Book Blog #307: The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

 

Title: The Richest Man in Babylon

Author: George S. Clason

# of Pages: 194 (paperback)

Genre: Philosophical, Finance, Self-help 

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Countless readers have been helped by the famous “Babylonian parables,” hailed as the greatest of all inspirational works on the subject of thrift, financial planning, and personal wealth. In language as simple as that found in the Bible, these fascinating and informative stories set you on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. Acclaimed as a modern-day classic, this celebrated bestseller offers an understanding of—and a solution to—your personal financial problems that will guide you through a lifetime. This is the book that holds the secrets to keeping your money—and making more.

Review: I'm on a roll with these 3 star reviews. 

Definitely a huge contrast from Severance; this is very capitalist. While Ling Ma would tell you to NOT work until the end of the world, Clason's parables encourage people to have grit and determination, be hard working, and increase your wealth through smart investments. My favorite quote: “In my youth I looked about me and saw all the good things there were to bring happiness and contentment. And I realized that wealth increased the potency of all these. Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible” (p.13). 

This book was okay. Short but not sweet - The Richest Man in Babylon was about 3 times too long. Like a long winded email, the main points could have been easily summarized in a bulleted list (you can find such a list on the Wikipedia page for this book). The parables provide basic financial advice that seem intuitive once you read them, covering the main tenants/rules in broad strokes and thus making it a pretty simplistic read despite the old fashioned language. 

My takeaways were: as long as you are determined to be wealthy, you can be. Once you are determined, seize opportunities because luck comes most to those who do not hesitate. Then, when you have some sort of income no matter how small, save (and keep safe) at least a tenth of it and invest it WISELY (huge emphasis on not making a dumb investment - this point was repeated multiple times throughout the book). Finally, you are rich. 

Congrats! If you read this review, you don't have to read the book. I just saved you a couple hours of reading. In all seriousness, it's not a bad book, but it's long winded; reading a summary would be sufficient.