Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra
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Book Reviews of Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment
Book Review: Good, but not Exceptional
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a good novel, based upon the life of the Siddartha Gautama, but I would not call it exceptional. Chopra's book starts out with a very compelling and engaging story about Siddartha. Everything is fine for the first ten chapters, but in the second part of the book, beginning with chapter 11, (coincidentally bankrupting his work thus far) Chopra makes a traumatically abrupt transition of the princely life to the ascetic life, without sufficient literary preparation in the mind and character of Siddartha. The continuity of the story line takes a huge and abrupt gulp, into which the characters of Yashodhara and Rahula (Siddartha's wife and son) simply disappear, only to resurface as memories in part two. Stylistically, for me, this was a huge error in the composition of the novel. Additionally, if your looking for the real life and guts of doctrinal Buddhism, Chopra does not give you much, as he says that is not his intent. But a biography of the Buddha, even a fictional one such as this, cannot get around wrestling more comprehensively with the Four Noble Truths. Chopra is a talented writer, he has made a fairly sound attempt at rendering the life of the Buddha comprehensible to mainstream fiction writers, but he has not wholly succeeded in capturing the life and essence of the Buddha. This Buddha is too miraculous, and ultimately a bit shallow, compared to the Buddha we know of religion and philosophy. So end verdict: a good book, but someone can or certainly has written a better one.Book Review: A story that's forever told
Summary: 3 Stars
If I could give this 3.5 stars I would. But Amazon allows no such rating. Alas. Since Deepak Chopra has covered so many territories it should not be anyone's surprise that he tackles the story of Buddha here. But fiction?
I believe it's only because of Chopra's notoriety that this even went to press--the writing is not at all fresh nor is it that enlightening, to say the least. (I think Hermann Hesse did a far better job in his version, as he was a ficiton writer and a masterful one at that). But since I do like the majority of this author's works, (HOW TO KNOW GOD is a favorite) I gave it a go. Not sorry I did, but there is not much out there that attempts to bring story and spirituality together. Usually, it's not done well with very few exceptions.
I'd recommend the aforementioned SIDDHARTHA.
Book Review: good story, but...
Summary: 3 Stars
A good story, it taught me something about the history of Buddhism, but I found the language faltering. Chopra describes spiritual experiences with the eloquent certainty of an experienced tripper, then reduces the language in between to conversational English. Was this book ghost-written by a teenager? Fewer contractions please! A little more description of "one morning!" One morning in spring? One bright morning? One foggy morning in fall when the chill was no longer blocked by the thin cloth he lay on? Come on Chopra! Don't make me use a red pencil!
Book Review: Buddha, the novel
Summary: 3 Stars
I immediately began to see that this was written more like a novel than a true story, but Chopra tries to bring us an inside look into what life was like when Buddha was alive and experiencing his transformation to enlightenment.
It was a good story....but the concept of prolonged meditation is not one that would be easy for most people to experience.
I was interested in learning more about Buddha, and for that, Chopra did not fail me.
Book Review: "A page turning masterpiece" ???
Summary: 2 Stars
That quote from Wayne Dyer is a not surprising huge bit of hyperbole. These guys love to review each others books, don't they. Quite the marketing ploy.
The unfortunate dilemma for this nice little story is that it will inevitably be compared to a real "timeless classic", Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Read that one folks, it is the real deal. Hesse was a contemporary of and a patient as well of Carl Jung's...would like to have been a fly on the wall for those sessions. I read that book many years ago and it just lingers in my unconscious mind. Chopra's "Buddha" can't hold a candle to it. Sorry Deepak groupies, I call em as I see em.