Rating: 
Summary: Great!
Review: The Celestine Prophecy kept me moving through the book the whole time. If spiritual growth is your intent, grab this book. :)
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of good energy
Review: Follow our nameless hero, who, in the middle of a career crisis, leaves the comforts of coffeehouse and hip conversation to travel to Peru in search of the mysterious Manuscript with the Power To Change Life As We Know It. Thrill as he runs through the jungle and hides behind boulders to evade capture by soldiers and interrogation by the evil Cardinal Sebastian. Meet Phil, the timorous ecologist. Chill as our hero is captured and taken to an oppressively gray detention hall. Listen as he grouses about the meal of gristly beef and potatoes he is served in jail. Will the hero get the girl by the end of the book? Not if he doesn't wise up to the fact that she's telepathic and having those erotic thoughts around her get him in trouble every time. Be amazed at the two dimensional characters and the loopy theology/cosmology/whatever that kept this book on the best seller's list for two years. What in God's name do people see in this banal, grating screed? When a novel so ideologically loopy and artistically flat is so phenomenally successful a closer look is surely in order. Here, dear reader, are the 9 Insights: 1) we need more people to be nice to each other; 2) eat your vegetables; 3) learn to see auras by staring at the space between your fingers; 4) listen to what people tell you; 6) avoid co-dependent relationships and you'll have more energy; 7) stop and smell the roses; 8) practice birth control and adopt; 9) as you practice the 9 Insights people who aren't as cool as you are won't be able to see you any more and you'll become invisible like the unicorns. Really!
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, it's a bunch of platitudinous psychobabble. . .
Review: . . . and yes, the author is making a dumptruck load of cash from it and its sequels and its newsletter and its website and his seminars and retreats. BUT it's also a very inspirational book which HAS in fact helped a lot of people look at life in an entirely new way. Yeah, the author is making money and has turned his teachings into an enterprise, but so has every major religion in the world and I don't see anyone whining about that. You want to talk about cynicism? L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was quoted as saying "If you want to become a rich man, the easiest way is to start your own religion." Well, he was right. Any creative person with a basic understanding of spirituality, physics, and psychology can introduce their own ideas about spirituality. But this is where ALL faith has come from since Cro-Magnon times. Whatever faith you follow from old systems like Christianity and Taoism to newer ones like Mormonism and Scientology, they all came from the ideas of one person who was persecuted for his beliefs when he first started out. Some people wonder if the author of the Celestine Prophecy really believes his ideas, or if he just did it to cash in. Well, it really doesn't matter. There are millions of people out there who were inspired by it, and in their concious reality it makes a huge difference in their lives whether Joe Blow in Kokomo, Illinois believes it or not. The people who slam the author as a cynical jerk who's just counting his money and laughing at all the hemp necklace wearing moon maidens who read his books are just jealous. They wish they had the creativity to write a book like this and make this kind of cash instead of just sitting around wearing Che Guevera t-shirts and despising Capitalism from their $1,500 computer to make a trendy statement.
Rating:
Summary: Open Your Minds Eye
Review: This is, without a doubt, the most eye-opening book I have ever read. As I read each insight I found myself saying "I knew that, but how did I know that". The story is fiction but it is needed to give you the full realization of the insights. You'll be glad you read this. It will help you understand why you and others do the things that you/they do. Highly recommended reading
Rating:
Summary: You must read this book!
Review: The celestine Prophecy is an absolutely remarkable. A fantastic adventure surrounded by a story that will captivate you long after you've finished reading. You're mind will be richer for having read it. Whether fact or fiction it is impossible to regret having read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A breath of relief in a soffocating world
Review: The Celestine Prophecy is not the best novel ever written, in fact to some it may seem hookie. What was great about this book, and in my opinion any book, was that it helped me grasp many of the ideas that had been swimming around in my head but could not be put into a working formula. Its one of those books that makes you say "yeah, I knew that, but I couldn't find the words." As the story unfolds so do aspects of the reader's self. Each chapter, or insight, revealed something new about who I was and who I wanted to be.
Many of the ideas discussed in this book are nothing new. They are at the core of many eastern philosophies and are heavily influenced by mysticism. But who cares! Each interpretation of these ideas is in its own way unique. Its like listening to a radio station that plays a certain jeanra of music: each song has a common feel and yet each has its own personality. All in all, it may not be a literary masterpiece but The Celestine Prophecy is a must read. It will move you in places that have been forgotten, ignored, or that have been suffocoated by the monotonies of western culture and idealogy.
Rating:
Summary: Not that great
Review: I gave this book two stars becaues it did entertain me for about a half second. All the so called ancient insights just came out to one thing just use common sense in life, all the [things] the characters went through just for that, boring. The part in the book about taking peoples energy, being able to stay out of view if you choose, entertaining for a second or two. Disappointing book.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting self-help book made into a lousy novel
Review: "The Celestine Prophecy" is filled with interesting spritual insights about life, and might have made a fine teaching book for seekers. However, the book is presented to us in the form of a novel, and thus, alas, asks to be reviewed on the grounds of one. As a novel, this is a stinker: an implausible adventure story about some guy flying all over the jungle on a whim, trying to find out various "insights" and illustrate them with his adventures. As I say, the insights themselves are interesting and may prove valuable to readers, but the story they get crammed into is an albatross.
Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed the sense of adventure it conveyed...
Review: ...but I found the story to be a little corny. In fact, I had great difficulty finishing this book. I don't mean any disrespect to anyone who has gleaned insight thanks to this book. We find inspiration where we need to, and I have known many people who found this book very inspiring. The underlying theme of this book seems to be the same as many other self-help/New Age books: don't let others manipulate you, own your own spiritual power, keep your consciousness open to the possibilities of life, remember that blessings can be found in the most unexpected places, have respect for the environment, and please buy the sequel... Having been a devoted reader of self-help and New Age books for the last decade, I have come to notice that they all do basically say the same thing, or elaborate on the same principles. It's all about "owning your power" and claiming your "true inheritance" as a blessed creation. Well, if they all say the same thing then why do some books take off and others don't? I suppose it's a combination of marketing and, well, "gimmicks." It's all about how you "frame" your reflections on the standard self-help mantras, and this author did a good job in that. Most people will not care if the author associated the wrong indigenous group with the ruins of Macchu Picchu; the whole concept of "Macchu Picchu" is exotic enough, and it carries all the elegance and mysticism of the Great Pyramids of Giza (without having been exploited to the same extent as the Pyramids, which gives them a feeling of being "new"), as to entice many readers. My point here is: self-help and New Age books are not typically concerned with historical accuracy or intellectualisms. The objective is to make the reader feel better about his life and to cater to the idea that we can create our own reality, hopefully a better reality than we are currently living in (and hopefully with as little effort as possible). My opinion is that this can often turn into a bottomless pit that results in frustration...but it's great for marketing because it keeps readers coming back for more. In short, people buy what makes them feel good...and I am no different myself. So, I'm not "knocking" this book. If you found inspiration in this book, then good for you! All I'm saying is that I myself was left wondering what the fuss was about. I'm a fan of the fact that this book gave many people (my best friend, for one) something to feel happy about; but I'm not a fan of the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: So simple, you might miss it
Review: I want to say that this book was incredible, but it IS credible. Unless you live in a cave somewhere, and you never interact with anyone, then you will find yourself saying, "Wow, this guy makes sense. Why didn't I notice that before?" I think the reasons that this book is either rated as absolute garbage or absolutely mind-blowing, is because it's so simple. It's often the simple, basic ideas that we overlook. This book changed my way of thinking. It addresses a great number of issues that affect all of us everyday. YES, it is fiction, but that doesn't mean that you can't apply it to your nonfiction life. From the way you see yourself, to the way you interact with people, to the way you deal with problems, this book offers basic, simple insights to our complicated, frustrating lives.
Don't let this chance for enlightenment pass you by.
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