Review: Simplistic, but Not Simple
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2013
I'm a sucker for self-help books. The only problem with it is that if you read too many of them you get stuck in the inevitable quandary of what self-help advice to follow. It tends to leave your life feeling much more complicated than when you started.Told through a story about a young man who aims to be a silk merchant and who winds up sharing a meal with Christ's family after his crucifixion, The Silk Merchant introduces both the young man in the story and the reader to the 12 "immutable laws" by which to live one's life. I don't want to ruin reading the book, so I won't tell you what they are, but they are powerful in their utter simplicity.What I loved most about R.L. Adams' The Silk Merchant is that it strips away all the verbiage and mumbo jumbo and leaves behind simple, basic rules that are applicable to everyone.I make the point above because The Silk Merchant is couched in Biblical terms, which is not something I have any problems with, but other readers who don't subscribe to that particular belief system may be put off by it even though the messages the book shares is most definitely universal. I wholehearted recommend this book, though, for everyone.This is the second book I've reviewed by this particular author, and I have to admit that I'm impressed with the ability Adams has to take what at first glance appears to be a complicated subject and pare it down to the bare essentials.