In an effort to spend less time in front of a screen and more time behind paper & text, I bought a few books to keep me occupied. The King books are for light, entertainment reading which I’ll get to later. Rich Dad Poor Dad was for me to try and learn something, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A lot of people have been raving about this book, and after finally reading it for myself… I’m not quite sure why.
When I first picked up Rich Dad Poor Dad, I found myself nodding my head and agreeing with what was being stated. My enthusiasm for the book soon tapered off when I realized that the material wasn’t going to develop any further than insubstantial pointers. I am the one actually at fault, the book itself should not be blamed. I went into it with misguided intentions and expectations. I wanted to learn something, how to DO something… but this is not the primary purpose of Rich Dad Poor Dad. It is a simply-layered motivation book, nothing more. After finishing the book, I gained just a few new insights, but everything else only served to validate what I already knew. Honestly, the contents of this book is mostly common sense, bundled together into a motivational narration to trick you into thinking you’re reading truly inspiring information.
I also was not fond of the over use of repetition employed by the author. The bulk of many chapters are merely fluff – previous points rephrased into an additional sentence. Filter these out and the book will probably be half its thickness. You can filter even further and just read the first couple of chapters, and then skip to the last couple. If you read what’s in between, you’ll be wasting time on regurgitation of obvious facts and shameless plugs of the author’s CASHFLOW board game. I’m not going to say that the book is a complete waste, either. It’s good read if an individual is lacking perspective on the particular subject, and needs a push towards the right direction. But then again, if this individual can’t figure out most of this stuff on his or her own, then it’s probably futile regardless of what book is read.
As for the King books, they are just something to read so I will be far less critical. When I want to read for entertainment, I like suspenseful and grisly tales, which is why the Horror subject is particularly thrilling. Many regard the Dark Tower series and The Stand as King’s magnum opuses. I’ve only read The Shining (long time ago) and It (cheesy and some plot-holes, but overall interesting. I was still flying around when I read this book, definitely made the flights seem shorter) by King.