I first read this book in September 2017, after I learned about it from the many guests in the Tim Ferriss Show, who said that this is their favourite book.
So naturally, I just got to read it! But only to quickly found out that I didn’t like it at all. Initially because it was not the story of Siddhartha Gautama that I familiar with, an annoying occurrence that quite a lot of people in the review section are experiencing and something that kept confusing me after about 1/4 of the book when young Siddhartha indeed crossed path with the REAL Siddhartha Gautama.
But I read on, with the hope that this fiction narrative could become better as I go along. That did not happen, and I finished the book feeling disliking it even more, although to be fair I didn’t like reading fiction back then.
Now, 7 years later, I have since developed an appetite for reading fiction and I thought I should give the book a second try. You know that phrase when the student is ready, the teacher will appear? Or when you’re ready, the book will finally make sense?
Yeah, that doesn’t happen either this time around. At this 2nd attempt, this 1922 novel is still too hippie dippie for my taste. While I love reading about mythology, religion, and spirituality, this book kinda miss the mark for its spirituality. Heck, it doesn’t even explain about Buddhism, but rather suspiciously have what it appears to be Christian messages wrapped under Hindu elements.
Now, I’m very aware of the popularity of this book, and the spiritual impact that it has over many people. Which is good for them, and I don’t want to argue anything here. Different people matched with different books, and I might also grown into liking it someday.
But at the moment, after reading authors such as Joseph Campbell, Karen Armstrong, and Paramahansa Yogananda, this book just feels light in comparison for me. If we contrast it with other authors on Buddhism – such as Sogyal Rinpoche, Joseph Goldstein, and Haemin Sunim – this book looks elementary in comparison. And you could actually come out better informed spiritually if reading books by Sadhguru or Jay Shetty, even though they only use Hindu lessons in a secular way.
Moreover, the narrative itself is not strong enough to be a good regular story, with no real depth in the characters and no concrete lessons to be learned other than this one quote that represents the essence of the book: “Knowledge can be transferred, but not wisdom. It can be found and lived, and it is possible to be carried by it. Miracles can be performed with it, but it can’t be expressed and taught with words.”
Indeed, the book attempts to show through its story that experience is the best way to gain wisdom, and Siddhartha’s wisdom was intended to look like something aquired after a long up-and-down journey. But unfortunately, it was expressed through a pretty dull story-telling with anti-climactic ending, filled with spiritual gimmicks that would’ve made Thich Nhat Hanh cringe.
Hence, I’m sticking with my 3 stars from 7 years ago.
THE CHAOS THEORY 