by Priya Gopal
[box]The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews is a book that unravels how man agonises over everything, looking for a solution outside him, when ironically the solution lies within. It’s a book that has to be read, stresses Priya Gopal.[/box]With his remaining conscious thought, David removed his hands from the steering wheel and raised them as fists to the sky. “Please, God!” he cried. “Why me?”………
“Why….not….you?” Looking directly into David’s eyes, Truman enunciated the words carefully, separating them as if he were speaking to a child. “I believe that is the answer to the last question you asked before you arrived.”
The question we need to ask ourselves is Why not me?
Modern life is definitely not a bed of roses. The thorns of failure, time and again, shake us out of our complacency and make us realise that all is not well in the world we have created for ourselves. Man today is arrogant, ungrateful and lacks faith. The hollowness of his life echoes in his personal and professional life. Civilisation is hurtling itself towards its peril.
Here’s a book that tries to answer the pertinent question ‘why not me’ and motivates readers to find their bearings in this fast-paced life that seems to be taking us nowhere. The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews is a book that unravels how man agonises over everything, looking for a solution outside him, when ironically the solution lies within – it’s the story of David Ponder, the protagonist, whose life has been anything but simple. Ponder finds himself thrown out of a job that he thought he would never lose, forcing him to work on very low wages in the new one. Unable to fund his daughter’s treatment, Ponder is suicidal. When his car skids down the icy cliff during his suicide attempt, Andy Andrews takes David Ponder and the reader on a magical journey through time, one that is a powerful combination of fact, fiction, history and motivation.
The accident projects him into a trajectory of time travel wherein he encounters people as diverse as Harry Truman and King Solomon. His final encounter is with Gabriel, an archangel who shows him all that he didn’t achieve in life since he gave up on those ideas and lacked the zeal to see through them. His encounters with each one of the characters teach him a new lesson and help him take seven decisions that will alter the course of his life. Following this, Ponder reaches his own future and sees himself a successful man inspiring the world with what happened to him and how the seven decisions that he made determined his personal and professional success.
History teaches lessons that man chooses to ignore. Lessons from the past should motivate us to chart out way ahead. But so caught up are we in trying to run the daily grind that we do not take the time out to pause and think. The Traveler’s Gift makes you introspect: Where am I going? What is my role in this huge time machine that I am travelling in? Do I have faith in the decisions that I take? The novel succeeds in telling you that every small decision taken with faith and conviction can change the course of not just one’s life but of a generation.
Quit quitting: the message comes out loud and clear without being condescending. The plot is captivating and the language is simple and engaging. One is as curious as Ponder to find who he will encounter next and what lesson he will learn. The solutions are practical and attainable. The seven decisions that Ponder makes may seem simple but are no doubt so powerful that one is motivated to put them into practice.
The book is indeed a gift for the traveller undertaking the journey called life. A free reading guide is available at www.thomasnelson.com/travelersgift. Andy Andrews is a comedian, author, speaker, corporate entertainer, television celebrity and a serious fisherman. Find Andy Andrews at http://www.andyandrews.com/
The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews;published in India by Magna publishing; pages 206, price Rs 175
Priya Gopal is the Section Head (CBSE) at the Curriculum Department of Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd., Mumbai. An educator by choice, teaching and interacting with kids is something that has enthused her over the last 16 years. Priya lives in Mumbai with her husband and two children. She blogs at http://keepsmilinginlife.
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Nice choice of review Priya. Will surely try to find the book.
Dear Sarbani,
Lovely poem – Don’t Quit..i read it first in an issue of Competition Success Review. It became a sort of inspiration..though i don’t remember all the lines, i found this for you..you have the 1st and 3rd stanzas. These are the 2nd and 4th.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
You’re right. Poet is unknown.
I would love to read the book after reading this wonderful review. The theme of the novel seems to echo the ‘Don’t Quit’ poem.[I don’t remember though who wrote this]:
“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.”
And then may be after a couple of stanzas:
“Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.”