Beth H. (suburbanalien) reviewed on 1/4/2011 + 63 more book reviews

From what I've read, and from the raving reviews this book received, I hold a minority and unpopular opinion. In my opinion, this is a really dull and forgettable book. After reading the overwhelmingly positive reviews, I really wanted to read it, and I kept reading ... even though I was not at all captivated by the material ... kept waiting for it to get better. Never did. I just have to wonder, if maybe people are swayed by the obstacles the author had to overcome in order to make this book possible, and maybe are swayed by the fact that he died days after it was released, and that maybe ... just maybe ... the tragedy of the reality of the creation and fruition of the book itself lends a little too thick of a lens through which one views the material ... maybe? If the book had been written as a work of fiction from a fully functioning, still healthy author, would it still have had operatic praise from the critics? Take my review, for example. You might read it and think "She sounds really stupid and uninformed, I don't like her review." Now, imagine that while I was writing this review, my toes were being chopped off one by one and the room was slowly collapsing in on me, yet I continued typing the review. Would you be much more impressed if that were the case? Sure you would, and that's what I'm wondering about all the hoopla about this book. We all know people who tell you "Oh, you just MUST read this book, it will enrich your life, it is a classic, you will never take life for granted again." and you read the book they tell you about, and think "... great, that's a few hours of my life I'll never get back, but now I can be pretentious and discuss the meaningfullness of human triumph and overcoming adversity next time I'm talking to someone I want to impress..." but you don't actually feel that it impacted your life at all. Anyway, that's how I feel about this book. It has been SO praised and SO held in esteem and has been SUCH AN INSPIRATION to so many people who I guess are smarter than me, that I felt I had to read it, but holy biscuits with gravy on top, it was duller than anything I can remember. I'm sorry, I wanted to like it, but I didn't. Anyway, it's a short book, and people who seem to be really smart are really impressed by it, so read it so that you can talk to all the smart people about it. You can have my copy, I don't plan on keeping it. Did ... I just read they made a MOVIE about this book? Really? Why? Well, maybe I'll get the movie, maybe that might be a little more stimulating to my pedestrian brain than this book.

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