The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I’ve always wanted to pen my review on this book which catapulted an obscure author into prominent limelight. This very book endorsed by so many starlets, dignitaries, kings, princes, princesses and yadda yadda yadda…ok, I made the kings, princes and princesses up.. How am I supposed to know what they read? :-P

All I know is, Madonna read it, Oprah read it (or did she?) and countless other celebrities read it...

The book I’m talking about is none other than “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho”.

The book is essentially a long line of self discovery book written by Paulo Coelho and this being the first made it more meaningful because it helped Paulo to become a well known author the world over.

It is a story about a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago whom had recurring dream and he firmly believes that it is a prophecy and decided to travel to Egypt to find the treasures. As usual in every story, he encounters both bad and good things (including love :-P). This boy Santiago refuses to give up his dream even when the going gets tough. So he ended up enriching himself with his own experiences.

That’s about it boys and girls :-) this book is special (at least to countless of people out there), because of its sheer simplicity and the smooth flow of its storyline. No brain wrecking plots here. Just direct “self-actualisation” or “self-discovery” kind of book.

One thing’s for certain is that, 6 months after you read the book, the impression is no longer there because you would have moved on with other more pressing things in your life. So the point here is, even if it’s the most translated and one of the best selling books in history; you will still little or no recollection after a while about the self-discovery thingy. Period.

As for me, I’ve moved on the moment I closed the last page. :-)


Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Trust me, you won't be able to remember the storyline

Pros:
1) Simple and straightforward story

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho

Well, I don't profess to have knowledge about Bible, not even skimming on the surface... thus I will hold back my acid tongue when I review about this book :-)

In this book entitled “The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho”; it has a rather deep and heavy religious tone, which explains on the sensitivity of reviewing such book.

According to Wikipedia, which I quoted as per se:

The story is based on the story of Elijah from the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings Chapters 17-19). The focus is on Elijah's time in Zarephath (in this book named Akbar). Much has been added to the simple Bible story by Coelho, including Elijah witnessing the sacking of Akbar by the Assyrians, Elijah's journey up the Fifth Mountain itself (said to be the dwelling place of Baal), and Elijah's falling in love with the widow to whom God sent him.

As with other books from Paulo, this story touches on realizing your own potential and also the ability to overcome obstacles and boundaries to do what you think as right; not to mention to attain the level of spiritual awareness and finally, to engage in a meaningful and powerful relationship with God.

In my opinion, this book sounded slightly like historical novels or to put it into perspective, it sounded like the book entitled "Zipporah by Marek Halter" in which Paulo literally breathe life into historical personage and cleverly interlinked all those messages he would like to convey on it.

Well, it’s not easy to review books which touch on religion, so this will be it :-P
Yup, you read that right... this is all I have to say about this book :-)

If you would like to read more about Paulo's book, you can try to buy ONE first, read thoroughly before you decide to buy the rest :-D

On the hindsight, I still prefer “Zipporah by Marek Halter” compared to “The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho”. At least Marek did not impose his ideals on his book like what Paulo did in all his books (*hint hint*).


Personal rating: N/A

Cons:
1) N/A

Pros:
1) N/A

The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho

*CAUTION: Drama King “hijacked” the body of this normally sensible; hot-blooded; Homo sapiens of male species*

*NOTE: The following descriptions have been dramatized for greater effect, so throw a pinch of salt over your shoulder before you read the following book review*

Countdown begins...

*toot* FIVE...
*toot* FOUR...
*toot* THREE...
*toot* TWO...
*toot* ONE...
aaaaaannnd… ACTION

Aiyoooo!!!! Another book about self discovery!!.. I don’t want I don’t want I don’t want!!!...

In this book entitled “The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho”; we’re introduced to the first hand experience gained by the acclaimed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and his road towards self discovery!

BING!

Another self discovery book?!

Wait a minute, this is not just another book, this is Paulo’s first book. His numero uno masterpiece.
But since this is a self discovery book, what else can you glean from the book besides discovering yourself?

Don’t underestimate this self discovery book because this book teaches you exercise programs as well…
Yes ladies and gentlemen, besides discovering yourself, you get free exercise programs :-) (I’m not joking here… to be explained later :-P)

I’m deviating far from the book review :-P

Well, this is the first book from Paulo, in which he wrote about his journey towards self discovery.
It is basically his personal diary on his pilgrimage road trip between France and Spain after being told by his MASTER (ala MASTER YODA), that he has more to learn about life. I assume the conversation goes like this:

Paulo: Master, finally I’ve finished my learning. Can I go now?
Master: No Paulo, you still have a long way to go.
Paulo: Why Master? What should I do?
Master: Silence Paulo! You talk too much! Listen to me. Go tag along with one mentor. Listen to his advice for he will help you towards achieving your self discovery.
Paulo: Yes Master. Thank you for your guidance and advice.
*He bows took his knapsack and left the place*

He then went on to tag himself with his mentor, who told him to listen to him no matter what. No matter what what? I don’t know what’s what in this what what.

So in this journey of listening to his mentor no matter what, he encounters his own demon, his own fear, developed his own exercise program and transformed himself to a person who supposedly understands about life.

I think my review is boring! Yes, it is boring... as boring as this book!

This book is so boring that I had to watch Braveheart just to uplift my mood…
It is only with cries of FREEDOMMMMMM by William Wallace that I managed to break the spell.

Anyway, boredom is only part of the “torture” of reading this book. This book is filled with so many quirky advices that I almost mistook Paulo as Dr Phil :-P

In fact, I was so tempted to put matchstick between my eyelids to keep my eyes open and had to super-speed read thru this book!

On the hindsight, no need to waste your money to join gym membership for some yoga programs. By buying this book, you get the following:

1. Read other people’s self discovery and pretend that it uplift you to another realm or experience a total paradigm shift.
2. Quirky advise which sounded sinisterly like your buddies when they’re loaded with booze.
3. Best of all, EXERCISE PROGRAMS!

If you don’t believe me, I dare you to go and buy this book.

Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…

See, this is NOT… I repeat... NOT A BAD BOOK…
N-O-T (space) A (space) B-A-D (space) B-O-O-K


Personal rating: What rating?

Cons:
1) What cons?

Pros:
1) What pros?

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho

Note: This is another novel about spiritual awakening from Paulo Coelho.

As what I’ve mentioned earlier, I bought all published book (at that particular time) from one author and Paulo is one of them. So please bear with me while I try to dissect the intricacies linked to these spiritually filled books.

Supposedly, these kinds of books shouldn’t be read based on the face value. It is supposed to be “understood/misunderstood” and “grilled” until you get the BING moment.

As for me, I don’t dwell too much on such things because it is tiring to analyse (or over-analyse) on certain books to get the isi-isi tersirat.

This book entitled “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho” (a mouthful mind you, it’s like reading the title with your mouth full of meatballs :-P), is one such novel.

In essence, it is about a scholar named Pilar who’s frustrated by the endless cycles of her life.

This scholar who hasn’t even stepped outside the big bad world to earn money is complaining about endless cycles of her life! BAH!

Before I jump straight to conclusion and analyse in my own perverted way, I shall hold my horses and continue to review this book with an open mind.

PATIENCE, PATIENCE!

Anyway, going back to the story; this Pilar girl got bored with her university life and wanted to seek some greater meaning to her existence within those supposedly endless cycles.

She got her break when all the sudden, her former crush who’s now a handsome and well respected spiritual leader cum miracle worker contacted her.

She saw the chance for her to break free from the cycles and decided to follow him thru his journey via sacred sites in the French Pyrenees.

However, the catch of this journey is that the guy will finally have to choose between her (as lover) and answering his spiritual calling.

This means that the tension of their love, her longings towards him and the feeling of loving but not being loved is constantly played between these two love-birds.

It is with these difficult conditions that the BING moment of the novel came as we discover the divinity and the power of love under such strained condition.

The novel does not have a happy ending because they parted with the guy answering his spiritual calling and Pilar ended up checking into a convent.

I guess this novel’s title depicts Pilar’s sorrow when she is confronted with an unfulfilled love.

So what do I think about this book?

Truth to be told, I don’t remember much about this book or any other books from Paulo.
I had to speed read most of his books before I can pen any review; which is why I don’t dwell too much on one book trying to seek out the hidden meaning and getting headache in the process.
I still need to work to earn bucks for a living u know :-P

On the hindsight, the prospect of experiencing unfulfilled love can be a painful affair and bravo to Paulo on his ability to capture its essence in written words.
And to re-read such novel again after such a long time enables me to fully understand the hidden meaning in its simple but beautiful storyline.


Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) No character development. As with other books from Paulo

Pros:
1) Refer to the comments above :-)

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

In this novel entitled “The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho”; we’re posed with the evergreen question of whether human is born to inherently good or bad.

To further “cement” the implication of good versus evil, Paulo even picked the following quote from Bible as the opening act.


And a certain ruler asked him, saying, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
And Jesus said unto him, "Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is God.”


Luke 18:18-19


Come to think of it, even Santa decided to join in the fray by asking if we’ve been naughty or nice every single year :-P

But then, it’s not Santa we’re talking about here because Santa doesn’t write a book and Paulo does. So here’s the book review.

In this story, Paulo wrote a readable tale about human interaction and how human react to fear, greed and temptation. All of these happened in a really tiny village called Viscos. To cut the description short, it is a small, peaceful and quaint town (though dying a natural death) where everyone knows everyone.

However, this sense of peace is soon shattered by the arrival of a stranger; who have lost his whole family to an unfortunate kidnapping incident. He offered the knowledge of hidden bars of gold (11 bars of unknown purity and weight; but we assume it to be pure 999% and standard 1kg/bar :-P) to one lonely lady called Chantal Prym.

The stranger will divulge the hidden location on condition that the village people sacrifice one of their inhabitants. After some deep consideration, Ms Prym decided to break the news to the fellow villagers hoping that they will stick together and will not sacrifice anyone for the gold bars.

Her sense of assurance was shattered when the villagers decided to sacrifice one old lady called Berta for the gold. Ms Prym went all the way to dissuade the villagers from committing such sin and in the end, no one died and the twisted stranger realized that human have both good and evil in them, it’s ultimately a matter of choice.

I have to admit that Paulo should stick to stories like this (as well as “The Alchemist”) with “isi-isi tersirat” (hidden meanings) which shows us the dark and bright side of being a human. In my opinion, the lure of this novel is its subtle infusion of values which enable the readers to relate the “experiences” mentioned in the storyline better.


Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Not much character development. Paulo doesn’t dwell much on this department. Instead, he targets on the message he intends to convey to his readers.

Pros:
1) Readable storyline albeit with a rather predictable ending.

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

"Once upon a time, there was a prostitute named Maria"

Grabbed your attention didn’t I? :-D

Don’t blame yourself. It’s a perfectly normal reaction because that’s how Paulo’s novel entitled “Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho” grabbed mine as well :-) not one, but twice!

What a grand way to start a book about prostitution.

Why it is titled “Eleven Minutes”? Why not “Twelve Minutes” or “X Minutes”?

If the title bugs you as how it has bugged me, the explanation (as what our protagonist, Maria “discovered”) is that on average; it takes only ELEVEN minutes to complete the whole act of copulation and yet people are obsessed with it. Now you learnt something new eh? :-P so go ahead and time yourself... hehehe...

Now back to the book review :-)

Contrary to what you read in other review sites, this book is not “porn-ish” enough to be categorized as porn, nor lurid enough to be lumped together with “Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk”.

In this novel, our pretty heroine; Maria suffers from her first unrequited love and determines that she will never trust anyone with her heart again. A chance encounter on her trip to Rio promises her an opportunity to leave her Brazil homeland to an "adventurous trip" to Switzerland.
From thence onwards, our heroine was pushed into sleazy limelight; working first as dancer and then as prostitute by night and voracious book reader by day.

The difference between Maria and normal prostitutes (as depicted in the novel) is that Maria is constantly on the search for the “sacred sex” and not the “wham-bang-thank-you-maam” kind of experience.
She “endured” the job and accumulated enough money for her trip home only to defer her decision when she met 2 guys of different persona.
A painter named Ralf Hart; who lost interest in the sexual part of the relationship and on the lookout for “sacred sex” himself. And a guy simply named Terence; who drove Maria out from her usual sexual experience and embark on a dangerous ride towards pleasure of sadism and masochism.

So who does Maria chose in the end? Sacred sex or S&M? Read this review until the end if you wanna know the spoiler :-P

If I’m a naïve girl reading this book (this is only an assumption :-P), I might be convinced to try and seek out the “sexually filled self discovery journey” befitting Paulo’s theme in this book. Just joking :-D

In my opinion, plot of this novel does not deviate far from Paulo’s consistent theme derived from his hit-selling “The Alchemist”. Books by Paulo (at least the ones I’ve read) tend to favour the prospect of self discovery. In this case, "Eleven Minutes"; though packaged in the world of prostitution and sex, does not disappoint. The only plus point is that the reader gets to peek into a world rarely seen from the sexual workers’ point of view.

So after reading this book twice (as mentioned earlier), perhaps I can start to pen my own book which starts off with:

“Once upon a time, there was a gigolo named xxxx” :-P

Spoiler ahead:
So, who did Maria chose in the end?
Ralf Hart of course! Who would want to get tied up, candle wax dripped on their skin or spanked all the time :-D

P/s: Thanks to this “porn-ish” book, I went on to create a “mini-library” of my own with catalogues of books I’ve read and books I’ve reviewed. In fact, this is the only book that I read twice without realizing it (once in paperback, once in e-book).


Personal rating: 6 out of 10

Cons:
1) I think it sounded too Disney-like albeit with sexually charged promise of “living happily ever after”. So reader should be open-minded when they read this book.

Pros:
1) Insight into the world of prostitution

The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho. The famous writer the world loves and most well known for his book entitled “The Alchemist”. I have to admit that I was a compulsive book buyer when I first started. I tend to buy all books from one writer at one go. BIG MISTAKE :-(

I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way; so ladies and gentlemen, please do not buy books compulsively (especially from one writer at one go) because writers are like engineers too… they have “mood” when they work.. opppsss... write. :-P

Therefore, some of the novels might be appealing while others would be appalling (depending on their mood :-P). One such novel which unfortunately fell in the latter category is entitled “The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho”.

Of all the books from Paulo, I like this THE LEAST! I wouldn’t want to divulge on the details but as per the summary at the back of the book, which reads as follow:

“Why do we destroy the things we love most? This is the question Paulo Coelho faces as he confronts his past. On a forty-day quest into the starkly beautiful and sometimes dangerous Mojave Desert, Paulo and his wife, Cristina, encounter the Valkyries, strange warrior women who travel the desert on motorcycles.”

Great promise nonetheless. But as I read thru the book, I came to the realization that this is a book about Paulo’s journey towards self discovery! I was so disappointed with my book selection that I had to force myself to slug thru the book.

Imagine reading thru the book about something so detached from your consciousness that there is no linkage whatsoever.

I kept cursing myself that I’ve wasted my blood & sweat money over another book which I can’t enjoy in the first place.

If someone were to tell me to look into my soul and evaluate my past, present and future after reading this book, I would advise the person to go back, drink some wine (or hot milk or whatever drink you prefer la..), take a good rest and talk to me tomorrow. :-)


Personal rating: 4 out of 10 (for the effort to record his journey of self discovery)

Cons:
1)What is there to glean from especially if the book is about another person’s self discovery? To learn from his/her experience? If the answer is YES, then I would suggest you (yes, you who read this review) to talk to the elders and learn a thing or two from them from first hand point of view.

Pros:
1) N/A