Wortpresse

I spent some time in the last week-or-so sometimes reading, sometimes skimming through Richard Branson’s autobiography, “Losing my virginity“.

First of all, a literary critique of the book can be quite short. The writing style itself is quite good, and it manages to grip the reader’s attention page after page. Yet sadly, it is a never-ending (over 500 pages in the end) repetition of over-excitedly narrated adventures in hot-air balloons and speed-boats, dull assortment of investment numbers and stock prices, and finally very interesting insights into the life and psyche of a manic businessman. The latter keeps you reading on, the others keep you skimming.
Although this might not seem like an all-out embrace of the book, I found it to be a highly interesting read. Here are some quick thoughts as to why.

You can sense that Sir Richard Branson is one of a kind. He is an autodidact in entrepreneurship who started by publishing the magazine STUDENT in school at age 16 and learned how to stomp a highly sought-after publication with contributions by the Rolling Stones and John Lennon (among many others) from literally nothing. He knows he is talented, yet he speaks of himself and his way through life in humble and modest ways. I think we could all learn a thing or two here.

Branson’s book is a fresh take on things most of us know (at least a little) about, and it makes you want to get away from the traditions. Branson had started a magazine for students, then went on to music, which was a success. Branson is sad talking about the point when he was almost compelled to give away Virgin Records to Thorn EMI so that he could keep Virgin Atlantic Airways above troubled waters. After a long struggle, Branson has set up an empire – Virgin Group has everything a man would need in his day-to-day life – Virgin Cola, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mega stores, Virgin Brides, Virgin Vie, and the list goes on. Branson has not given up. Now he wants to fly people to space, too.

I would not like to tell you anything further as that would spoil the fun of reading it. I can see that “Losing My Virginity” might be an inspiration for some, and it is definitely a real story which has to be told by the man himself, a recollection of life and its highs and lows. The book does not have a moral, nor does it have any grandfatherly advice for the young ones. But it will leave many readers with a depth of awe, and a continuous pondering over all that Branson has experienced. This is highly enriching. One gets to know on reading this book that a single person can achieve a great many things, and all you need to do this is ideas, resilience and a will to learn. “Losing My Virginity” is a good autobiography because it has real life experiences narrated from a place of reflection, which is quite captivating and worthy a read.


If you want to know more about Sir Richard Branson, maybe start here...