Book Review: The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

The B part of Unit 1 in ISC English Language textbook for class 11 deals with article writing, book review, film review and proposal writing. In this blog, you shall find the answers to assignment related to book review . If you are not an ISC student, take this as a practice!

Book Review

Elements of a book review

1. The title, author, publisher, number of pages and price.
2. An opening sentence to set the tone of the review, giving the overall feel of the work.
3. The general field or genre of the book like fiction or non-fiction.
4. A concise summary of the plot, followed by the specific aspects of the work, individual characters, incidents and scenes.
5. The outstanding idea that runs through the book.
6. Specific reference from the book to highlight its unique points.
7. Overall impression of the work, including its shortcoming, if any.

Assignment

(a). Your classmate has written a book of short stories, which has won an award for being the best book by a new author. Write a review of the book for your school magazine.

Ans.                   Women with Vision

Author: Priyanka Das

Pages: 153

Price: Rs. 300

Our school celebrates the "Best Book by a New Author" award winning book "Women with Vision" written by Priyanka Das, studying in class 11.

This book of short stories contains the stories of women that inspired her to turn her dreams to a reality. This book is an attempt to bring forward the lives of women that are away from the spotlight but work hard and efficiently to make this world a better place to live in.

The stories of these women range from scientists to business owners to principals to housewives. In this compilation, she beautifully brings out the point that no in parameter defines success and that no matter what a women dreams to do with her life, she has the potential to achieve it. 

The best part about this book, in my opinion is that these women do what they love doing most and, in most cases, it has nothing to do with money, fame or status. More than half the stories, show the success of one women was not possible without the help of another. For examples, the story that circles around the life of her principal, whose mother worked day and night to pay for her education. Another example can be of the blog writer, whose english teacher helped her discover her love for writing and gave it direction. 

It is not just the content that gets you hooked to it from the very beginning, it is the way the content is presented to us. The author has presented just the right amount of facts in an organized manner. 

(b). Write a review of a book which you have read recently.

Ans.                             The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Autor: Robin Sharma
Pages:216
Price:Rs150/

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a self help book by Robin Sharma, a writer and motivational speaker. The book is a business fable derived from Sharma's personal experiences after leaving his career as a litigation lawyer at the age of 25. Sharma has produced 11 other book and founded the training company Sharma Leadership International. 

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari was published in 1997 by Harper Collins Publishers, and has sold more than 3 million copies as of 2013. Sharma also wrote many other books in the series The Secret Letters Of The Monk Who Sold His Red Ferrari, Leadership Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Discover Your Destiny With The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and Family Wisdom From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

Robin Sharma’s book contains the “gems for long and contented living style”. In this fiction book he shares unique experiences with saints in the Himalayas with his old colleague Mr. Juan in tell-tale style. This book has already been translated into more than 75 languages in 62 nations across the globe. 

The book develops around two characters, Julian Mantle and his best friend John, in the form of conversation. Julian narrates his spiritual experiences during a Himalayan journey which he undertook after selling his holiday home and red Ferrari.

The theme and story-line of this book, in fact, is lessons in art of living enshrined in the ancient cultural practices in India. The narrative states that Julian Mantle, a high-profile lawyer in Canada lavishing in money, power and prestige but he suddenly had a heart attack in a court room which turned him completely. He sold his decent Bungalow and costly Red Ferrari and undertook a journey to Himalayas in India and learnt lessons of enlightenment and spiritual way of living. The book narrates in a tell-tale style the main practices for enlightened life. These practical visionary practices of the East are usefully applicable to humanity anywhere across the globe.
The first edition of ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ authored by Robin S Sharma in English was first published in the year 1997 by Harper Collins Publishers. The book was well received and became one of the bestseller as it is also one of the top selling personality development books. The core codes are: Master your mind, follow your purpose, practice kaizen, live with discipline, respect your time, selflessly serve others and live in the present. Each of these Virtues have been discussed in some details in separate chapters.

It is an awakening read. It is a perfect page turner that forces you to look at life and live every moment consciously. Unlike most self help books, it does present an exhaustive list of activities one must imbibe in their daily routine to be successful. It is a simple, easy to understand, inspiring piece of writing that solves all our problems in every domain of life. The book doesn't demean anyone who doesn't follow it's guidelines, it simply explains that one's life could be better if it was led that certain way. It is a good read and highly recommended for anyone who wishes to get out of their couch and make a change in the world or simple someone who is experiencing too many changes in their life all at once.

Article Writing