The Celestine Prophecy (Paperback)

by James Redfield (Author) "I drove up to the restaurant and parked, then leaned back in my seat to think for a moment..." (more)
Key Phrases: control drama, last insight, The Celestine Prophecy, Father Carl, Father Sanchez (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Find out for yourself why virtually everyone you know has this book, described as an "adventure in pursuit of a spiritual mystery", on their coffee table. In the tradition of Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Redfield's debut is a fast-paced adventure in New Age territory that plays like a cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Moses's trek up Mt. Sinai. Originally self-published, the book sold phenomenally, sparked by word of mouth, and may be this year's The Bridges of Madison County --with which it shares some regrettable stylistic similarities. The saga begins when the unnamed middle-aged male narrator whimsically quits his nondescript life to track down an ancient Peruvian manuscript (pretentiously called the Manuscript) containing nine Insights that supposedly prophesy the modern emergence of New Age spirituality. South of the border, he encounters resistance from the Peruvian government and church authorities, who believe the document will undermine traditional family values. While dodging evil soldiers, paranoid priests and pseudoscientific researchers, our hero sequentially discovers all nine Insights during a series of chance encounters. Redfield has a real talent for page-turning action, and his lightweight quest employs auras, energy transfers and other psychic phenomena. But several of the Insights are incredibly vacuous and politically correct, and long stretches of dialogue are banal and cliched. The book ends with the protagonist poised to discover the 10th Insight in a promised sequel. 250,000 first printing; BOMC selection; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books, Inc. (November 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446671002
• ISBN-13: 978-0446671002
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (946 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,836 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #2 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Authors, A-Z > ( R ) > Redfield, James
  #5 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Metaphysical
  #11 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction > Visionary Fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

258 of 274 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some good concepts, April 20, 2001

By A Customer

To be fair the book had some good concepts. I personally got more out of Converstations With God and Encounter With A Prophet. But this book was certainly not bad.

93 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting patterns, September 10, 2001

By	Hob (Coincidence, CT) - See all my reviews

The Celestine Prophecy book is certainly an interesting book. I read it cover to cover, not skimming, and made mental note of each of the author's Insights. The first Insight, basically, is that coincidences are meaningful, and are happening more often, especially to those aware of and open to them.

I began to notice coincidences very quickly - first the main character met someone who told him Insight one, but only knew the first Insight. Then, the main character met someone who told him Insight two, but they only knew the first two insights. Then, the main character met someone who told him Insight three, but she only knew the first three insights. Wow!

Another interesting coincidence is that many people encountered by the main character speak in the same patterns - they are verbose, patient, kind and many of them explain their part of understanding of the Insights to the main character with the words: "Think about it...". After the fourth "Think about it" it gets a little weary.

Moving outside the book to the reviews, many people encountered by this person speak in the same patterns. A large majority of those who speak glowingly of the book have frequent spelling or grammar errors. A large majority of the people who hate the book have very little spelling errors and use longer and less-common words. More interesting coincidences.

A previous review said: "The book wasn't meant to have perfect english; if it did that it would be dry and boring." Umm, no. Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History Of Time" and "The Poky Little Puppy" are both written in perfect English. To be written in perfect English does not necessarily mean that it will go over your head or will be dry and boring - at least one hopes so.

Many positive reviews (by coincidence) have said to ignore the writing, though, and focus instead on the underlining message. These messages, as stated by many reviews previous, are simplistic and not original. The movie "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", to go to an extreme, had perhaps not the best writing, but contained the Insight: "Be excellent to each other". One would hardly take the opposite view, would you?

To close, as this is basically me getting some thoughts of the book off my chest and being review 580+ only the seriously dedicated or bored will read this anyway, thank you for reading this far.

269 of 318 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Reaction, June 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure (Hardcover)

I found this book amongst a pile for a yard sale and decided to read it, unaware of its fame and hype. It advertises an adventure in Peru that changed the author's life. Wow- a manuscript written by an ancient culture that provides guidance to our current development. Interesting, no? Innocently enough, I did not know that this was fiction. I read it with the intent of believing the journey was real. Of course, as a historian, I immediately realized that there were flaws in the description of Peru's history and landscape. However, thinking that the journey was real, I figured the author was simply mistaken about some details. I also believed that his incredibly juvenile writing style could be attributed to the fact that he was not a writer, but a man eager to retell the world of this awakening he experienced. I continued to read. However, by the middle of the book, I was awfully skeptical and wondered how everything magically occurred on cue. Was he simply leaving out the intermediate details of his journey in order to shorten the story? Or am I living in an alternate world that's more mundane and less predictable? So I came to this site, read the reviews, and it all made sense. THIS IS FICTION!! Ha ha ha! Silly me, so gullible.

Reading the end of the book was all the more amusing after seeing these reviews and realizing that I was not imagining the author's delusions. HOWEVER, I must say that the book does have some positives. First, the "insights," although old as the wind and sand, are genuine. Any truly spiritual person, not bound by the conventions and restrictions of traditional religion, has probably realized these already. That does not, however, subtract from the appeal of seeing them solidified on paper. Agreed, this "novel" is a literary atrocity, its presentation is overwhelmingly archaic, and its message is profusely pounded into sickening flatness. Regardless, there is truth in the regurgitated notions/ideas/beliefs. "Insight" is something we all need to understand, even if this book is not what promotes the awareness.

I feel that The Celestine Prophecy is a wonderful book for those who are least concerned with fine literature and more concerned with beginning a quest into understanding the greater meaning of our existence. Of course, the book pales horribly when compared to the great ones. But the point is not comparison. The point is to get in-tune.

To those of you who are well-read and consider yourselves avid intellectuals, you might be better off skipping this one in favor of some of the greats. For those of you who feel something stirring deep within that makes you question our current human condition, The Celestine Prophecy may very well open up a new and positive way of seeing yourself and others. The awakening may very well help you on YOUR path. Do you NEED this "novel" to help facilitate this change? You decide. Personally, I found the basic skeleton of the book, the insights, worth embracing.