A Happy Birthday
Before I get into all the details about why I love this book so much, and how it changed my perspective so drastically, and why everyone should read it right now, I want to take a minute to say thank you to my grandma.
Thank you for introducing me to this book and for sharing my memories of listening to it as we cleaned the kitchen or folded laundry or did puzzles together. Listening to this book with you was the highlight of my March.
And today is your birthday, so Happy Birthday, grandma. Thank you for another year of memories and laughter and shopping and for teaching me to always look at life with joy.
Most of all, thank you for your time, which is something that can never be replaced or retrieved.
I love you so much.
And Now For The Review
I literally can not recommend this book enough, so go read it right now! Or better yet, listen to it, because the narrator is extremely talented. And it's free on Kindle, if you have Amazon Prime, and it's on Hoopla, and probably at your library! You have no excuses!
And, it's not one of those books that you read just because you have to, or just because it was assigned to you, or just because someone keeps pestering you to read it, it's actually quite fascinating and interesting.
By the time I was maybe. . . a chapter in. . . I was completely hooked.
First of all, the writing style is excellent, and if you've ever talked to me, you know that I am extremely picky about writing styles and I'll sometimes read the first page of a book, and just can't keep reading. The Noticer was not like that at all.
Andy Andrews writes in a way that is both simple and refreshing, while also being deeply intellectual and complex. . . if that makes sense. He is telling the story of one man and how his life affected a whole community, but he is also telling the stories of multiple different, unconnected other people. And he manages to do it very well.
Andrews is a storyteller, through and through, something I very much admire.
Second, all the different stories and lives in The Noticer weave together to create a mirage of events that are more than interesting, and at times, downright hilarious. I laughed out loud multiple times.
But it wasn't just funny, it was also deep and sometimes brought tears to my eyes. There aren't many books that can do both well, but The Noticer definitely does. And through it all, you never get bored, because there's always something surprising happening, or someone new to meet, or some new nugget of wisdom being offered.
Which leads me to my third and final point: The Noticer makes you think. It actually made me think a lot more than most books because at every turn, there's some new piece of wisdom or question that sets the gears in your mind turning, and it all ties back to the central point of the whole book. Perspective.
Everything in the book was linked to the question of perspective, and how having a little perspective can really change your perspective. It most definitely changed mine, and if you read it, I believe it will change yours.
The Power of Perspective
Perspective is something I have actually thought about a lot, even before I read The Noticer. The fantasy sci-fi series that I have dreamed up for years is titled The Broken Perspectives Trilogy, and focuses on how powerful one's perspective can be on their worldview and life.
Perspective can be defined in a myriad of ways, from a simple point of view, to a particular attitude towards or way of regarding a particular object, person, or thing. But I like I define it as, and what Jones in The Noticer would describe it as, is a way of looking at life, and the things around you. It’s choosing to look at things differently, or uniquely.
Everyone has their own unique perspective on life, and that perspective has the power to change how you think and in effect who you are. When your perspective changes, your entire life changes, to to say your perspective is powerful really is an understatement.
Your perspective controls your entire life, and having perspective can either make it, or break it for you and your future.
And Jones’ point throughout the whole book is that you have the power to change your perspective, so you have the power to change your life. You are the only one that can change and control your perspective and how much you choose to have perspective. So you are the only one that can change your life.
Surf and Turf
One of my favorite examples from the book is when Jones asks a young man what they are doing. And the young man answers from his perspective that they’re eating sardines and Vienna sausages. Not exactly the most appetizing, or what the young man wished he was eating.
And Jones is quick to point that out, in addition, showing the young man that there are hundreds of thousands of people in this world who do them, sardines and Vienna sausages are a feast. Jones then goes into a whole lesson on perspective, which I won’t spoil for you because I want you to read the book, and then ends with a statement that I will always remember.
“You ate sardines and Vienna sausages in the sand. I dined on surf and turf with an ocean view… it’s all about perspective.”
If we lived our lives like this, just adding a little dose of perspective into everything we did, how different would our lives be? How much more joy would we have? How many more things would we find to be thankful for?
Having this kind of perspective is not easy in any way, but it can be done, and I believe it could totally change our lives, if we let it, and if we let God use it.
This perspective of thankfulness and joy should be the perspective of every Christian, but oftentimes we can find ourselves complaining and downhearted, instead of thanking God for the very blessing of being alive and being able to walk in His presence.
So the next time you’re tempted to complain, take a minute to allow a little perspective into the situation. It’s not the fix-all, nor is it going to solve all your problems, but maybe you’re eating surf and turf with an ocean view, and you would never know unless you let God open your eyes with a little bit of perspective.
And please, I strongly urge you, go read The Noticer. Jones is far better at explaining perspective than I ever could be.