church (who wish to destroy the

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manuscript).

I remember how inspired I was when I first read this book back in highschool. I gobbled in up all at once and walked around elated by this knew knowledge I thought had been imparted to me.

Rereading it again in 2006 gave me a slightly different experience. As a more "sophisticated" reader, I can now see all the flaws. the writing style is poor, the constant dialog awkward, and plot weak. However, I still found the message meaningful, even though the manner in which it is related no longer holds charm for me.

I say it is definitely worth a read and a considering.

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I read this book when it was being passed around with a word-of-mouth recommendation. Otherwise I wouldn't have finished it because the story is just boring and the writing not good quality. The author should have collaborated with a professional writer, and perhaps made the book into a sci-fi or

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fantasy novel. As it stands, you can't tell if it's meant to be fiction or non-fiction. The first person telling of the story left the main character with no name, something I still remember as a distraction. I knew the book was a best-seller but was still surprised to see so many on LT have read it.

It has some intriguing ideas powering the nine prophecies and I'm sure the author just wanted to get those out into the world in some format. I feel the intentions were good but you can't heap too many strange ideas on people all at once or they become defensive and confused. I certainly found the end of the book very futuristic, but it's presented as if this is going to be happening any time now.

The author took a chance and put his ideas out there and should be commended for that. I did find some interesting things in the book at a time when they weren't so available for reading. Now you can buy the book 'The Secret' at Target. The nine prophesies sort of remind me of Maslow's pyramid, leading to self-actualization, which is all over the place in textbooks. Then we all turn into beings reminiscent of the ones in the movie AI at the end when humans are all gone.

I've read the other two books in the series and have since moved them on to other readers. The spiritual subject of the book is forthright and speculative. If read out of curiousness and with an open mind, it can be worthwhile and thought-provoking. It won't however be the best novel you've ever read.

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New-age philosophy isn't really my kind of thing

I read this while traveling through Costa Rica...only fitting. There were times when I just slowed down and I swear I could make the colors brighter and see the energy between my pointer finger and thumb. It's one of those books that you just have to read and let your mind open up to the idea that

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there may be some truth to our human race not benefitting from our full potential.

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Not only this book is inspirational it is also motivational and helped me view some aspects in my life towards a better and positvie perspective. The book is basically discovery inner peace and to calm the mind. Some even consider it as a manual.The insight that stood out on my end was 2 insights.

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The first one, which is the Critical mass. it is saying that there is no actual coincidence, it was never a conventional change that we always think it is but rather the kind that shape our lives if we pay enough attention. The 9th insight, it is on the side of mysticism. This was the first theory about 2012 that I read. And it wasn't as scary as what they have on History and Discovery Channel. Redfield wrote that the last insight was the highest level a person can achieve and by the time every insight dawned on you, One can go to realms beyond the physical. He of course was talking about crossing the other dimension - the after life. It was quite impressive how he theorized that the Mayans achieve this goal thus their mysterious disappearance. I read this book 7 years ago and when I reread it In was still in awe on how enlightening it is. More than a fictional adventure. Life changing. I highly recommend it.

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It appears at first glance, that The Celestine Prophecy is based on tricks that the human mind plays on itself; described best by illutionist Derren Brown in his book, "Tricks Of The Mind."...

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Particularly worthy of note is the illusion of extraordinary coincidence which occurs when someone

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calls you on the telephone shortly after you've been thinking about them. How wonderful to think that we have achieved some sort of psychic communication with a friend! This illusion is particularly seductive as it allows us to feel that we have some sort of supernatural control over events, or perhaps that some sort of astral plane exists where our thoughts about a person remotely inspire the idea of contact. These are fun and appealing thoughts. Personally I find the wider and more honest picture very appealing, as it shows me what wonderful creatures we must be to interpret events in this way. In fact, we think about people all the time. How many people might go through our minds in a day? If not one of them ever called us a little while after we'd thought about them, then that would be truly extraordinary. Yet, true to our delightful form, we have no reason to remember all the times we thought of people and then didn't call; we only notice the co-incidences.
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Brown is on a personal crusade. He states that he would dearly love to find genuine evidence of the other world, of something spiritual that is beyond our three dimensions. However, he sees no reason for con-artists to profit from the genuine pursuit of this goal, and investigates various claims. One classic was the voices from the dead captured on tape recorders. It was easily explained because when the, "ghost hunters," had announced their question to the dead and listened ... the tape recorder simply turned up it's automatic gain function (because there wasn't anything for it to record) and it resulted in the recording of, "hiss," in which people imagined speech from beyond our world!!!

It is this kind of thing that Redfield has chosen to prey on. Prey on? Well, the previous owners of this paperback have marked up various passages. What has been marked up, invites me to believe that the books past owners were, indeed, on a search for what might lie beyond this world, and were taking Redfield's book as some form of guidance to this. Perhaps the core message of his work being, not to be so selfish. I do find myself wondering whether, with the accounts of personal drama in the book, whether Redfield saw the Internet coming.

The book also reminds me some of Douglas Adams' writings in one of the Dirk Gently novels about the Zen method of navigating. (I believe it might have been, "The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul") It doesn't take you where you wanted to be, but it did take you to where you needed to go.

For my taste, however, they marked all the other-worldly stuff and missed what I consider to be the more real aspects; like taking time over food and letting the taste fill your soul, as much as the matter fills your stomach ... but that's another story.

Anyway ... back to the book.

Overall, I'm not impressed.

Some of the motivations for people doing things are a bit dubious. "For a few moments, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, not looking at the translation. I continued to feel reluctant. The events of the last two days had dampened my enthusiasm and I preferred instead to think of how I might return to the United States. Then, in the wooded area across the way, I noticed the young priest stand up and walk slowly to another location about twenty feet from where he was. He turned toward me again and sat down. I was intrigued over what he might be doing. Then it dawned on me that he might be practicing something that was spelled out in the manuscript. I looked at the first page and began to read."

I mean ... the protagonist had an emotionally connected vision of the entire bloody universe for crying out loud, and ... oh, so help me. I mean ... after all that he'd gone through on the mountain, I'd have expected the protagonist to be in a seriously emotionally heightened state and to have strong feelings when he was presented with the fifth insight.

Redfield writes well. His diction is fluid and understandable. His words flow and they didn't jolt me. However, he failed to engage my emotions. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters and some of the descriptions felt out of pace with the action; particularly during chase or running scenes. In short, the story felt shallow and wanting.

I was also a little upset that this was the sixth edition of, "The No.1 American Sensation," and I was encountering typos. So many that by page 129 - '"We carry on his tradition of locking inward for the truth," Sanchez said.' - It was bad enough that I was driven to actually note the fact that I was encountering typos by that point. This isn't some self-pub, self-edited Indie work we're dealing with, here, guys.

I do believe that Redfield had this whole insight thing planned out, and I wonder at his background in order to create such insights as there was a message in their telling that I firmly recognised; that we are people first and a sex later ... that we can not look to another person to complete us ... we must be complete in ourselves first, before seeking the companionship of another. You don't use two halves to make a whole ... you use two wholes to make a double ... and I find it sad when people don't get what that's about. He also got the message in there about an objection to religion controlling with fear. There's quite a lot of core interpersonal relationship stuff in here.

I think it is a shame that he's put these concepts forward in a way which is actually contradictory with his own insights ... couching them in a story instead of dealing with them honestly! He could have done a lot better, I think, particularly with his writing skills, as this whole energy-swapping thing becomes difficult to follow at times and I don't think it does credit to the positive message about humanity that Redfield is putting forward. One might almost regard this as an attempt to start a new religion!

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Pre-chewed philosophy for those who like quick answers; very corny although it does touch on some interesting concepts that aren't developped at all.

Note: My review is based on the story through the film, not by reading the book.DH and I received this movie via Netflix and when it arrived neither of us remembered ordering it. DH assumes that perhaps it was a "suggestion" from other movies we chose. It was a really interesting film that causes

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one to think. I am a little caught, because for an idea of a story it is interesting and does keep a captive audience. The acting was fairly good although the green screen and some scenes could have been much better. Finishing the film, DH and I discussed the film and the ideas within a bit, and although they are likable, it is a little uncomfortable, because they seem to be those ideas in disguise that pull you away from the whole truth while arguing that they are harmless to what you know to be truth. Overall, good evening watch, but not a keeper for me. I'm not sure that I would recommend it, but be your own guide. Just remember Jesus Christ gave us truth and a handbook to explain it all.

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The writing is really poor, but the substance makes up for that. James Redfield has a new way of looking at life, relationships, and the self. There are a number of good metaphors. This is an inspirational book.

The plot/characters were only so-so, but its saving grace was the spirituality.

Back in 1999 I was travelling for the first time and this book made a lot of sense to me. For a while I found myself getting really into the philosophy of it as I was still looking for some framework to hang my spiritual life on. However it wasn’t long before everything started to feel a little

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hollow and ridiculous.

As it is a work of fiction it also fails by being pretty badly written.

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I read this book because I was told it would change my life and how I looked the world around me. Pretty much exactly what the book said. However, I was not completely changed even though I thought some of the ideas of the book were on the right track. I didn't like the fact that this author made

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up an idea and started selling it as enlightenment. It felt forced and overplayed. I couldn't feel connected with the main character (he was a bit too full of himself) and about half way through the book I had to force myself to keep reading. The writing was not that good and the "coincidences" make the story feel almost incomplete, like written on a whim. I latched onto the energy of the universe concept and even that we all have that energy within us. The rest of the story needs some work to be a bit more believable.

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The book by James Redfield is a compelling one. It reveals universal truths through a fictional but gripping tale of an ancient manuscript in Peru that describes nine insights of life on earth, purpose of human existence, how people manipulate relationships to gain energy and feel empowered and how

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this only results in control dramas that each of us plays throughout our lives and how we can recharge ourselves with an inexhaustible universal source through love.

The beauty of the book is in the manner each of the nine insights is revealed to the main character in the book through individuals he meets and experiences he has.

It is thought provoking and I believe it has made a difference in my own psyche and my view of myself.

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Amazingly crap writing style, formulaic plot but compellingly interesting ideas. From reading this I can't believe for one moment that Redfield actually visited Peru. No matter, it still inspired me to raise my game so kudos to the author.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast easy read and gave some food for thought.

A friend recommended this to me at a time I was leaving my religious cult experience and establishing a new identity for myself (see profile). He warned me that it is not a literary work but composed by "just an ordinary person" who had never written before and wanted to share his thoughts on life,

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the universe and everything. Unfortunately I can't get excited about people imputing too much (read "any") meaning into coincidences, chance and colour auras around people reflecting their states of mind. If one likes that sort of thing then this would be an inspiring read.

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Starts a bit slowly, but the insights contained in this book are of real value on both a personal and collective level. This book explains in concrete terms a strategy to help make the world a better place.

I read this book at the right time in my life and much like the person who gave it to me I passed it along to someone else. I definitely want to re-read this book in the nearish future. Very enlightening for the first 8 insights.

Worst book, possibly. Execrable pretentios portentous prose. Banal and utterly sickly stuff. And I feel so bad about it because a dear friend gave it to me, and she thought it wonderful... I still adore my friend, but I'm afraid that does nothing to elevate this book from its bin lining position.

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Sold truckloads all over the world which says little for humanity's hopes.

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One of the most amazing books I've read. The story is mediocre, but the spiritual principles behind the scrolls can be applied to real life.

When I first read this, I was ready to give it five stars. Since then, I've come to realize this is not much better than Robert Fulghum's books and nowhere near as funny. This book also proves that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. Redfield's writing style makes this an

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easy read and also makes it easy to absorb the life lessons he imparts.

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