Og Mandino (1923–1996)

It seems I had read this before... or maybe only "of this" before?

Well, it is and easy, quick read and I am intrigued by its fame and divisiveness. I find myself on the haters' side on this one. I find the forced wrappings in the Chris story (manger, Star of Bethlehem, Saul) hokey and forced. The litany of vapid aphorisms intended to bolster self-confidences read like scribbled ideas on the floor of a Toastmasters International meet-up.

I think the Scroll VI "Master Your Emotions" show more interestingly Stoic and showing a clear differentiation from the Dale Carnegie emotive How to Win Friends and Influence People school of thoughts and also opposed in flavor to Scroll VII "The Power of Laughter". show less

This venerated story just didn't work for me. The concept is good, but I don't like the way it was approached. Leveraging the Christmas story and Paul declared a brazen hubris not backed by the merit of the message. I also found the word choice overly descriptive. Every noun gets its own adjective, e.g. "Beyond the long row of silent tents, strands of thick hemp curled around four ancient olive trees." Moving from this cadence into the main inspirations made them seem more hypnotic than show more inspiring. There are plenty of useful meditations about persistence and positivity, but they weren't delivered in a way the resonates with me. show less

Rated: A-

1971. This takes the world and downscales it so you can better grasp the meaning of statistics. The statistics being from 1971, I was able to see that we've gotten a lot less white as a nation since then. It was an interesting perspective on the world, although I can't remember the details and I only read it a few days ago. Never thought I'd read a book by Og Mandino.