Customer Reviews

The Compassionate Samurai: Being Extraordinary in an Ordinary World

5 star:		(235)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

There is something wrong with these 5-star reviews: 45 were posted on Feb 20, 2009 and 41 were posted on June 19, 2009. Not even "The Secret" has so many reviews on one day. So, was that at a seminar and everybody writing a 5-star review got 10% discount?
The longseller of Brian Tracy Maximum Achievement: Strategies and Skills That Will Unlock Your Hidden Powers to Succeed from 1995 has got 90 reviews so far and this book from 2007 - which half the stuff you learn at kindergarden - has got over 200?
This is a misuse of the Amazon-review-system. Mr. Klemmer should apply chapter five of his book "Honesty" in real life!
To almost quote Mr. Klemmer: "Average people would do what is (still) legal. The compassionate samurai would do what is right."

This book was average at best, which surprised me because of all the good reviews. The book was poorly written and seemed more like first draft than a final edited version. Nothing in the book was very deep, profound or moving. It just trailed along and felt like something he put together on his way to the publisher. It also has nothing to do with Samurai, nor does it explain what a "Compassionate Samurai" is other than repeating it every other line. He likes to use a lot of loose examples without much support to back up his statements.

Overall the book was an easy read, so I can't bash it too hard. The excellent reviews on Amazon are definitely an overstatement, so I went in with high expectations. The book isn't bad, but didn't offer anything profound, so I would not recommend spending the time or money.

This book is nothing more than one long holier-than-thou, long-winded advertising campaign for author Brian Klemmer's company with way too much soap-box preaching shoved in between. I had no idea why so many people who have "read" this book would give it five stars - until, that is, I went to the Klemmer & Associates website and noticed the author himself is providing a 5-step instruction process for giving his book five stars ("Step #3: Click on "5 star" located under Customer Reviews"). In the end, the best part of the whole book was Klemmer's line of, "I'm not your problem" - and my immediate reaction thought of, "You know what? At this very moment, you actually are." And then went and sold the book to a used bookstore for a dollar.

The primary thesis of this book - that cultivating deep-rooted character aspects is the only way of developing extraordinary personality which in turn yields extraordinary achievements - is well taken. However, almost all of the message of this book could have been conveyed in 3 pages. The rest is fluff with a distinct tone of self-promotion (possibly arising from a conscious or sub-conscious attempt to boost the author's seminar business). The author digresses from the main points frequently and deeply, and cannot keep his opinions on irrelevant topics in check. E.g. early on in the book he gives a long winded description of his opinions about how our country (U.S.) is headed in the wrong direction, which is completely irrelevant to the primary topic of the book.

The gist of this book is essentially the same as Stephen Covey and company's "principle centered living" paradigm. But Covey and co. do a way, way better and outstanding job in developing and delivering the meat of this concept.

I still give it 2 stars (as opposed to 1) because this book lists quite aptly and wisely 10 key character aspects that create an extraordinary person.

I am surprised to see hundreds of 5-star reviews for this book (and was fooled by them). My only conclusion is that most of these 200+ 5-star reviewers are the author's seminar students and followers, and that there is very little representation amongst the reviewers by unbiased outsiders.

This is a completely misleading book. I thought this was a book about Samurai philosophy, not a bad sells pitch on how to start your own business. The writer, and ex-army-turned-guru, apparently is using the Samurai name to help him sell books and seminars. The language is middle-school level, which does not say much for the United States Military Academy, or perhaps his claims of graduating from "The Academy" are misleading as well; Mr. Klemmer has taken a few basic martial arts principles and elaborates on them with the insights and depth of a cartoon character, based on his own cookie-cutter experiences taken from the "how to become a self help guru" manual, which is a pattern with all these gurus in the west who have the same formula: attend my seminars, read my books, and you'll be happy and make more money. From a business stand point, it might provide some basic tips for those interested in starting a Mary Kay distribution type business. From a philosophical perspective, this book scores a sound ZERO. From an entertaining view, -10. Poorly written, brags about having made a couple of dollars, and it falls under the "The Secret" movie fad....superficial at best. Expect to find references to God and Christianity (Samurai and Christianity...?) The writer (this individual is not an author), as a matter of principle, should apologize to the Samurai tradition for dishonoring their name.

The Compassionate Samurai is basically your average self-help book. Average writing, format, and ideas. People who love self-help books will most likely enjoy this as it is a quick and easy read. In my opinion, it is a good self-help book, but I was not wild about it like it seems that so many other people appear to be. There were some things that really turned me off about the book. To start with, this book has extra wide margins which I found distracting as I read it. These extra large margins make the book seem much longer than it actually is and simply give it a strange feel. Also, The Compassionate Samurai contains quotes throughout the book with the partial image of a katana (samurai sword) over each quote. Now I have no problem with quotes, in fact I love quotes, but all of these quotes, with the exception of the first quote at the head of each chapter, are merely taken from the text - Klemmer is quoting himself throughout the book.

The next and most annoying thing for me is that the title and cover are extremely misleading. It gives the reader the impression that this book is about samurai values, which in a way it kind of is, but then again, it really isn't. Being a student of Bushido and ancient wisdom, I was very disappointed when I started reading this book because I thought that I was buying a book on applying samurai virtues to everyday life, not simply another self-help book with a catchy title and catch phrase of "compassionate samurai." This phrase seems to only be a term used for a person who lives a life of character in his or her business dealings, but isn't really isn't fully explained. This was a great idea to sell books and judging from the 5 star reviews, it obvious works for that purpose, but the misleading title and cover left a bitter taste in my mouth which affected my enjoyment of the book.

In summary, if you love self-help books, you will probably enjoy this book in spite of the negatives that I listed. If you are looking for a book on samurai ideals and how to integrate those ideals into your everyday life in order to live a life of true character, you will be disappointed in this book. I fell into the latter category, which is why I felt compelled to give this book only three stars.

Bohdi Sanders, author of Warrior Wisdom: Ageless Wisdom for the Modern Warrior

My review is a little unconventional but I'll attempt to remain impartial. This is a book first and foremost about self help. Some people ask where does the Samurai come into play, to answer that I'd suggest looking into the Bushido Code. I ask people where their expectations lie as they receive a copy of this book. If for instance you're expecting a book that talks about Samurai then you'll be disappointed. If your interest in this book are for self help/business related reasons than it's not a bad read. I always enter a book with no expectations and I try not to read others reviews so that my subconscious isn't misinformed and persuaded in any direction. I've decided to write a review for the sake of many people who are unsure what to expect from this book. Let us begin...

Brian Klemmer wrote a decent self help book in this title. It touches on principles you can find in The Secret, Lead the Field, and other books of this type. I particularly like that it's a quick read. It's not too eloquent or extravagant but its principles are sound. I purchased this book for a friend and decided I'd read it prior to delivering it as a gift. My reasoning behind purchasing this book was twofold; 1st many life skills and principles aren't taught in today's schools or homes for that matter and as a gift for a young man about to graduate from high school I thought it be pertinent information for his journey. 2nd Because Samurai was in the title and the person receiving it follows the Bushido code.

After reading the book I've decided it's not a book equipped for the purpose I intended. This book is intended to help out the business minded person by first looking within themselves and discovering who they are and then applying age old principles to all aspects of your life including your business. I found the author to be genuine in his delivery as I allowed my mind to resonate on the authors intent versus mine. Will it help me in my business? Not really, since I already live by these principles but it may help someone out who has yet to experience self actualization and learned the universe can only give you what you put in it. I'd suggest learning these principles from the audio book Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale or from the Secret. Other than that it's a good read. I hope this helped in your decision.

This book provides a good foundation for developing leaders with a heart. Throughout his many years of leadership training, Brian noticed that there seemed to be generally two kinds of people: Very successful millionaires or billionaires who are heartless and goal oriented who would do anything to achieve success or caring and loving people who are always broke (Mother Teresa comes to mind). With the right training, Brian believes there is a third way (hence the name Compassionate Samurai). He spells out 10 key values that we can adopt which, if practiced, will lead to living happy, productive, abundant and purpose driven lives. The 10 values are:

1. Courage
2. Personal Responsibility
3. Trust
4. Honesty
5. Commitment
6. Focus
7. Abundance
8. Contribution
9. Honor
10. Knowledge

I've read many leadership and motivational books and this numbers at the top. Brian is trying to create a revolution in leadership that not only affects the individual but also the community and ultimately the world. Very timely in an election year. I wonder what would happen if all the politicians followed the tenets of this book?

Although there is helpful info in this book it lacks "meat," specifically how to tangibly apply the concepts in our lives.

Haven't read the book, but it's obvious that something is not right with Amazon's rating system here. Has somebody found a hack?