[attrition] review: Book: Way of the Peaceful Warrior

[lyger]

http://attrition.org/~martums/works/reviews/warrior/

Dan Millman: Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Someone did some bad acid during their college years
Amazon - ISBN 1932073205 - 240 pages
Tue Aug 22 17:27:51 EDT 2006

martums

Crap or fertilizer?

>From Amazon:

     During his junior year at the University of California, Dan Millman 
first stumbled upon his mentor (nicknamed Socrates) at an all-night gas 
station. At the time, Millman hoped to become a world-champion gymnast. 
"To survive the lessons ahead, you're going to need far more energy than 
ever before," Socrates warned him that night. "You must cleanse your body 
of tension, free your mind of stagnant knowledge, and open your heart to 
the energy of true emotion." From there, the unpredictable Socrates 
proceeded to teach Millman the "way of the peaceful warrior." At first 
Socrates shattered every preconceived notion that Millman had about 
academics, athletics, and achievement. But eventually Millman stopped 
resisting the lessons, and began to try on a whole new ideology--one that 
valued being conscious over being smart, and strength in spirit over 
strength in body.

     Although the character of the cigarette-smoking Socrates seems like a 
fictional, modern-day Merlin, Millman asserts that he is based on an 
actual person. Certain male readers especially appreciate the 
coming-of-age theme, the haunting love story with the elusive woman Joy, 
and the challenging of Western beliefs about masculine power and success. 
--Gail Hudson

Warrior is one of the few books that I deliberately read before seeing the 
film. With Nick Nolte and Amy Smart in the trailer, it looked great, a 
must-see. The reviews on the early pages boldly proclaim how the book can 
have a profound effect on one's life. I tore into it with high 
expectations. In retrospect, many of the reviews I've seen about this book 
are polar. Either it has a powerful impact on the reader, or it's just a 
waste of time. On the outset, I was expecting the former. Unfortunately, I 
walked away with the latter.

[...]