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The Secret

Author: Rhonda Byrne
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

180 reviews
Sales Rank: 20

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.9

ISBN: 1847370292
EAN: 9781847370297
ASIN: 1847370292

Publication Date: December 4, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New & In Stock - Immediate Despatch!

Also Available In:

•	Audio CD - The Secret
•	Hardcover - The Secret

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Customer Reviews: Read 175 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

Some good ideas, must try harder. C- August 16, 2008
Reading this book is like being told about a great film by someone who saw it on a plane; shoddily related and in danger of ruining a good thing for you.
You know what it's about by now. As a science student this book appalled me - the writing standard is shocking. There's no real structure, quotes are miscellaneous. If you read the first ten pages you can stop, because you won't learn anything new after that. If I handed this in to my lecturers, I thought, I'd be in real danger of failing, positive thinking or no.
The worst part is that some really interesting ideas are presented here, they're just presented in such a frivolous manner! As if exclamation marks explain everything! It's infuriating, and a waste considering that a lot of people are discovering these ideas through this book. Frankly I cannot believe it was allowed into print as it stands. It simply isn't good enough.
There's also a pervading attitude towards hard work that's at best misleading and at worst dangerous. The only mention of actually working towards your goals is to say that it should feel easy, when the success stories presented are of people who worked for it. I can't say whether it was easy for them or not, but the notion of working is completely skipped over. You could argue that getting what you want without working for it is the crux of this particular book, (though not necessarily the ideas it's based on), and this is an entirely personal viewpoint, but you shouldn't look to get through life without working for what you have. You'll be so much better for it. Bear in mind how biased that makes my review as I seem to disagree with the core of this book, but I can't help but feel I could be far more objective if the book in question were written by a more capable author.
Clearly I've highlighted far too many flaws to recommend this book; it would lose none of its value if someone else read it and summed it up for you. By reading these reviews you've negated the need for it. If it's self-help you want I'm sure there are better sources out there. As an authority on the Law of Attraction it's worth a glance, (at someone else's copy), as long as you accept straight off that it's an interpretation, and a poorly written one at that.

1 out of 5 stars

The best kept secret...is not a secret at all. August 5, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The secret is simple: Think positive thoughts and the world will be your oyster. Dwell on negative thoughts and your life will spiral to the abyss; although Byrne, it has to be noted, explains it with far more melodrama.

Ok, so maybe The Secret isn't really that much of a secret after all. Although, when almost every other paragraph of this book is a quote from some chap announcing just how amazing the secret is and just how lucky you are that the author is sharing it with you - one is left wondering whether they are not missing something.

Don't get me wrong, I actually feel that this book carries a very important message, but I honestly believe that the whole thing could be reduced to just one page. The majority of the text is just an endless repetition of the same principle. Just when you feel Byrne is starting to elaborate on putting The Secret into practice - such as when she suggests Meditation as a way of enriching life - the text becomes ambiguous and Byrne reveals nothing more than what I've written in the first paragraph of this review. E.g., she writes: "Three to ten minutes a day to begin with can be incredibly powerful for gaining control of your thoughts". But no further insight into meditation is given, no tips, suggestions of techniques to try or anything of the sort. Instead, the book repeats itself endlessly and you are left wondering if Byrne was getting paid by the page.

There are also many false statements in this book that didn't fail to annoy me. Such as, "Einstein knew a great deal of the secret and he said `thank you' hundreds of times each day. He thanked all the great scientists who had preceded him for their contributions..." I'm sorry but Byrne doesn't seem to be speaking in a metaphorical sense here, so where is her justification for stating this? And statements such as "Diet's don't work," when she explains that in her opinion, by focusing on loosing weight, "you will attract back having to loose more weight." This second statement aside, I'm sure there are many people out there who have dieted successfully. These are just two examples of the flawed logic Byrne utilises throughout her book.

If I am going to look for good points in the book then I would admit that it is easy to read and the way it is spaced out really helps with this, but again this just fuels me to believe that Byrne is trying to make her book as thick as she can.

Overall I can appreciate the concept of this book but what maddens me is the way she drags it out and patronises the reader by continually dressing up the secret as something utterly amazing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression she just wanted quick and easy money with this book full of other people's quotes and endlessly repetitive dogmatic drivel. I'm sure there must be better "self-help" books out there, but unfortunately I am unable to recommend any myself as it is not a genre I usually read. I would, however, encourage anyone who is tempted to buy this book from Amazon, just to flick through its pages in a bookstore or a library first - maybe then you'll see what I mean. After you have done this - wash your hands with plenty of soap (only kidding) and think instead about looking into NLP. Maybe consider buying Introducing NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming by Joseph O'Connor and John Seymour. This book, though still an easy read, is not nearly so insulting to your intelligence.

2 out of 5 stars

Not So Secret July 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

In my opinion, totally unoriginal. The professed "secret" I don't believe is any secret at all. This information has been purported and regurgitated throughout the ages. The 'law of attraction' is no secret, it's just been peddled to the masses in a variety of different ways with different labels attached.

Sure, the law of attraction can work, but nowhere near as profoundly as this incredible, earth-shattering book "The Secret" would have us believe.

It's delivered in typical glossed-up, info-mercial style blockbusting presentation. But the initial excitement, novelty and ensuing adrenalin rush soon wear off when nothing life changing seems to happen.

All in all an entertaining read and an interesting concept, and it does have some merit, but don't expect instant miracles, and don't hold your breath waiting for the miraculous to happen.

How To Keep Your Man: And Keep Him For Good

Real Life Dramas - Volume One: 1

Darren G. Burton

2 out of 5 stars

Some truths, but too fictional for reality July 21, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I first watched the dvd, which contains the same contents of the book about 6months ago, just watched it again, and this is my review, Starting with the good.
The Secret contains some truths and good Tips on Attracting what a person wants. Quotes like 'Creation happens from toughts, thoughts manifest into actions' is very true as every amazing and successful things we have with us today like the aeroplane, computer, architecture all manifested from someone's thought,
'Feelings are feedback mechanism of whether we are on track' also very true but simple as if u feel sick or feel sick, feel high/drunk i guess thats your body giving you feedback right,
'simple shifting of emotions can change your day' true, 'be gratefull for what you have, and you attract more of what you want' also very true,
'whatever the mind of man can achieve, it can concieve', 'Believe you can have it, Believe you deserve it, believe you will get it' very true as if you dont feel+believe you deserve happiness, health, wealth, you won't get it,
'Look for positives for the people in your life' very true for family/relationship issues, but it depends on peoples past and present actions and
'inner happiness is the fuel of success' as inner happiness helps combat the feeling of hate and rejection that someone may through at you in your life. All this are quotes that I believe in and can impower life.

however, The secret states that law of attraction attracts like for like, and they claim that
'if you want to get out of debt, dont think of debt' is not something I recommend as those who hide or deny the truth can find themselves deeper in it.
Also 'when you look at what is, you are attracting what is, and you recieve what is' can be decieving as those who have been looking at beautiful things are asking themselves why they haven't got it,
'when you see something you want, you are attracting law of attraction and it results in LOA delievering on that' very similar to previous and
'The creative process Ask, Answer, Recieve, can work but can be catastrophic for those it doesn't work for.

Some inspiring stories including the man who crashes his aeroplane, 'Morris E Goodman' who defied all odds after plane crash. I credit this too the will and believe this man had.
The cancer women is also inspiring, but also happiness and belief eased pressure of her body and helped her defeat her dis-ease right.
The next two stories and the messages directed to the viewer about 'the gratitude rock' and 'the gay man' I find a bit worrying.
The gratitude rock story is about a man who see's his friend carry a gratitude rock. the message sent is saying when the mans child got sick, he asked his friend to send him a gratitude rock and his son got better. I would be carefull and say it was probably the doctors work that got this child better.
Also the story of the gay man, who was getting bullied, harrased anf finding no happiness in his life. suddenly he started to use LOA to attract wat he wants and the people in his work left him alone or left the company, people harrasing him weren't there no more and so on. I would say that it is good this man found happiness in his life, but we don't have power, especially of others actions and if some one is suffereing similar problems, i would recommend self confidence to combat hatred, but just focusing on what you want doesn't just make peoples problem go away.
Finally I am going to tell you about the ones I find disturbing. First is the one from Dr Joe Vitale who says everything that happens, we attract. I sincerley hope he is talking about the well off, becuuse if he isn't, he is saying the poor attracted poor to themselves, the ones living with poverty attracted poverty to themselves, the ones with dis-ease(even those born with one), attracted it to themselves, the ones living in warfare attracted it to themselves and so on.
The attack on the Anti-war movement is also worrying. they say if you are anti-way, anti-terrorism, ant-poverty and so on, you attract more of it. I disagree highly with this, and i am a firm believer that if it wasn't for the american civil war for abolitionism, or the war against hitler, or even the anti-war, anti-medicine movements and actions, we would be living in a different world. Also without organisations monitoring everything that occurs, from police brutality, torture and so on, we would be more in dark about the secretive world we live in, than we already are.

Well essentially, being a firm believer of success breeds success, and also LOA, i like some of the secret. but it has to be taken with a real perspective. this book, cd, dvd isn't going to change all of us, but using what works for us, we can use parts of it to change our lives.
However, i predict we still face problems we faced yesterday, and will face similar problems tommorrow and the secret isn't going to change society and everybody as a whole.

4 out of 5 stars

the secret may not be perfect, but.... July 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

... my own, personal experience of The Secret? Successful, verging on miraculous!

My husband bought me the "talking-book" version for Christmas. Although we were generally happy with our lives, there were some things that hadn't worked out the way we'd hoped. The biggest of these, our apparent inability - after 8 years of trying - to have a family together. I even wrote a book - Pink for a Girl - about our experience of unexplained infertility.

After listening to "The Secret" several times, I decided to give it a go. In the back of my journal, I wrote down a number of things that I wanted in 2008. And, of course, one of the things that I included was "to give birth to a happy, healthy, perfect child". And....?

I'm expecting our first baby at the end of December!!!!

Have fun with "The Secret". I hope it brings you happiness.

PS: Now, I just want my own book to become as successful as "The Secret"!!!!
Pink for a Girl: What Happens When Getting Pregnant Doesn't