Whenever someone asks me, “What’s your favorite book?” I have a difficult time answering. Not because I do not know what books I love but because my answer is never conventional. I love to read and I read a lot. But to many people the list of books I read might seem quite dry. I do read novels and classics but I do not get as much enjoyment out of them as I do out of business and investing related books. So today I am going to write about how The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is my favorite book.
If someone has read a lot of investing and business related book they soon come to find that original ideas are hard to come by. One can get the feeling that if you’ve read one you’ve read them all. And this is true with most books. Now I find that I have a really hard time finding a book that feels new and original. The Intelligent Investor is the classic text for value investing. It is the book off of which most authors today base their ideas. That is one of the reasons why I love it. When you read it you get the feeling that you are learning the thoughts of one of the greatest investing minds ever. You are able to go back to the beginning and find the source of a lot of world changing ideas.
A quote from the introduction of the text perfectly explains the second reason why it is my favorite book.
“In an area where much looks foolish within weeks or months after publication, Ben’s principles have remained sound- their value often enhanced and better understood in the wake of financial storms that demolished flimsier intellectual structures.”
I love this book because when I read it I am invigorated with the knowledge that what I am reading is a guide to more successful investing. That its principles are time tested and do work in a field where there is so much speculation and guesswork. I feel that the book empowers me and gives me the ability to perform as well as or better than the best investors in the world.
I think that you did a good job in explaining about the book and why you like the book. You gave good background information on it. Something that would say that you could do better is to just maybe explain a little more in detail in why that quote was important at that time in the book or how that statements changes the readers opinion.
ReplyDeleteI haven't ever read this book, but I can tell by what you wrote and your commentary, that it's a worth while book. I like the quote as well. Not knowing much about the book myself, it can even apply to myself, where principles and values were held to even in storms and trial. Always good words to remember. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know the purpose of this assignment, but if it was to try to persuade people to read the book we chose to analyze, this failed. Granted, you'd probably have to give me a lot of money to get me to read a book with that title (how's that for "intelligent investing"? ha!). Some of the things you said like "dry", "classic text" (I associated that with "textbook"), and "when you've read one you've read them all" really turned me off to the idea of this book.
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