I read this book on the advice of a friend who had suggested it to me. I am not sure the title in itself would ever have ‘sold’ it to me. I am not, after all, a salesman and nor am I one that bows to hype and you can’t really get more ‘hyperbolic’ than this title.
But, hearing how it had ‘changed lives’ I picked it up and thought I’d give it a go. The lessons of the book are framed around the story of a camel trader who has inherited access to ancient lessons from the greatest salesman in the world which then, enabled him to succeed. It’s a pleasant framing and makes it more interesting than just stating the lessons as they stand.
There are ten scrolls he uncovers, each with a lesson and that gives the book and chapter some form. It is easy to read and easy to follow. The lessons are all sensible and it’s possible to see the logic in each one, for example, scroll five, whose lesson is
‘I will live each day as if it is my last’
This won’t be new information if you have read any of these similar books but it is presented with short clipping sentences and repetition that helps the message crack through unwilling minds.
There is no doubt, great advice here but it’s not going to set the world on fire with new revelations. In fact, it helped me reflect on how much repetition there is in these self-help type books because often the messages are the same, but they are packaged in different ways. There really is a lot of money in this business and if you can package some sensible messages in a enigmatic and wistful tale, it may be you are more successful by virtue of how you tell the story.
The only thing that made me stall a little, was the Christian nature of the writing. I’m old enough to know that this is the culture I live in but it is much more explicit in this American book that I would be likely to expect in a British equivalent. There’s nothing at all wrong in carrying a Christian message, indeed, a lot of the messages are universal anyway, but it acts as another reminder of difference and being apart from the whole and mainstream of the world.
So would I recommend it? I think so, if you like the kind of motivational writing that is easy to read and that might push towards action — when you know what you should be doing but are procrastinating.
Did it change my life? Not really — after all, it’s not the book that changes lives, it’s the actions one undertakes after reading the book.
