4 stars for The Broken Road (Broken Road book 1) by Richard Paul Evans.
I'm not sure if this book count as a Christmas story. It certainly does not seem like one to me, but one thing I am sure of, is that, it is a story of redemption.
The Broken Road is a story within a story, narrated by an author to another author. The protagonist in the book, Charles James, is loosely based on the life of a real person. On the surface, this is a story about a man who walks away from a successful career and fortune. On a deeper level, it is about a man's search for redemption and second chance.
I learn quite a few things from this book. First is the infamous route 66; it runs through eight states - Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Second is the writing preference of the author himself which is that he prefers writing stories in first-person account. Last of all, I learn something interesting about the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. In fact, my interest is so piqued that I actually look up the story of Abraham Lincoln dreaming of his own death as written in the book. It turns out that President Lincoln really did predict his own death. It is a true story.
Finally, I want to say that for the first time ever, reading author Evans' book gives me goosebumps. I remember reading and reading and totally unprepared for what is about to happen. Then, I come to that part of the story and all of a sudden, I feel my hair standing on end.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition
Publication date: 1 May 2018
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
There's a big difference between us. I write nonfiction, you write Fiction. I write truths that tell lies. You write lies that tell truths.
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
Change is always coming. Nothing is more unchanging than change, just as nothing is more certain than uncertainty.
*** Favourite Quote 3 ***
Sometimes in making our way through life we get ourselves so lost and tangled in the thicket of self-interest that we forget that our self-interest is much more than a flashy car and a fat wallet.
*** Favourite Quote 4 ***
The past doesn't leave us, but we can leave it.
What we're really talking about isn't being free from the past, it's being free from the future. It's not the past that enslaves us, it's the future it's connected to.
*** Favourite Quote 5 ***
The measure of mental health isn't happiness or sadness, it's appropriateness. If you're happy when something tragic happens, that's not healthy. And vice versa.
*** Favourite Quote 6 ***
Lack of passion sometimes occurs when our stated goals are incongruent with our inner desires. So the question is, do you believe in what you're doing?
*** Favourite Quote 7 ***
It is that to which we cling that drags us to the bottom of the abyss. There is real power in having nothing to lose.
~ The Broken Road
Richard Paul Evans
@}--->>--->>-----
Chicago celebrity Charles James can’t shake the nightmare that wakes him each night. He sees himself walking down a long, broken highway lined in flames. Where is he going? Why is he walking? What is the wailing he hears around him?
By day, he wonders why he’s so haunted and unhappy when he has all he ever wanted—fame, fans, and fortune and the lavish lifestyle it affords him. Coming from a childhood of poverty and pain, this is what he’s dreamed of. But now, at the pinnacle of his career, he’s started to wonder if he’s wanted the wrong things. His wealth has come legally, but questionably, from the power of his personality, seducing people out of their hard-earned money. When he learns that one of his customers has committed suicide because of financial ruin, Charles is shaken. The cracks in his façade start to break down, spurring him to question everything: his choices, his relationships, his future, and the type of man he’s become.
Then a twist of fate changes everything. Charles is granted something very remarkable: a second chance. The question is: what will he do with it?
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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