Sunday, October 27, 2013

Book Review: The Final Summit (@AndyAndrews)

The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity by Andy Andrews

This fiction book begins with all kinds of accolades including Zig Ziglar, Dave Ramsey, Sandi Patty, military people, sports people, Hollywood people, you name it.

The central character, David Ponder, is one that was new to me, since this was my first Andy Andrews books. But, I think it's a pretty safe bet that he's been a featured character in one or more previous Andrews works.

So this guy Ponder is what, in this world, is called a Traveler - someone who has had the opportunity to travel through time and meet other people. While the rest of the people are more notable, Ponder's pretty much an "everyman." Well, a really rich guy, but not famous like the rest of the Travelers.

He's near the end of his life, his wife has passed away and he's lonely in his penthouse apartment atop the building he built. He has a collection of scraps of paper from his visits with others and he's reading over them:

The buck stops here.
-- President Harry Truman

I will seek wisdom.
-- King Solomon

I am a person of action.
-- Colonel Joshua Chamberlain

I have a decided heart.
-- Christopher Columbus

Today I will choose to be happy.
-- Anne Frank

I will greet each day with a forgiving spirit.
-- President Abraham Lincoln

I will persist without exception.
-- Archangel Gabriel

when he's visited by the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel takes him to essentially a large conference room in heaven for a really long meeting. The objective is that he and a selected handful of his fellow travelers must figure out what humanity must do individually and collectively to restore itself to a path to success. (Otherwise, God starts over.)

He and Winston Churchill has a set number of chances to get the answer right. Each time there's a wrong answer, they can call down another person from the audience. Each new person comes with an idea and then the table discusses the idea, including Joan of Arc (restore hope), Abraham Lincoln (seek wisdom), Erick Ericson (show courage), King David (exhibit self-discipline) and George Washington Carver (buidlng discipline). Of course, none of those are it, but of course you know in the end they will come up with the answer.

It's an interesting and thought-provoking book.


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