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By: CHCH 449
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2024-12-26 19:17:30 |
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Most of us loved this book... easy to read, informative and inspirational. When it came to our discussion, however, a couple of members had done some more research regarding Ray Avery and, after a healthy debate, we weren't quite so sure about our initial scores. Still definitely worth reading but look beyond 2010 (date of publication)... |
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By: HAMIL 019
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2023-09-26 12:07:02 |
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Really enjoyed this book. Inspirational. |
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By: CHCH 447
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2023-09-14 13:21:41 |
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We all loved the book and thought it was an inspiring story - raised many issues. |
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By: PICT 006
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2019-07-23 20:18:34 |
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Most of us really enjoyed this amazing life story. Some members found some of the author's morals a bit lacking and didn't want to finish the book, but this in itself caused good discussion about our judgements & expectations of people. |
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By: HAMIL 054
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2018-12-19 14:06:33 |
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The discussion was very positive - we all thought it was a very inspiring life story in the face of early adversity, of a man wanting to change the world which he did very significantly. A couple of members felt it wasn't well-written and that at times he tended to be quite self-promoting - but we would highly recommend it. |
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By: FEILD 001
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2018-12-19 14:03:13 |
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The whole team unreservedly loved this book. We were amazed at what this GIFTED man had achieved, and wondered why he was not acknowledged earlier than 2011. What a hero! |
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By: WHANG 015
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2018-12-19 14:01:07 |
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An insight into the background of a unique individual, which the group found extremely interesting. Some debate about the merits of including the final chapter with its criticism of other aid agencies, but generally the group enjoyed the book as an easy to read account of the man, his vision and how he has achieved so much in his life. |
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By: SOUTH 001
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2018-12-19 13:58:00 |
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What an amazing read! We all loved this book; an amazing man who was able to rise from shocking beginnings to being a real humanitarian - one who really cared about the underdog, and understood how to use his skills to help people. |
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By: WELL 153
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2018-12-19 13:50:04 |
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Interesting personality and a very kiwi "do it yourself" attitude, but many in the group found it a little self aggrandising, and Ray Avery's larger than life personality a little grating. However, this may well have been a reaction to his very difficult upbringing and early years. He should be commended for making a mark. The language of the book shows he is a storyteller, who has had help to collate it into readable form, but we would recommend it for all book groups. |
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By: PALMN 031
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2018-12-19 13:41:11 |
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An interesting life and man. Incredible resilience and work ethic. Found some of the details of building/designing boring at times. Some very funny stories too, however. |
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By: WELL 206
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2018-12-19 13:35:19 |
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A really inspiring story about a man who has achieved amazing things despite his extremely difficult childhood. Everybody really enjoyed it! |
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By: RUSS 004
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2018-12-19 13:33:49 |
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Excellent book. Very inspiring. |
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By: WHANG 017
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2018-12-19 13:32:42 |
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Most loved this book; found it funny and endearing. Very easy to read and grabbed you from the beginning. |
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By: CHCH 171
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2018-12-17 15:02:25 |
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We were all pleased to learn more about this high-profile New Zealander - we admired his achievement from such a ghastly beginning but found the writing flawed in some respects. The book was effective in engendering stimulating exchange of ideas about social issues, comparing NZ/Britain and so on but we especially enjoyed learning about aid agencies, Eritrea and Nepal. |
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