Take the Risk

By: Ben Carson M.D., Gregg Lewis

Narrated by: Ben Carson M.D.

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

You can find our culture's obsession with avoiding risk everywhere, from multiple insurance policies to crash-tested vehicles. But is ducking risk the most productive way for us to live? Surgeon and author Dr. Ben Carson, who faces risk on a daily basis, offers an inspiring message on how accepting risk can lead us to a higher purpose.

©2007 Ben Carson (P)2007 Zondervan

Alright

I've never read a Ben Carson book before, but saw this book featured on C-SPAN's book TV. I thought I would give it a shot. I was a little disappointed. It was Ben Carson retelling many of his experiences, which are no doubt interesting, but it seemed a stretch to talk about them in light of risk. If you want to read about the author's experiences, this is a good book, but if you want a book talking about risk, look elsewere.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Ben Carson is a brilliant man, but....

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes and no. I would love to have given this book a 5 out of 5, but I, as well as a few friends of mine that read this book for a college psychology class, found that the first 10 chapters could have been of the book could have been done well without. Ben Carson spends FAR too much time in the mode of autobiography writing with near to no association with the concept of the the book "Take the risk". I constantly found myself asking, "why is this book called 'take the risk' again??" There were a couple other issues I had with it as well. That being said, after chapter 10, the book finally takes off and is actually really really good! I loved chapter 14 and I love what Ben has to say about faith and religion. Also, I find myself using the B/W A method fairly frequently.
So......is the book worth reading? I would say definitely YES....but...just start on chapter 11. Haha.

If you’ve listened to books by Ben Carson and Gregg Lewis before, how does this one compare?

I have listened to any others

Which character – as performed by Ben Carson – was your favorite?

Ben Carson himself of course

Did Take the Risk inspire you to do anything?

Absolutely. The B/W A method, it furthered my perspective on being outgoing as always being worth it and definitely inspired me in prosocial behaviors, and also there were religious and faith aspects that have given me new perspectives and further knowledge toward bettering my life and the lives of others.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

RICH WITH INSPIRATION - LOVED IT

Would you consider the audio edition of Take the Risk to be better than the print version?

DON'T KNOW

What was one of the most memorable moments of Take the Risk?

overcome being called dummy in class; learning from the lawyer twins that died

Would you listen to another book narrated by Ben Carson?

ABSOLUTELY!

What did you learn from Take the Risk that you would use in your daily life?

I ASK MYSELF HIS 4 QUESTIONS

Any additional comments?

THIS BOOK HAS HELPED GIVE ME CONFIDENCE TO RISK FOLLOWING PURPOSE GORY LIFE!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Listen to the Sample

I agree that Dr. Carson is not a professional voice actor or reader, but I enjoyed this audiobook in spite of that face. Maybe even because of it. The content of this book is mostly great (I think the author gets a little preachy at the end) but it's still good stuff.

It's also personal stuff. I think that's why the lack of a professional reader is okay. Dr. Carson is telling you about HIS life and HIS experiences in HIS words with HIS voice. Check out the sample provided by Audible and see what you think.

Overall, this is a good book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Why not use a professional narrator?

As an Audiobook this book fails, not due to the content (that is great) but due to the very poor narration by its author. It's very hard to stay with the narrator as it feels like a race to see who falls asleep first, the narrator or the listener. It's a real shame that a professional narrator wasn't used to bring the great content across.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Glad I came across this one

It was a bit wordy and lost my interest towards the end, but the meat & potatoes of this are valuable. It's nice to hear how someone in the medical field handles risk analysis.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonderful book about something scary

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes this book is a good way to get a realistic view of fear.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Take the Risk?

The danger of coffee compare to other risks.

Which scene was your favorite?

The list of funny laws to avoid danger.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The almost car accident.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

inspirador

Me gustó la metáfota de su vida profesional con la vida misma y su amor al prójimo!

Very smart and analytical info

Dr. Carson tells some very interesting and amazing stories. This book could be worth more than four stars. I definitely enjoyed it, am glad I purchased it.

Simple Principle that could be shared in less time

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I hate to say no, but I feel the title is bit misleading and the main principle while good could have been shared within an hour. I always prefer when the author reads his own books. So for me, that component I enjoyed. But I feel it took far too long to develop and he added his own agenda and opinions NOT related to the concept of risk. That was frankly not needed.

Has Take the Risk turned you off from other books in this genre?

It will make me a bit more cautious before committing to purchasing one. I'll read a more reviews and see if I can see the chapter titles first.

Which character – as performed by Ben Carson – was your favorite?

Author told his own life story.

Was Take the Risk worth the listening time?

To some extent, the main principle was simple and good but it could have been shared in an hour, the rest of the book was an auto-biography and finished with too much personal opinion about unrelated material. That was a turn off.