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 Product Description
Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sense a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalucian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read. To be sure, it is inspirational and it contains hefty doses of local colour. It might even get you thinking about your own dreams and what you could do to follow them. But its story is a relatively weak one. And disappointingly, the philosophy offered to its readers is not all that distinguishable from so many others on the self-help shelf.
Charming Fable and Adventure, 28 Oct 2008
In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
A beautiful story, 26 Oct 2008
I was going to write a review and then saw that P. P. Kennedy had written pretty much what I was thinking. But as Magnus Magnussen used to say, I've started so I'll finish. Firstly, this is a novel, it won't change your life. But it is a beautiful simple story, written like a fable. The writing is beautiful, the central character goes to your heart and the story is moving. I would say, it's the best book I've ever read, I loved it so much I read about half a dozen other Coelho books. None of them come close to this one and other than Fifth Mountain and maybe Down By the River Piedra, I'm not a huge fan of his. But this is the book that made him the hugely successful writer that he is and just for this book he deserves all his success. If you read it thinking it's going to magically change your life then you maybe be disappointed. If you're too arrogant to be preached to then you may be disappointed. But if you read this with an open mind and open heart, you will surely enjoy this heart-warming tale. Within it is a lesson to everyone on following your dreams and how the important thing in life is the journey, not the destination.
Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish , 01 Oct 2008
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
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Veronika Decides to Die
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*Amazon: £2.32
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Product Description
"On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had--at last!--arrived": so begins Paulo Coelho's extraordinary new novel, Veronika Decides to Die. Renowned for the international success of The Alchemist, Coelho has secured his reputation as an outstanding storyteller and a key figure in world literature (his work has been translated into over 40 languages). Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, Veronika Decides to Die is a compelling story of a woman's struggle with and against life, told with Coelho's wit, subtlety and economy. On the track of whatever it is that makes life worth living, Coelho plots Veronika's fate with infinite care, weaving the mystery of her decision to take her own life into the themes of national identity--Veronika is a citizen of Slovenia, "that strange country that no one seemed quite able to place"--and madness. Veronika does not die; instead, she wakes up in Villette--the "famous and much-feared lunatic asylum"--only to be told that, having damaged her heart irreparably, she has just a few days to live. What she faces now is a waiting game and the strange world of Villette: the rules and regulations which govern the lives of its inmates and the doctors who treat them. Coelho's question may be a familiar one: crudely, who, or what, is mad? But his fiction is a remarkable, sometimes chilling, response to it. "Everyone has an unusual story to tell" is the starting-point of the new treatment initiated at Villette by the enigmatic Dr Igor; it's also the insight from which this book takes off to explore the impact of a "slow, irreparable death" on a young woman and the mad men and women around her. --Vicky Lebeau
Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read. To be sure, it is inspirational and it contains hefty doses of local colour. It might even get you thinking about your own dreams and what you could do to follow them. But its story is a relatively weak one. And disappointingly, the philosophy offered to its readers is not all that distinguishable from so many others on the self-help shelf.
Charming Fable and Adventure, 28 Oct 2008
In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
A beautiful story, 26 Oct 2008
I was going to write a review and then saw that P. P. Kennedy had written pretty much what I was thinking. But as Magnus Magnussen used to say, I've started so I'll finish. Firstly, this is a novel, it won't change your life. But it is a beautiful simple story, written like a fable. The writing is beautiful, the central character goes to your heart and the story is moving. I would say, it's the best book I've ever read, I loved it so much I read about half a dozen other Coelho books. None of them come close to this one and other than Fifth Mountain and maybe Down By the River Piedra, I'm not a huge fan of his. But this is the book that made him the hugely successful writer that he is and just for this book he deserves all his success. If you read it thinking it's going to magically change your life then you maybe be disappointed. If you're too arrogant to be preached to then you may be disappointed. But if you read this with an open mind and open heart, you will surely enjoy this heart-warming tale. Within it is a lesson to everyone on following your dreams and how the important thing in life is the journey, not the destination.
Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish , 01 Oct 2008
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
A poor novel on so many levels, 14 Oct 2008
Having run out of books on holiday, I started on other people's leftovers. One of them was Veronika Decides To Die - and in the normal run of things, I wouldn't have lifted it from the shelf. But this was an opportunity to try something a bit different.
And how different.
On the first page, up pops a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho. I kid you not, the pompous man has included himself as a character in his own novel. Basically, Veronika has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst waiting to die, she reads a magazine article about Paolo Coelho and some computer game he invented.
And then, in a later chapter, Coelho the character is found discussing his family and the need to write this novel - ostensibly following his own incarceration in a mental asylum. This is following a meeting with a different girl called Veronika whose father ran the mental asylum where the first Veronika was taken after the overdose. What a small world, you say.
Anyway, the asylum - in Slovenia - had apparently gained a fearsome reputation since it was founded (apparently in 1991, and the book was published in 1997 so it got a fearsome reputation quite quickly). Nobody had ever escaped - perhaps the asylum hadn't been open long enough... And its patients were either kept in lockdown or could wander in and out freely, depending on which chapter you are reading. And also, it seems that there are four other asylums that are state run and don't charge fees - whereas this one does charge fees so it also operates as a hotel for people who like staying there. It's not obvious how Veronika ended up in the fee paying asylum following her overdose when there doesn't seem to be anyone to pay her bills.
Anyway, it seems that Veronika damaged her heart when she popped her pills, so she will die as her heart weakens further - some time in the next week to ten days. Indeed, she even has heart attacks. Fortunately these are of the variety that she can recover from instantly and get back to her daily life straight away. And fortunately she seems not to suffer from the chronic breathlessness of other heart failure patients. This affords her the opportunity to fall in love with a schizophrenic - a chap who expresses himself by standing mutely whilst Veronika plays the piano or performs sexual acts on herself.
Dr Igor, the Director, meanwhile sets about his nefarious plans - principally around discovering a whole new way of looking at mental illness and treating it using happiness. We see quite a lot of Dr Igor in the first half of the novel, which makes it something of a surprise to be introduced to him much later as (and I paraphrase): the Director of the Institution, a man with brown hair who goes by the name of Dr Igor.
And beyond the silly continuity errors and gaping holes in the plot, we find a complete lack of character development or empathy. We just find fact after fact; deed after deed; cod-philosophizing after cod-philosophizing. If we need Veronika to feel that today was the best day of her life, Coelho will just tell us that it was. There is no attempt made to convey that feeling or to describe it - it is simply announced.
This really is a poor novel on so many levels. It is shallow, implausible, inconsistent, haphazard and pretentious. Please avoid.
best Paulo Coelho book I've read so far, 26 Aug 2008
I have read a few Paulo Coelho books. He is one of my favourite authors and this is definitely the best book I have read so far.
It is quite depressing at times, but really gets you thinking about life and its meaning, so if you're into deep meaningful stuff, this is a good book to read.
Bitesize philosophy, 28 Jul 2008
That is a little crude, but it was the first title that popped into my head. This is a captivating, beautifully written (albeit short) story of a young woman who decides to commit suicide. However she doesn't die straight away, but wakes up in a mental institution and is told that she has irreparably damaged her heart and has less than a week to live. She then spends the next 5 days on a personal journey, learning to appreciate life, and cherish even the mundane moments. She can fulfil fantasies as she has no fear of rebuke. One prevalent theme in the novel is that we repress our feelings for fear of what others may think, when we should just have the courage to live.
There are many other complex issues touched on in this novel. Those surrounding mental illness, philosophy, love...I could write a thesis! But I won't. I will just say that this book comes highly recommended. I defy anyone who says that they can't identify with aspects of the characters, their thoughts and fears; and who isn't a little bit moved. This book will keep you thinking long after turning the last page.
Will tomorrow always be there?, 26 Jun 2008
A complicated story of a girl, who decides to die. It is far from corny, and is in reality much more insightful. I personally picked it up and dropped it about 10 times before finally managing to start it. My grandmother's recent passing made me think it would not be a pleasant read. Turns out it was, even in that context.
I loved it because it made me pause, and think, and realise, that I should not take tomorrow for granted. And neither should you. It's one of those books that you read once and they change you. Their lessons can never be forgotten.
Highly recommended reading.
An interesting tale, 16 May 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is the sort of book that makes you think about the subject matter. It's about a young girl who is bored with her life and unable to bear living a moment longer in the monotony of her existence so she decides to kill herself. She then wakes up to find she has been taken to a mental hospital and is told that she only has a few days to live as the pills she has taken have irreversibly damaged her heart. During the few days she spends in the mental hospital knowing she will soon die, she begins to think about why she wanted to die and she discovers her true purpose in life. The story does not only follow Veronika's life story but also the interesting stories behind why some of the other patients in the mental hospital are there. It questions the definition of madness. The message in the book seems to be that most people don't find their true purpose in life because most people just lives their lives in the way they are expected to or in the way other people want them to.
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The Witch of Portobello
Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
*Best price found from Amazon Marketplace seller
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*Amazon: £1.96
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Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read. To be sure, it is inspirational and it contains hefty doses of local colour. It might even get you thinking about your own dreams and what you could do to follow them. But its story is a relatively weak one. And disappointingly, the philosophy offered to its readers is not all that distinguishable from so many others on the self-help shelf.
Charming Fable and Adventure, 28 Oct 2008
In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
A beautiful story, 26 Oct 2008
I was going to write a review and then saw that P. P. Kennedy had written pretty much what I was thinking. But as Magnus Magnussen used to say, I've started so I'll finish. Firstly, this is a novel, it won't change your life. But it is a beautiful simple story, written like a fable. The writing is beautiful, the central character goes to your heart and the story is moving. I would say, it's the best book I've ever read, I loved it so much I read about half a dozen other Coelho books. None of them come close to this one and other than Fifth Mountain and maybe Down By the River Piedra, I'm not a huge fan of his. But this is the book that made him the hugely successful writer that he is and just for this book he deserves all his success. If you read it thinking it's going to magically change your life then you maybe be disappointed. If you're too arrogant to be preached to then you may be disappointed. But if you read this with an open mind and open heart, you will surely enjoy this heart-warming tale. Within it is a lesson to everyone on following your dreams and how the important thing in life is the journey, not the destination.
Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish , 01 Oct 2008
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
A poor novel on so many levels, 14 Oct 2008
Having run out of books on holiday, I started on other people's leftovers. One of them was Veronika Decides To Die - and in the normal run of things, I wouldn't have lifted it from the shelf. But this was an opportunity to try something a bit different.
And how different.
On the first page, up pops a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho. I kid you not, the pompous man has included himself as a character in his own novel. Basically, Veronika has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst waiting to die, she reads a magazine article about Paolo Coelho and some computer game he invented.
And then, in a later chapter, Coelho the character is found discussing his family and the need to write this novel - ostensibly following his own incarceration in a mental asylum. This is following a meeting with a different girl called Veronika whose father ran the mental asylum where the first Veronika was taken after the overdose. What a small world, you say.
Anyway, the asylum - in Slovenia - had apparently gained a fearsome reputation since it was founded (apparently in 1991, and the book was published in 1997 so it got a fearsome reputation quite quickly). Nobody had ever escaped - perhaps the asylum hadn't been open long enough... And its patients were either kept in lockdown or could wander in and out freely, depending on which chapter you are reading. And also, it seems that there are four other asylums that are state run and don't charge fees - whereas this one does charge fees so it also operates as a hotel for people who like staying there. It's not obvious how Veronika ended up in the fee paying asylum following her overdose when there doesn't seem to be anyone to pay her bills.
Anyway, it seems that Veronika damaged her heart when she popped her pills, so she will die as her heart weakens further - some time in the next week to ten days. Indeed, she even has heart attacks. Fortunately these are of the variety that she can recover from instantly and get back to her daily life straight away. And fortunately she seems not to suffer from the chronic breathlessness of other heart failure patients. This affords her the opportunity to fall in love with a schizophrenic - a chap who expresses himself by standing mutely whilst Veronika plays the piano or performs sexual acts on herself.
Dr Igor, the Director, meanwhile sets about his nefarious plans - principally around discovering a whole new way of looking at mental illness and treating it using happiness. We see quite a lot of Dr Igor in the first half of the novel, which makes it something of a surprise to be introduced to him much later as (and I paraphrase): the Director of the Institution, a man with brown hair who goes by the name of Dr Igor.
And beyond the silly continuity errors and gaping holes in the plot, we find a complete lack of character development or empathy. We just find fact after fact; deed after deed; cod-philosophizing after cod-philosophizing. If we need Veronika to feel that today was the best day of her life, Coelho will just tell us that it was. There is no attempt made to convey that feeling or to describe it - it is simply announced.
This really is a poor novel on so many levels. It is shallow, implausible, inconsistent, haphazard and pretentious. Please avoid.
best Paulo Coelho book I've read so far, 26 Aug 2008
I have read a few Paulo Coelho books. He is one of my favourite authors and this is definitely the best book I have read so far.
It is quite depressing at times, but really gets you thinking about life and its meaning, so if you're into deep meaningful stuff, this is a good book to read.
Bitesize philosophy, 28 Jul 2008
That is a little crude, but it was the first title that popped into my head. This is a captivating, beautifully written (albeit short) story of a young woman who decides to commit suicide. However she doesn't die straight away, but wakes up in a mental institution and is told that she has irreparably damaged her heart and has less than a week to live. She then spends the next 5 days on a personal journey, learning to appreciate life, and cherish even the mundane moments. She can fulfil fantasies as she has no fear of rebuke. One prevalent theme in the novel is that we repress our feelings for fear of what others may think, when we should just have the courage to live.
There are many other complex issues touched on in this novel. Those surrounding mental illness, philosophy, love...I could write a thesis! But I won't. I will just say that this book comes highly recommended. I defy anyone who says that they can't identify with aspects of the characters, their thoughts and fears; and who isn't a little bit moved. This book will keep you thinking long after turning the last page.
Will tomorrow always be there?, 26 Jun 2008
A complicated story of a girl, who decides to die. It is far from corny, and is in reality much more insightful. I personally picked it up and dropped it about 10 times before finally managing to start it. My grandmother's recent passing made me think it would not be a pleasant read. Turns out it was, even in that context.
I loved it because it made me pause, and think, and realise, that I should not take tomorrow for granted. And neither should you. It's one of those books that you read once and they change you. Their lessons can never be forgotten.
Highly recommended reading.
An interesting tale, 16 May 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is the sort of book that makes you think about the subject matter. It's about a young girl who is bored with her life and unable to bear living a moment longer in the monotony of her existence so she decides to kill herself. She then wakes up to find she has been taken to a mental hospital and is told that she only has a few days to live as the pills she has taken have irreversibly damaged her heart. During the few days she spends in the mental hospital knowing she will soon die, she begins to think about why she wanted to die and she discovers her true purpose in life. The story does not only follow Veronika's life story but also the interesting stories behind why some of the other patients in the mental hospital are there. It questions the definition of madness. The message in the book seems to be that most people don't find their true purpose in life because most people just lives their lives in the way they are expected to or in the way other people want them to.
Poorly written, load of mumbo-jumbo, 26 Nov 2008
As someone who has enjoyed Coehlo's other works, I had high hopes for this book. I read half-way through however, and by this point I was still waiting for the book to 'start'. It tells a story from different perspectives, a cliched tactic, but there was one problem: There was no story. There is a vague mumbo-jumbo tale of Sherine Khalil, but it seems to make little sense, and is of no excitement and importance.
It makes a cliched attack on religion, and shows a staggering level of ignorance about religion in the UK. For example, in the book a woman who names herself 'Athena' is 'persecuted' by the church in England (This is set in the 1990s) yet in reality any New Age dancing and chanting in this country is highly unlikely to receive anything beyond a raised eyebrow. You would certainly not have the power to have the police or the church close somewhere down.
The book was one of the worst I have ever read, and I feel Coehlo is now surely not writing for the love of it, but perhaps to pump out further income for his book empire. A massive disappointment for someone who has enjoyed so many of his books.
Go Paolo Go!!, 01 Jun 2008
Every time there is a new book from Paolo I don't want to buy it because I don't believe that he can write another amazing book. But I am always wrong :)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Too esoteric for my taste, 16 Mar 2008
This was a book group choice and not a book I would otherwise have read. It did make for some interesting discussion, but the other readers felt, as I did, that it wasn't a particularly enjoyable read.
The beginning of the book, as we meet the friends and relatives of Athena, is slow and disjointed. The remainder of the first half was a bit too esoteric and pseudo-spiritual. The book picked up in the second half but plummeted to a very unsatisfactory end.
Athena, the daughter of Romanian gypsies, is adopted from an orphanage and taken to live in Beirut and then England. As a teenager she starts to look for other meanings in life and continues this search into her University life and then into her job in a bank. She makes quite an impact at the bank, and moves with them to work in Dubai. From there, she branches into real estate sales - a profession that seems rather contradictory to her beliefs in life. When she has made enough for herself and her son to live without working for 3 yrs, she returns to London. Here she starts to become more involved in her search for 'Mother Earth'. She visits Romania to find her birth mother and from there things escalate to the final denouement.
This is a book for people with an interest in spiritual matters - dancing yourself into a trance and talking to the spirits. I would not recommend it myself. I will probably read 'The Alchemist' at some point and possibly 'Nineteen Minutes', but I shan't be searching out any other Paulo Coelho books.
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Eleven Minutes
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Product Description
Paulo Coelho's astonishingly beautiful writing in Eleven Minutes virtually guarantees it the cult status that The Alchemist already enjoys. But what is the Paulo Coelho phenomenon? How can an author who (only a short time ago) was virtually unknown to most readers have taken the world of books by storm--and without the benefit of glitzy advertising? The answer is simple: quality. Such books as The Fifth Mountain and The Devil and Miss Prym are enough to explain a considerable following for the author, with their atmospheric prose and involving characters. Eleven Minutes tells the story of young Maria living an innocent life in a Brazilian village and is played out in a measured fashion, but with all the author's brilliant scene-setting (very lush here) fully in place. But then Maria experiences love and suffers great pain. From this point, Coelho has us inexorably in his grip. Maria's disillusionment with love leads her to Geneva where she finally ends up selling her body (Coelho may offer us the beauty of life, but never at the expense of its harshness). Maria's approach to sex is complex--this is no mere revulsion arising from what she is now doing with her life. And then she meets a seductive young painter, who may or may not offer her a new path in life. But does she prefer to continue on the dark sexual odyssey she has embarked on, at the expense of real love? There are echoes of DH Lawrence in Coelho's exploration of the sacred and spiritual aspects of sex and it's a brave author who tackles a subject that can so easily slip into strained seriousness. That never happens here, and Maria's journey is one that the reader willingly undertakes; the lesson she learns are lessons for the reader. --Barry Forshaw
Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read. To be sure, it is inspirational and it contains hefty doses of local colour. It might even get you thinking about your own dreams and what you could do to follow them. But its story is a relatively weak one. And disappointingly, the philosophy offered to its readers is not all that distinguishable from so many others on the self-help shelf.
Charming Fable and Adventure, 28 Oct 2008
In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
A beautiful story, 26 Oct 2008
I was going to write a review and then saw that P. P. Kennedy had written pretty much what I was thinking. But as Magnus Magnussen used to say, I've started so I'll finish. Firstly, this is a novel, it won't change your life. But it is a beautiful simple story, written like a fable. The writing is beautiful, the central character goes to your heart and the story is moving. I would say, it's the best book I've ever read, I loved it so much I read about half a dozen other Coelho books. None of them come close to this one and other than Fifth Mountain and maybe Down By the River Piedra, I'm not a huge fan of his. But this is the book that made him the hugely successful writer that he is and just for this book he deserves all his success. If you read it thinking it's going to magically change your life then you maybe be disappointed. If you're too arrogant to be preached to then you may be disappointed. But if you read this with an open mind and open heart, you will surely enjoy this heart-warming tale. Within it is a lesson to everyone on following your dreams and how the important thing in life is the journey, not the destination.
Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish , 01 Oct 2008
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
A poor novel on so many levels, 14 Oct 2008
Having run out of books on holiday, I started on other people's leftovers. One of them was Veronika Decides To Die - and in the normal run of things, I wouldn't have lifted it from the shelf. But this was an opportunity to try something a bit different.
And how different.
On the first page, up pops a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho. I kid you not, the pompous man has included himself as a character in his own novel. Basically, Veronika has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst waiting to die, she reads a magazine article about Paolo Coelho and some computer game he invented.
And then, in a later chapter, Coelho the character is found discussing his family and the need to write this novel - ostensibly following his own incarceration in a mental asylum. This is following a meeting with a different girl called Veronika whose father ran the mental asylum where the first Veronika was taken after the overdose. What a small world, you say.
Anyway, the asylum - in Slovenia - had apparently gained a fearsome reputation since it was founded (apparently in 1991, and the book was published in 1997 so it got a fearsome reputation quite quickly). Nobody had ever escaped - perhaps the asylum hadn't been open long enough... And its patients were either kept in lockdown or could wander in and out freely, depending on which chapter you are reading. And also, it seems that there are four other asylums that are state run and don't charge fees - whereas this one does charge fees so it also operates as a hotel for people who like staying there. It's not obvious how Veronika ended up in the fee paying asylum following her overdose when there doesn't seem to be anyone to pay her bills.
Anyway, it seems that Veronika damaged her heart when she popped her pills, so she will die as her heart weakens further - some time in the next week to ten days. Indeed, she even has heart attacks. Fortunately these are of the variety that she can recover from instantly and get back to her daily life straight away. And fortunately she seems not to suffer from the chronic breathlessness of other heart failure patients. This affords her the opportunity to fall in love with a schizophrenic - a chap who expresses himself by standing mutely whilst Veronika plays the piano or performs sexual acts on herself.
Dr Igor, the Director, meanwhile sets about his nefarious plans - principally around discovering a whole new way of looking at mental illness and treating it using happiness. We see quite a lot of Dr Igor in the first half of the novel, which makes it something of a surprise to be introduced to him much later as (and I paraphrase): the Director of the Institution, a man with brown hair who goes by the name of Dr Igor.
And beyond the silly continuity errors and gaping holes in the plot, we find a complete lack of character development or empathy. We just find fact after fact; deed after deed; cod-philosophizing after cod-philosophizing. If we need Veronika to feel that today was the best day of her life, Coelho will just tell us that it was. There is no attempt made to convey that feeling or to describe it - it is simply announced.
This really is a poor novel on so many levels. It is shallow, implausible, inconsistent, haphazard and pretentious. Please avoid.
best Paulo Coelho book I've read so far, 26 Aug 2008
I have read a few Paulo Coelho books. He is one of my favourite authors and this is definitely the best book I have read so far.
It is quite depressing at times, but really gets you thinking about life and its meaning, so if you're into deep meaningful stuff, this is a good book to read.
Bitesize philosophy, 28 Jul 2008
That is a little crude, but it was the first title that popped into my head. This is a captivating, beautifully written (albeit short) story of a young woman who decides to commit suicide. However she doesn't die straight away, but wakes up in a mental institution and is told that she has irreparably damaged her heart and has less than a week to live. She then spends the next 5 days on a personal journey, learning to appreciate life, and cherish even the mundane moments. She can fulfil fantasies as she has no fear of rebuke. One prevalent theme in the novel is that we repress our feelings for fear of what others may think, when we should just have the courage to live.
There are many other complex issues touched on in this novel. Those surrounding mental illness, philosophy, love...I could write a thesis! But I won't. I will just say that this book comes highly recommended. I defy anyone who says that they can't identify with aspects of the characters, their thoughts and fears; and who isn't a little bit moved. This book will keep you thinking long after turning the last page.
Will tomorrow always be there?, 26 Jun 2008
A complicated story of a girl, who decides to die. It is far from corny, and is in reality much more insightful. I personally picked it up and dropped it about 10 times before finally managing to start it. My grandmother's recent passing made me think it would not be a pleasant read. Turns out it was, even in that context.
I loved it because it made me pause, and think, and realise, that I should not take tomorrow for granted. And neither should you. It's one of those books that you read once and they change you. Their lessons can never be forgotten.
Highly recommended reading.
An interesting tale, 16 May 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is the sort of book that makes you think about the subject matter. It's about a young girl who is bored with her life and unable to bear living a moment longer in the monotony of her existence so she decides to kill herself. She then wakes up to find she has been taken to a mental hospital and is told that she only has a few days to live as the pills she has taken have irreversibly damaged her heart. During the few days she spends in the mental hospital knowing she will soon die, she begins to think about why she wanted to die and she discovers her true purpose in life. The story does not only follow Veronika's life story but also the interesting stories behind why some of the other patients in the mental hospital are there. It questions the definition of madness. The message in the book seems to be that most people don't find their true purpose in life because most people just lives their lives in the way they are expected to or in the way other people want them to.
Poorly written, load of mumbo-jumbo, 26 Nov 2008
As someone who has enjoyed Coehlo's other works, I had high hopes for this book. I read half-way through however, and by this point I was still waiting for the book to 'start'. It tells a story from different perspectives, a cliched tactic, but there was one problem: There was no story. There is a vague mumbo-jumbo tale of Sherine Khalil, but it seems to make little sense, and is of no excitement and importance.
It makes a cliched attack on religion, and shows a staggering level of ignorance about religion in the UK. For example, in the book a woman who names herself 'Athena' is 'persecuted' by the church in England (This is set in the 1990s) yet in reality any New Age dancing and chanting in this country is highly unlikely to receive anything beyond a raised eyebrow. You would certainly not have the power to have the police or the church close somewhere down.
The book was one of the worst I have ever read, and I feel Coehlo is now surely not writing for the love of it, but perhaps to pump out further income for his book empire. A massive disappointment for someone who has enjoyed so many of his books.
Go Paolo Go!!, 01 Jun 2008
Every time there is a new book from Paolo I don't want to buy it because I don't believe that he can write another amazing book. But I am always wrong :)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Too esoteric for my taste, 16 Mar 2008
This was a book group choice and not a book I would otherwise have read. It did make for some interesting discussion, but the other readers felt, as I did, that it wasn't a particularly enjoyable read.
The beginning of the book, as we meet the friends and relatives of Athena, is slow and disjointed. The remainder of the first half was a bit too esoteric and pseudo-spiritual. The book picked up in the second half but plummeted to a very unsatisfactory end.
Athena, the daughter of Romanian gypsies, is adopted from an orphanage and taken to live in Beirut and then England. As a teenager she starts to look for other meanings in life and continues this search into her University life and then into her job in a bank. She makes quite an impact at the bank, and moves with them to work in Dubai. From there, she branches into real estate sales - a profession that seems rather contradictory to her beliefs in life. When she has made enough for herself and her son to live without working for 3 yrs, she returns to London. Here she starts to become more involved in her search for 'Mother Earth'. She visits Romania to find her birth mother and from there things escalate to the final denouement.
This is a book for people with an interest in spiritual matters - dancing yourself into a trance and talking to the spirits. I would not recommend it myself. I will probably read 'The Alchemist' at some point and possibly 'Nineteen Minutes', but I shan't be searching out any other Paulo Coelho books.
Quite honestly a terrible book, 01 Oct 2008
This must be a contender for the worst book I've ever read. I read 'The Alchemist' by the same author largely because it appeared in the 'BBC 100 favourite reads' poll and was described as 'life changing'. I didn't like it, but thought this may just be due to the fact that the story is a cross between a parable and a self-help book, and decided to give Coelho another go. I shouldn't have bothered!
The story here is of a naive young Brazilian girl wanting to make some money by travelling to Switzerland ostensibly as a dancer, but soon becomes involved in prostitution. It's full of unbelievable scenarios and characters, some of which are frankly risible, mixed with a generous dose of half-baked adolescent philosophy. The heroine moves from an abortive S&M encounter to embracing it with full gusto in the blink of an eye after a brief walk along Lake Geneva, before finding her true love. The ridiculously cheesey ending had me reaching for a brown paper bag.
The writing style is very simple (translated from Portugese), and makes it easy to read, although lacking in depth. Thankfully it's short.
I'm amazed anyone could give this 5 stars!
Oh, .....did I mention I didn't like it??
Vying for top spot for my number 1 book!, 30 Sep 2008
This is the first of Coelho's books I've read - and it has quite simply left a profound impression on me. Very thought provoking and grabbed me from the first words, then dragged me through the rest as I couldn't keep up with the words. I guess some books speak only to you at the right point you pick it up - and this was one of those moments for me. Bought almost a year ago it's just been sitting on my shelf. And when I picked it up to start reading, I had no idea what the book was about or what Eleven Minutes meant.
One of the negative comments in an earlier review said you'll only enjoy this book if the Celestine Prophecy was your thing. Now much as I know the Celestine Prophecy has it's own cult following (of higher being spiritual schmaltz and all that), that book meant nothing to me and absolutely cannot be compared to Eleven Minutes at all.
I know that I will return to read this book several times and has now become a treasured possession.
Worth reading , 11 Mar 2008
This is my second reading for Paulo Coelho, Such amazing wonderful reading that I was enjoying each minute of it. I liked this as much as I liked The Alchemist.
The concept of the story ( despite the job of the main character as a hooker ) it gives alot of moral and themes for personal life.
This man has a lovely style of writing that capture you with him till the end, especially with this novel from a woman side
Overall, it is a worth reading for those who would like to understand the male and female for different sides.
Another 'follow your dreams' novel, 02 Mar 2008
Having sworn never again to read any more Paulo Coelho, my book group chose Eleven Minutes as this months read. This is now my 4th book by the author and I am no more a fan than after the first. I find his patronising style simplistic and child-like and he repeats 'key' statements ad nauseum throughout his books. While they are often quick reads - this one took less than 24hrs - I still end up wondering why I bothered.
Maria, a naive young Brazilian girl, decides to take a week's vacation in Rio de Janiero. There she meets a talent scout on the look out for dancers to perform in Geneva. Maria decides to take a chance but finds that things are not quite as she'd been led to believe. When she gets sacked for missing a day's work, things start to go down hill rapidly. She is almost broke when a man offers her a huge sum to sleep with him and from this it's not such a large step to becoming a high class prostitute, serving several men each night. Money is plentiful and Maria enjoys her status - will she continue with this life or return home with money and buy a farm??
In true Paulo Coelho style there is plenty of moralising about the subject, following on from the theme of following your dream in 'The Alchemist'
The character of Maria is apparently based on the life story of a prostitute that PC met while in Switzerland, but I still found her sudden expertise on sexual problems rather unbelievable.
I also thought the novel was rather sexually explicit for a book that I might find myself reading on the bus or other public place. Personally I feel that there is a fine line decreeing what is acceptable in a book for general consumption and this crossed it.
Wonderful!, 29 Dec 2007
Having loved Veronika decides to Die I had bought Eleven minutes and The Alchemist but unfortunately had never got around to reading them, until yesterday when recovering from a nasty flu&feeling slightly bored I decided to read Eleven minutes. That was it the minutes flew and before I knew it it was six thirty the next morning and I'd finished it. I could not put it down, another amazing book from an amazing writer. I love the fact that Coehlo can address the most nitty gritty of subjects with a tangible realism. Although his subject was sex it never felt like he was going too far he seemed to strike a perfect chord, even when re-telling the most degrading of Maria's sexual journeys. The honesty in which this book is written is beautiful you can truly relate to his character and understand that all she is searching for is love, yet a full love that revolves around an everday life. A closeness with someone that holds much more than just sex!. She takes us on a journey of honesty and we love her for that. She learns the true meaning of love in all its forms and makes us all think alittle about the difference between sex and making love. It is a gripping story with so many hidden meanings and as ever Paulo makes us question our own existence and indeed our own sexuality. Another inspirational piece of reading from the great Paulo Coelho. The Alchamest here I come!
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Brida
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Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read. To be sure, it is inspirational and it contains hefty doses of local colour. It might even get you thinking about your own dreams and what you could do to follow them. But its story is a relatively weak one. And disappointingly, the philosophy offered to its readers is not all that distinguishable from so many others on the self-help shelf.
Charming Fable and Adventure, 28 Oct 2008
In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
A beautiful story, 26 Oct 2008
I was going to write a review and then saw that P. P. Kennedy had written pretty much what I was thinking. But as Magnus Magnussen used to say, I've started so I'll finish. Firstly, this is a novel, it won't change your life. But it is a beautiful simple story, written like a fable. The writing is beautiful, the central character goes to your heart and the story is moving. I would say, it's the best book I've ever read, I loved it so much I read about half a dozen other Coelho books. None of them come close to this one and other than Fifth Mountain and maybe Down By the River Piedra, I'm not a huge fan of his. But this is the book that made him the hugely successful writer that he is and just for this book he deserves all his success. If you read it thinking it's going to magically change your life then you maybe be disappointed. If you're too arrogant to be preached to then you may be disappointed. But if you read this with an open mind and open heart, you will surely enjoy this heart-warming tale. Within it is a lesson to everyone on following your dreams and how the important thing in life is the journey, not the destination.
Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish , 01 Oct 2008
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
A poor novel on so many levels, 14 Oct 2008
Having run out of books on holiday, I started on other people's leftovers. One of them was Veronika Decides To Die - and in the normal run of things, I wouldn't have lifted it from the shelf. But this was an opportunity to try something a bit different.
And how different.
On the first page, up pops a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho. I kid you not, the pompous man has included himself as a character in his own novel. Basically, Veronika has taken an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst waiting to die, she reads a magazine article about Paolo Coelho and some computer game he invented.
And then, in a later chapter, Coelho the character is found discussing his family and the need to write this novel - ostensibly following his own incarceration in a mental asylum. This is following a meeting with a different girl called Veronika whose father ran the mental asylum where the first Veronika was taken after the overdose. What a small world, you say.
Anyway, the asylum - in Slovenia - had apparently gained a fearsome reputation since it was founded (apparently in 1991, and the book was published in 1997 so it got a fearsome reputation quite quickly). Nobody had ever escaped - perhaps the asylum hadn't been open long enough... And its patients were either kept in lockdown or could wander in and out freely, depending on which chapter you are reading. And also, it seems that there are four other asylums that are state run and don't charge fees - whereas this one does charge fees so it also operates as a hotel for people who like staying there. It's not obvious how Veronika ended up in the fee paying asylum following her overdose when there doesn't seem to be anyone to pay her bills.
Anyway, it seems that Veronika damaged her heart when she popped her pills, so she will die as her heart weakens further - some time in the next week to ten days. Indeed, she even has heart attacks. Fortunately these are of the variety that she can recover from instantly and get back to her daily life straight away. And fortunately she seems not to suffer from the chronic breathlessness of other heart failure patients. This affords her the opportunity to fall in love with a schizophrenic - a chap who expresses himself by standing mutely whilst Veronika plays the piano or performs sexual acts on herself.
Dr Igor, the Director, meanwhile sets about his nefarious plans - principally around discovering a whole new way of looking at mental illness and treating it using happiness. We see quite a lot of Dr Igor in the first half of the novel, which makes it something of a surprise to be introduced to him much later as (and I paraphrase): the Director of the Institution, a man with brown hair who goes by the name of Dr Igor.
And beyond the silly continuity errors and gaping holes in the plot, we find a complete lack of character development or empathy. We just find fact after fact; deed after deed; cod-philosophizing after cod-philosophizing. If we need Veronika to feel that today was the best day of her life, Coelho will just tell us that it was. There is no attempt made to convey that feeling or to describe it - it is simply announced.
This really is a poor novel on so many levels. It is shallow, implausible, inconsistent, haphazard and pretentious. Please avoid.
best Paulo Coelho book I've read so far, 26 Aug 2008
I have read a few Paulo Coelho books. He is one of my favourite authors and this is definitely the best book I have read so far.
It is quite depressing at times, but really gets you thinking about life and its meaning, so if you're into deep meaningful stuff, this is a good book to read.
Bitesize philosophy, 28 Jul 2008
That is a little crude, but it was the first title that popped into my head. This is a captivating, beautifully written (albeit short) story of a young woman who decides to commit suicide. However she doesn't die straight away, but wakes up in a mental institution and is told that she has irreparably damaged her heart and has less than a week to live. She then spends the next 5 days on a personal journey, learning to appreciate life, and cherish even the mundane moments. She can fulfil fantasies as she has no fear of rebuke. One prevalent theme in the novel is that we repress our feelings for fear of what others may think, when we should just have the courage to live.
There are many other complex issues touched on in this novel. Those surrounding mental illness, philosophy, love...I could write a thesis! But I won't. I will just say that this book comes highly recommended. I defy anyone who says that they can't identify with aspects of the characters, their thoughts and fears; and who isn't a little bit moved. This book will keep you thinking long after turning the last page.
Will tomorrow always be there?, 26 Jun 2008
A complicated story of a girl, who decides to die. It is far from corny, and is in reality much more insightful. I personally picked it up and dropped it about 10 times before finally managing to start it. My grandmother's recent passing made me think it would not be a pleasant read. Turns out it was, even in that context.
I loved it because it made me pause, and think, and realise, that I should not take tomorrow for granted. And neither should you. It's one of those books that you read once and they change you. Their lessons can never be forgotten.
Highly recommended reading.
An interesting tale, 16 May 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is the sort of book that makes you think about the subject matter. It's about a young girl who is bored with her life and unable to bear living a moment longer in the monotony of her existence so she decides to kill herself. She then wakes up to find she has been taken to a mental hospital and is told that she only has a few days to live as the pills she has taken have irreversibly damaged her heart. During the few days she spends in the mental hospital knowing she will soon die, she begins to think about why she wanted to die and she discovers her true purpose in life. The story does not only follow Veronika's life story but also the interesting stories behind why some of the other patients in the mental hospital are there. It questions the definition of madness. The message in the book seems to be that most people don't find their true purpose in life because most people just lives their lives in the way they are expected to or in the way other people want them to.
Poorly written, load of mumbo-jumbo, 26 Nov 2008
As someone who has enjoyed Coehlo's other works, I had high hopes for this book. I read half-way through however, and by this point I was still waiting for the book to 'start'. It tells a story from different perspectives, a cliched tactic, but there was one problem: There was no story. There is a vague mumbo-jumbo tale of Sherine Khalil, but it seems to make little sense, and is of no excitement and importance.
It makes a cliched attack on religion, and shows a staggering level of ignorance about religion in the UK. For example, in the book a woman who names herself 'Athena' is 'persecuted' by the church in England (This is set in the 1990s) yet in reality any New Age dancing and chanting in this country is highly unlikely to receive anything beyond a raised eyebrow. You would certainly not have the power to have the police or the church close somewhere down.
The book was one of the worst I have ever read, and I feel Coehlo is now surely not writing for the love of it, but perhaps to pump out further income for his book empire. A massive disappointment for someone who has enjoyed so many of his books.
Go Paolo Go!!, 01 Jun 2008
Every time there is a new book from Paolo I don't want to buy it because I don't believe that he can write another amazing book. But I am always wrong :)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Witch captivates, 21 Mar 2008
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
Too esoteric for my taste, 16 Mar 2008
This was a book group choice and not a book I would otherwise have read. It did make for some interesting discussion, but the other readers felt, as I did, that it wasn't a particularly enjoyable read.
The beginning of the book, as we meet the friends and relatives of Athena, is slow and disjointed. The remainder of the first half was a bit too esoteric and pseudo-spiritual. The book picked up in the second half but plummeted to a very unsatisfactory end.
Athena, the daughter of Romanian gypsies, is adopted from an orphanage and taken to live in Beirut and then England. As a teenager she starts to look for other meanings in life and continues this search into her University life and then into her job in a bank. She makes quite an impact at the bank, and moves with them to work in Dubai. From there, she branches into real estate sales - a profession that seems rather contradictory to her beliefs in life. When she has made enough for herself and her son to live without working for 3 yrs, she returns to London. Here she starts to become more involved in her search for 'Mother Earth'. She visits Romania to find her birth mother and from there things escalate to the final denouement.
This is a book for people with an interest in spiritual matters - dancing yourself into a trance and talking to the spirits. I would not recommend it myself. I will probably read 'The Alchemist' at some point and possibly 'Nineteen Minutes', but I shan't be searching out any other Paulo Coelho books.
Quite honestly a terrible book, 01 Oct 2008
This must be a contender for the worst book I've ever read. I read 'The Alchemist' by the same author largely because it appeared in the 'BBC 100 favourite reads' poll and was described as 'life changing'. I didn't like it, but thought this may just be due to the fact that the story is a cross between a parable and a self-help book, and decided to give Coelho another go. I shouldn't have bothered!
The story here is of a naive young Brazilian girl wanting to make some money by travelling to Switzerland ostensibly as a dancer, but soon becomes involved in prostitution. It's full of unbelievable scenarios and characters, some of which are frankly risible, mixed with a generous dose of half-baked adolescent philosophy. The heroine moves from an abortive S&M encounter to embracing it with full gusto in the blink of an eye after a brief walk along Lake Geneva, before finding her true love. The ridiculously cheesey ending had me reaching for a brown paper bag.
The writing style is very simple (translated from Portugese), and makes it easy to read, although lacking in depth. Thankfully it's short.
I'm amazed anyone could give this 5 stars!
Oh, .....did I mention I didn't like it??
Vying for top spot for my number 1 book!, 30 Sep 2008
This is the first of Coelho's books I've read - and it has quite simply left a profound impression on me. Very thought provoking and grabbed me from the first words, then dragged me through the rest as I couldn't keep up with the words. I guess some books speak only to you at the right point you pick it up - and this was one of those moments for me. Bought almost a year ago it's just been sitting on my shelf. And when I picked it up to start reading, I had no idea what the book was about or what Eleven Minutes meant.
One of the negative comments in an earlier review said you'll only enjoy this book if the Celestine Prophecy was your thing. Now much as I know the Celestine Prophecy has it's own cult following (of higher being spiritual schmaltz and all that), that book meant nothing to me and absolutely cannot be compared to Eleven Minutes at all.
I know that I will return to read this book several times and has now become a treasured possession.
Worth reading , 11 Mar 2008
This is my second reading for Paulo Coelho, Such amazing wonderful reading that I was enjoying each minute of it. I liked this as much as I liked The Alchemist.
The concept of the story ( despite the job of the main character as a hooker ) it gives alot of moral and themes for personal life.
This man has a lovely style of writing that capture you with him till the end, especially with this novel from a woman side
Overall, it is a worth reading for those who would like to understand the male and female for different sides.
Another 'follow your dreams' novel, 02 Mar 2008
Having sworn never again to read any more Paulo Coelho, my book group chose Eleven Minutes as this months read. This is now my 4th book by the author and I am no more a fan than after the first. I find his patronising style simplistic and child-like and he repeats 'key' statements ad nauseum throughout his books. While they are often quick reads - this one took less than 24hrs - I still end up wondering why I bothered.
Maria, a naive young Brazilian girl, decides to take a week's vacation in Rio de Janiero. There she meets a talent scout on the look out for dancers to perform in Geneva. Maria decides to take a chance but finds that things are not quite as she'd been led to believe. When she gets sacked for missing a day's work, things start to go down hill rapidly. She is almost broke when a man offers her a huge sum to sleep with him and from this it's not such a large step to becoming a high class prostitute, serving several men each night. Money is plentiful and Maria enjoys her status - will she continue with this life or return home with money and buy a farm??
In true Paulo Coelho style there is plenty of moralising about the subject, following on from the theme of following your dream in 'The Alchemist'
The character of Maria is apparently based on the life story of a prostitute that PC met while in Switzerland, but I still found her sudden expertise on sexual problems rather unbelievable.
I also thought the novel was rather sexually explicit for a book that I might find myself reading on the bus or other public place. Personally I feel that there is a fine line decreeing what is acceptable in a book for general consumption and this crossed it.
Wonderful!, 29 Dec 2007
Having loved Veronika decides to Die I had bought Eleven minutes and The Alchemist but unfortunately had never got around to reading them, until yesterday when recovering from a nasty flu&feeling slightly bored I decided to read Eleven minutes. That was it the minutes flew and before I knew it it was six thirty the next morning and I'd finished it. I could not put it down, another amazing book from an amazing writer. I love the fact that Coehlo can address the most nitty gritty of subjects with a tangible realism. Although his subject was sex it never felt like he was going too far he seemed to strike a perfect chord, even when re-telling the most degrading of Maria's sexual journeys. The honesty in which this book is written is beautiful you can truly relate to his character and understand that all she is searching for is love, yet a full love that revolves around an everday life. A closeness with someone that holds much more than just sex!. She takes us on a journey of honesty and we love her for that. She learns the true meaning of love in all its forms and makes us all think alittle about the difference between sex and making love. It is a gripping story with so many hidden meanings and as ever Paulo makes us question our own existence and indeed our own sexuality. Another inspirational piece of reading from the great Paulo Coelho. The Alchamest here I come!
Breathtaking, 21 Jul 2008
Have not read Coelho before and this book blew me away! I really loved his theme on intuition and the many insightful ideas for such a light, charming little book.
"I want to learn about magic.", 06 Mar 2008
I have long been a fan of Coelho's work and have long waited for BRIDA to be published in English, so as soon as this was available I grabbed it. Having now finished it the question of whether it was worth the wait is an inevitable one.
BRIDA is the story of a young Irish woman, Brida, who wishes to learn about magic. At the very beginning of the novel, she meets a Magus from the Tradition of the Sun who teaches her about the Dark Night and who recognises that she does have a gift - he is just not completely sure what that gift is. Yet this marks the beginning of Brida's spiritual journey - to find out what her gift is and what her path shall ultimately be.
This path then leads her to Wicca, a woman who commands respect and stirs emotions within Brida that she does not always understand. Wicca takes Brida on as a student, teaching her the Tradition of the Moon.
So, BRIDA is basically the story of one woman's spiritual journey of self-discovery. Along the way she learns how to listen to the hidden music of the world and how she would be able to recognise her Soulmate. Brida also discovers that, as for anyone embarking upon a journey of self-discovery, the things that she experiences and learns have an effect upon not just her but those who are close to her. This, as Coelho tries to empart, is the nature of such a journey - once you have found the right path, to see it to the end and fulfill your destiny is not always an easy ride.
For fans of Coelho's work, BRIDA should be an enjoyable read. For those who have never encountered his work before, BRIDA may be somewhat of a disappointment. As with much of Coelho's work, the reader gets out what they are willing to put into their reading experience. By this I mean you have to be sympathetic to the essence of his work - I would imagine that there would be some people who cannot relate to this book at all, and so they may not take very much away from it. However, if you are open to spirituality in all of its dimensions and are looking for a book that touches upon this area, BRIDA shall be very rewarding for you.
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Customer Reviews
A Classic Route Map In The Story Telling Tradition, 24 Nov 2008
This book is my favourite of all Paulo Coelho's books, a masterful and easily readable use of the story telling tradition providing pointers for all of us in our personal development journey. Rich in metaphors, language and events, a stirring adventure story full of rich learning about staying true to yourself and your vision.
Many think it's great although I was disappointed., 18 Nov 2008
The Alchemist tells a story that is simple, yet is considered by many to be profound. The protagonist is the restless Santiago, who while training to become a priest feels the strong desire to travel. So he trades in the seminary life for a more peripatetic profession. He buys some sheep and takes up shepherding.
Day in and day out he watches over his flock. And while he loves them, he cannot help but feel that their existence is somehow limited - grass and water, water and grass. They never seem to appreciate the beautiful landscape of Santiago's homeland, the Spanish province of Andalucia. His sheep never seem to know that there might be something else to life. They don't dream.
Even Santiago's parents dream - or at least they once did. But theirs is a life of struggle, which long ago extinguished any thoughts beyond life's basics. Now Santiago dreams and has dreams. His is the heart of an explorer, one who longs to see what is just over the next hill.
After feeling that he's being shown some omens, Santiago consults a gypsy who interprets the signs as indicating that his future is to travel to Egypt. Whereas most would have listened but not heeded such advice, our hero sells his sheep and sets sail to find himself.
The Alchemist is an old-fashioned fable so it is short, sweet and an easy read. And as a fable it offers us a message, which is unabashedly simple. This is the story of someone who listens to their heart and follows their dream.
Coelho's point is that too many of us believe what the village soothsayer tells Santiago is the biggest lie of all time - that we cannot control our destiny. But this isn't a story to suggest that one can blindly do what one wants without consequences. Following one's dream has a price. Equally, not following one's dream has a cost.
While many consider this work to be a spiritual masterpiece, I have to say that I have never considered The Alchemist to be a life-changing read | | |