The Celestine Prophecy

One of the advantages of having a reading list put together by others is that every so often I come across a good, or even great, book that I otherwise wouldn't have seen - "The Shadow of the Wind" and "The Kite Runner" being key examples (though even things like "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" were more enjoyable than I'd expected).

The flip side of that, however, is that every so often you come across a real stinker. Sadly, "The Celestine Prophecy" falls into that category.

The problems start right from the outset. The novel is built around the mystery of nine "insights", which the hero goes in search of. But the first of these establishes the notion that there are no coincidences - that as soon as you become aware of the First Insight you will start generating coincidences to take you forward.

Which, of course, means that the rest of the plot is then built on a sequence of coincidences, with the hero just happening to encounter exactly the right person, circumstance, or event to take the plot forward.

Thereafter, the book has a fairly routine sequence - the hero meets some character who just happens to have access to the next insight, which leads to long and preachy discussions in which this insight is expounded. These insights being a mix of low-grade philosophy, misappropriated scientific jargon, and unadulterated hippie crap.

Meanwhile, our hero is opposed by a bunch of faceless good with no real direction or purpose, except of course to advance the plot. Every so often it looks like some action might break out... but it tends not to, due to fortuitous coincidences.

Ultimately, it all feels like a less well-written version of "The Da Vinci Code", minus the compelling protagonist, the interesting antagonists, the thrilling plot-twists, and the car chases that causes it to race along. Pretty much the only redeeming feature of the thing is that it's only 331 pages and ticks along at a fairly good pace.

Avoid.

#59: "The Celestine Prophecy", by James Redfield (a book from The List)