| Genre: Thriller, Fantasy Main characters: Thomas Wagner, Elijah King Time and place: Blacksburg, Virginia (contemporary? sometime in the future?) Summary: Tom is a young man whose life is slowly going downhill: he’s antisocial and he enjoys robbing stores just because he can. Until one night when the current stint goes wrong and he is caught in the act. Lucky for Tom the security guard is not in any hurry to turn him into the police — but he nevertheless insists Tom must learn a lesson in the course of the next three night, a lesson that is going to change his life. The first two nights Tom plays along lest he should be turned in. Just as the things were getting interesting, on the third night there is no trace of Elijah (that was the security man’s name). Not only that but, to his surprise, Tom finds out the store had no night guardians in the first place, and the store owner knows nothing of no Elijah. The only proof Tom has that he hasn’t imagined everything is a strange coin Elijah has given him the night before. |
Tom seemed like a very ordinary young man in the beginning. Sure, he was smart and sure, he was angry at the world (with good reason to, actually), but other than that he was not extraordinary in any way. And then he meets Elijah, pays attention, learns his lesson and radically changes his life (for the better of course). At first I have found it a bit hard to believe that someone can actually change so radically in such a short time — but there is an explanation for that farther along in the book, which is that Elijah chooses his “pupils” carefully (only “people who need it and people he thinks can change or be helped by it.“). It’s probably safe to say that Tom was a special person all along, with enough potential to be noticed by Elijah and… well, chosen.
The main philosophy of the book (helping others is the path to a better life) is not very new and I have seen it before (although at the moment unfortunately no actual title comes to mind). Nevertheless this book (leaving aside its thriller segment, pretty good in itself) distinguishes itself by explaining a train of thought. The principles are not only stated but also explained and exemplified (such as in Part 2 of the book where we are shown Tom’s life after learning the lesson). It can perhaps be argued that parts of the book are repeated (same teachings again and again), or that the whole tone is a bit too didactic or sermon-like. But you know what? Regardless to the way they are expressed the lessons in the book are essentially good. While following them probably won’t make one a billionaire or an accomplished lawyer/politician, I am more than certain they do help improve the quality of one’s life (and the lives of people around one too), making one truly successful in the one area that matters most.
I am not saying, of course, that this book has been a sort of epiphany (unfortunately I am not ambitious like Tom was), but it’s a book I was happy to read and who knows — perhaps a part of it has rubbed on me nevertheless :)
Two very short quotes:
“Start with the premise that your life is not about you. Comprehend
that fact. Accept that. Own that. Then start from there.”
“You will learn that to know a person’s character, it isn’t about what they say — never is — not even so much about what they accomplish — it is about the way they treat others and how they live their lives.”
What I liked most: The fact that the book comes with two coins like the one in the book: one for the reader to keep and the other one for the reader to give away to someone else (presumably after teaching him/her about the lessons in the book). The best part of that is that I can imagine the coin becoming a sort of symbol for reading the book and subscribing to the wisdom it imparts; there is a story in the book about a military man mistakenly considered a spy by his own people, convincing them that is one of them by showing them a special coin the regiment had. I think these coins can become just like that, a way for like minded people to recognize each other (plus I think it’s a great idea for the way it expands the action in the book in real life too; now if only the author’s name had been Elijah… :P )
What I liked least: Not something that has actually bothered me, but (as a tech minded person with a technical background) I really have trouble believing something like this can actually be invented:
Davies created a spoken-language operating system that allowed all types of software to function on any type of hardware. The operating system elegantly knit all the programs together, and the spoken-voice command and control feature allowed computers to reach populations that had never had access to technology.
It’s the any type of software on any type of hardware part that’s bugging me, as I am fairly certain it is a technical impossibility. It’s not a central part of the book though and as such it was easily ignored :D
Recommend it? Yes. It’s quite short (128 pages) and captivating too, in more ways than one.
Website: elijahscoin.com
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I’ve just finished reading it – agree with you that it won’t make one a millionaire :)
I loved the bits about the origins of the coin too and the many references on Elijah…