Vivas 1
Clichéd and Yet New
The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure by James Redfield, is a unique book as far
as delivery and point-of-view of the story goes. It’s about learning more about yourself
and your purpose in this world. It is supposedly based on wisdom found in a Peruvian
manuscript; although, after The Blair Witch Project, we should all be cautious about what
we believe is true. It’s about a man in the middle of a crisis about his career and, through
many synchronistic events, he winds up in Peru in pursuit of a “Manuscript” that will
explain humankind’s next step in the evolutionary ladder. The “manuscript” has ten
insights that will help everyone in the world; however, the government as well as many
of the priests in Peru is going to any lengths to keep the “manuscript” form spreading. As
he travels through Peru in search of each insight, starting at the third insight, individuals
appear in his life briefly with the answer for the insight he is currently searching for,
demonstrating he is on the right path.
I enjoyed the characters in this books, although there was no real depth to them,
and liked the fact that, without research, you never really figure out if you’ve read a true
account of events that someone has gone through or not. The characters have no real
broad range of emotions, but if you understand what the book is supposed to be about,
you understand why the main characters are on an even emotional keel. The story is told
in the first person, which is something I’ve rarely encountered in the hundreds of books
that I have read. You never find out the main character’s name, and that makes it even
more interesting as you start to wonder if this is a true account of first-hand experiences
of Mr. Redfield himself, but on the flipside it could’ve simply been written in the first
person so that you feel as though you are the one going through these experiences.
Unfortunately, it is still hard to develop an attachment to these characters, as some of the
decisions they make seem too far-fetched even for the most open-minded individual.
However, if you can suspend reality completely, and believe that there are forces within
ourselves trying to guide us, the decisions made by the main characters are no longer
wholly unbelievable. This is the function of this book, to believe in something deeper
within ourselves trying to guide us to reach a higher level of consciousness.
Vivas 2
Descriptions of scenery are rich, but since I’m more into reading descriptions of
characters and their emotions the scenery was neither here nor there for me. Although, to
understand some of the insights, (such as the third insight) descriptions of the scenery is
essential and, in essence, become themselves a character in the book. The scenery is
brought out enough in the book as to make it a main character, existing alongside the
first-person main character. It has a life of its own and is one the other main character
will run into time and time again when he is searching for answers and guidance. What
bothered me is that there were times when I felt descriptions were not needed in excess
and I had to suffer through several paragraphs devoted entirely to the character’s
surroundings. The problem I encountered with the constant descriptions of scenery made
the book go down in my estimation.
The book is an adventure of the spirit, of the soul. If you’re hoping for a lot of
blood and violence you will be disappointed. It is the adventure of learning more about
our inner selves and the events that seem coincidental, which are actually signposts to
guide us on our journey to a higher state of being. The insights travel through the
burgeoning discontent felt worldwide to being able to see individuals and nature’s energy
or chi to learning how to tap into that infinite source of energy that we all have access to.
You get a new reasoning for the problems you experience in relationships with other
people, from your children and parents, to your significant other, and the reasoning of
this book is very plausible.
Though the book doesn’t touch on anything new, there are virtually hundreds of
books talking about the same things, it tells it in a new and refreshing way. The way the
story is told also makes it easier to understand, as the main character is on a journey
through each insight and you experience and learn these insights alongside him. Overall I
enjoyed the book, though not as much as others that I’ve read. If you want a book to help
you renew your faith in the evolution of humankind, it delivers. Although the cliché of
finding yourself reeks throughout the book, it does have an interesting way of attempting
to answer those timeless questions of, “Why are we here?” and “Where are we going?” If
you have trouble visualizing this “adventure”, I’d easily recommend you purchase the
dvd, What The Bleep Do We Know, as it basically says the same thing, which is that we
have more control of our experiences that we believe we do.