Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

I was suspicious about this book in the extreme: the cover looks religious and the only recommendation on the front is from Oprah. However, its virtues had been sung by two disparate sources and I felt I should humour them.

The Power of Now tells us that the future and the past are an illusion (an old-hat concept to a self-help addict such as myself); apparently the only way for us to be happy is to live in the present and surrender to the now. This is the kind of new age stuff that my father, Dan Brown’s biggest fan, would consider a criminal waste of paper and ink. I did slightly struggle during the more intense passages but there is no doubt that I could see the book’s relevance to my own existence. I’m not someone who thinks about the past too much but I have spent many years of my life (sadly no exaggeration) creating expectations that are then dashed and fears that are then realised. The cloying spirituality will deter many but after I acclimatised, I found The Power of Now profoundly insightful and I’m happier for having finished it. If you’re open-minded enough, it’s required reading.