Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsIt Must Be Your Idea, Not Someone's Teaching
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020
Do you remember the premise of "Inception", the movie by Christopher Nolan? It involved dream-bandits breaking into a man's subconscious to implant an idea that would otherwise bot probably occur to him. Regardless of the fantastical nature of that premise, the point of it is sound: that, in an individual, the merit of an idea is directly proportional to how well the individual is able to conceptualize that idea.
Simply telling someone a lesson, and expecting them to be overcome with awe at your wisdom is naïve, and a little arrogant. It is in that spirit that this book tells you much, but teaches you little, and then applauds itself for the good work is has done, is doing, and will do for ages to come.
I should say, of course, that the lessons in this book are valuable ones. They talk about change and adaptation, and when and why to engage in both. However, the analogous story presented to explain these concepts was far too long-winded to be engaging. Despite that, it was still a short read- less than a hundred pages for the full thing. This is a sign of less-than-stellar writing. Still, the ending of the book, where there are people discussing how they have had to respond to major changes in their lives, is the most useful part of the book, in my opinion.
For the most part, I don't actually think anyone struggling with changing will gain much from this book. As the book itself states, people who are having difficulty changing must realize they need to do so on their own. Actually, what I believe would aid someone like that is a more subtle and engaging story. One that will spark a realization, as opposed to outright declaring that the reader embrace and accept change, and be proactive in their response to it.
Imagine if a person was struggling to clean their house. They have the ability and opportunity to do so, but truly don't believe they need to. A story about how someone else cleaned their house and felt better afterwards is not going to convince that person to clean their house. This is where the importance of meaningful subtext and thematic consistency come in, and why I must criticize the simplicity of this story. It is so straightforward, that it doesn't need to be as long as it is- and again, it is actually very short.
Ultimately, the lessons presented here are worth learning, but I cannot fathom how those who truly need to learn them will do so with this book. A better way to help someone who needs to embrace change would be to tell them a personal story of your own, or to relate to a time in their life in which a change was encountered and overcome.
