** spoiler alert ** A modern, areligious parable, The Celestine Prophecy offers instruction and direction on the path toward spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment in the thin disguise of an adventure story.

While cover story is clearly only a vehicle meant to convey the insights, it can be entertaining, and the insights themselves are, for the most part useful and applicable to everyday life. (Only three areas are hard for me to accept--the predictions of the ninth insight, which are very utopian and potentially fanciful, but necessarily so because with the ninth insight, the author finally has to make a real prediction about the future of humankind, rather than couch historical analysis and interpretation in prophetic language--and some of the abilities associated with arrival at two of the other insights.)

The writing itself is bland and extremely accessible--it is probably written at a fourth grade reading level--which means that it is open to a wide variety of readers, but it does little to inspire linguistically. (I can think of only two brief spots in the book where I was actually impressed with the writing; on the other hand, there is nothing truly awful about the author's craft either. His words serve their main purpose decently and that is all.)

In the end, read this book for the spiritual insights and code of conduct it offers. Don't expect a transcendent literary experience, because it can't provide that, but do take in and truly consider the import of the book's lessons (even metaphorically). And do try to apply them to your life--they are worthwhile, and, I think, can drastically improve the world.