Bonus #62. The Man on The Mountaintop

Libby Spurrier. 2017.

I was really skeptical about this story, even up until about half way in.  A guru on a mountain that pilgrim wait days or weeks to see gives one to two minute meetings with seekers and their lives are transformed.  Some of the stories of these transformations were trite anecdotes that I typically find fairly irritating.  Oh, turns out the monk the rich guy stole the robe from in order to jump the line was The Holy Man he so desperately wanted to see.  Oh, it turns out that the lesson she needed to learn about patience was taught to her by waiting in line to see him so that by the time she got there, he didn't need to say anything.  Blah, blah, blah.  Well enough written, not uninteresting, but just like many other similar books.

Somewhere along the way, though, the book changed from being about the pilgrims to being about the man himself and by the end of the book, I was sucked into the story of the man behind the guru. In particular, the interactions with one character who did not want enlightenment, who wasn't one of his followers, and wasn't interested in becoming one.  I was captivated by the idea of living in such a bubble, where everyone adore and admired you and where everyone coming to you was coming because they wanted to be a better person and what happens when that is your norm and then someone comes in to disrupt that. This wasn't the main storyline at all, but for me, it saved what otherwise would have been an unremarkable read. I wish the entire story had been about this one relationship.  If it had, I am certain this could have been a strong recommend.

​Not recommended.

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