Robin S. Sharma aims to inspire, but probably annoys too many readers in his mini-book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (2006, HarperTorch, 198 pages). This self-help book wears the guise of fiction, weakening it in both genres.
At the beginning, Julian Mantle, a “successful” Ferrari-driving lawyer, collapses to a courtroom floor. A massive heart attack has him near death, “shaking and shivering and sweating like a maniac”.
“The real problem was that Julian was obsessed with work…. At 53 years of age, Julian looked as if he was in his late seventies. His face was a mass of wrinkles, a less than glorious tribute to his ‘take no prisoners’ approach to life in general and the tremendous stress of his out-of-balance lifestyle in particular…. He constantly complained that he was sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
So Julian resigns from work, sells his belongings and goes to India on a journey of discovery. Three years later, he returns in monk’s robes and keen to share new wisdom with the narrator, John, his friend and ex-colleague.
Like the improved Julian, the author brims with insight and advice-for-life, such as:
-- think joyful thoughts;
-- follow your calling;
-- act courageously;
-- develop self-discipline; and
-- live fully, one day at a time.
Anyone seeking self-improvement finds many passages to highlight.
“Alright, the secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all energy towards doing it…. Once you concentrate your mind power and energy on a pursuit that you love, abundance flows into your life, and all your desires are fulfilled with ease and grace.”
“Saying you don’t have time to improve your thoughts and your life is like saying you don’t have time to stop for gas because you are too busy driving. Eventually, it will catch up with you.”
“Fear is nothing more than a mental monster you have created, a negative stream of consciousness…. Failure is not having the courage to try, nothing more and nothing less.”
“One must never live in the thick of thin things. Focus only on your priorities, those activities which are truly meaningful. Your life will be uncluttered, rewarding and exceptionally peaceful.”
“Truly enlightened people never seek to be like others. Rather, they seek to be superior to their former selves.”
“Too many people are dreaming of some magical rose garden on the horizon rather than enjoying the one growing in our back yards. What a tragedy.”
There’s some surprising insight. “On an average day the average person runs about 60,000 thoughts through his mind. What really amazed me though, was that 95 per cent of those thoughts were the same ones you thought the day before.”
But as fiction, the book’s bogus. Moving in slow motion, it descends into long talks, notably an all-night session, as Julian explains how best to build happiness and meaningful lives. Too much chatter leads to lame dialogue.
“It’s sort of like breaking in a new pair of shoes – at first it’s a little hard to wear them but soon they fit like a glove.”
“ ‘So life is like a fat strip of bacon,’ I chimed in. ‘You have to separate the meat from the fat in order to be the master of your time.’ ”
The book ends with reminders that Sharma, the author of an earlier title, MegaLiving, “is widely recognized as one of North America’s most electrifying professional speakers and is one of the brightest stars in the field of leadership and life improvement”.
It’s tough to read The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari without sensing a preachy sales pitch. Real ads appear for a Toronto-based outfit called Sharma Leadership International. Readers are urged to “book Robin S. Sharma for your next conference or in-house event”.
As a reminder, flip back a few pages to where the enlightened main character says: “The size of your bank account and the size of your house have nothing to do with living life with a sense of joy and wonder. This world is full of unhappy millionaires.”
Anyone wanting an enjoyable and uplifting story, minus the fluff, huff and puff, may feel badly deceived.
Approval rating: 41 per cent.
For more information: www.robinsharma.com or www.harpercollins.com
(May 4, 2008)
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