Just finished “Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman this morning and I was surprised what impact it had overall. I was skeptical because it has been made into a major movie. For some reason I feel like books that are turned into movies are cookie cutter because they are easily adaptable, the production took a quarter of a century, so boy was I wrong. I don’t even know why it took me half of the book to really get into it, but upon finishing I realize that is the whole point of the style of the writing it is almost like a spiritual manual but played out with characters that are interesting yet pretty normal. You kinda learn what the point of everything is as you continue on into the story. All at once it became a page turner as I had do discover what the main character was seeking just as much as he was.
First a little bit about the Author. Dan Millman is a world champion Gymnast and Sports trainer who studied at University of California in Berkeley. He later taught sports, fitness, and was a trainer at Oberlin. He has traveled the world and for many years he studied different forms of martial arts, meditation, yoga, and other training pertaining to personal betterment and well-being.
I always find books, who’s authors choose to use their own name for the main character, intresting. I always wonder how much of the themselves the author puts into the character. This is a partial fiction I believe. He writes largely of his time in Berkeley and says many of the instances of his life are included in the book. Although I think the main characters mentor, aptly named Socrates, is fictional. Regardless of fact or fiction this book contained a small amount of adventure, spirituality, intrigue, and almost a form of life manual. Dan Millman’s other books are range from story books about his characters, back stories, all the way too literal Self help and Enlightened living manuals. I will definitely check out some of these as they have peaked my interest already.
The story focuses on a smart, successful, attractive, athelete type dude named Dan who seems to be at the top of his game and for some reason just isn’t feeling content in his various life situations. By random chance he stops at a small gas station close to his college campus and befriends a mysterious and interesting clerk, Socrates, who becomes his Mentor so to speak. The story builds slowly as Socrates molds Dan into what he calls a “peaceful warrior”. I instantly loved this term. My name means Peace in Latin. I have always considered myself and any great characters who fight for the better good, “peaceful warriors”.
The story overall is filled with a type of mystery about who Socrates actually is or if he is just an embodiment of Dan himself at that particular time in his life. There good but balanced humor in this book. It doesn’t have to try hard as you can feel Dan’s frustrations at the absurdness of some of his mentors teachings. I found myself laughing aloud many times at the things Socrates would tell Dan during their various sessions together.
The story blended well with my life in a way as well I read it over several months and finished the last half of the book in two nights. It slowly built up and taught Dan what he needed to live a content life. By half way through the book the various lessons Socrates tells Dan become more serious and forthright and not so abstract and whimsical. I almost felt like I was learning a little bit about the characters experiences, as any good book should. The characters definitely are pretty good all said and done, I want to know more about Dan’s journey and more about how Socrates came to be the comedic guru that he is. I think those will be fine tales, with much to learn, besides being just worth a good read.
The way of the peaceful warrior is a guide to enlightenment, or so I have come to understand, and I would like to read more of this authors books because he delves much further into these concepts and even has manuals for helping one live the way of his peaceful warrior.
Anyways, if you like based on real life stories, personal growth and discovery, or just a thought provoking adventure I definitely recommend giving this book or any of Dan Millmans other books a read. This story encourages dreams, imagination, and meditation. The reading is easy and flows well. Easy language and not very long. Not necessarily a page turner but has a nice flow to it regardless, can be read in small parts or all at once to great effect.
Thanks for reading my book review. Much love!