book review | eleven minutes by paulo coelho
It's been a while since my last book review. I've actually read a few books but I don't really know what to say about them. I still have yet to do one on Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart, but I feel like I have to read it again because I whizzed through it in two days. But what I'm here to review is Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho.
This is the first Paulo Coelho I've read. I've heard a lot of people really like his books, like The Alchemist, and lots of people quote his works.
I don't like mainstream books and authors. Apart from Harry Potter, which was excusable because I was in my teens, and didn't care whether it was really mainstream or not. When everybody raves about something, I tend to scrunch my nose and stay as far away from it as possible. That was the case with Paulo Coelho. Everyone read The Alchemist and they would tell anyone who gave a rat's ass to read it. Now that the hype has died down a bit, I eventually came to read what this was all about.
I came across this because I was discussing books with my friend who also loves to read, and she recommended it to me. It looked like a fairly short read, so I decided to give it a go while I await for the next amazing series to devour (Divergent needs to work on its convincing spells).
In all honesty, the book didn't disappoint, but I don't think it would appeal to anyone younger than 20. I'm not going to rave about it, although it's a good light read. It's a story that will sort of stick to you, you'll kind of remember what it's about, but it's one of those books that, for me at least, that when someone asks "Is this a good book?" I will reply with a "Yeah, it's nice", period. Just nice. Period.
In the book we meet Maria, a young girl from rural Brazil who at an early age experiences a variety of love let-downs which leads her to believe that there's no such thing as love, and that she can only experience orgasm through her own hands (hate to burst your egos, boys). She's had her share of skirt chasers who were only attracted to her looks. Also, she's a bit bummed about her routine life, so she decides to go, impromptu, to Rio De Janeiro, armed with only a few clothes and not a lot of money. And, of course, due to her looks, albeit wrong choice of swimsuit, an opportunity to work in Switzerland lands on her lap. She snatches the opportunity, but little did she know that she would just end up working the world's oldest profession: prostitution.
She meets a painter named Ralf Hart, who, lo and behold, she falls in love with. She tries to stop herself because she didn't believe in love, or finding orgasm through actual sex. And then guess what? She finds it. Somehow. Somewhere within the depths of her woman cave, she finds that orgasm.
Despite many people's initial reaction to the word "prostitute" written on the back covers of books, this wasn't porn, erotica, or any of the sort. It could be, to a point, but it wasn't the whole point of the book. Which was great, because Coelho wrote it in a way that it was about Maria, and not the whole prostitution thing, which she could easily get lost in, in context. I also liked her diary entries--they were the quotable ones. I particularly liked:
I don't like mainstream books and authors. Apart from Harry Potter, which was excusable because I was in my teens, and didn't care whether it was really mainstream or not. When everybody raves about something, I tend to scrunch my nose and stay as far away from it as possible. That was the case with Paulo Coelho. Everyone read The Alchemist and they would tell anyone who gave a rat's ass to read it. Now that the hype has died down a bit, I eventually came to read what this was all about.
I came across this because I was discussing books with my friend who also loves to read, and she recommended it to me. It looked like a fairly short read, so I decided to give it a go while I await for the next amazing series to devour (Divergent needs to work on its convincing spells).
In all honesty, the book didn't disappoint, but I don't think it would appeal to anyone younger than 20. I'm not going to rave about it, although it's a good light read. It's a story that will sort of stick to you, you'll kind of remember what it's about, but it's one of those books that, for me at least, that when someone asks "Is this a good book?" I will reply with a "Yeah, it's nice", period. Just nice. Period.
In the book we meet Maria, a young girl from rural Brazil who at an early age experiences a variety of love let-downs which leads her to believe that there's no such thing as love, and that she can only experience orgasm through her own hands (hate to burst your egos, boys). She's had her share of skirt chasers who were only attracted to her looks. Also, she's a bit bummed about her routine life, so she decides to go, impromptu, to Rio De Janeiro, armed with only a few clothes and not a lot of money. And, of course, due to her looks, albeit wrong choice of swimsuit, an opportunity to work in Switzerland lands on her lap. She snatches the opportunity, but little did she know that she would just end up working the world's oldest profession: prostitution.
She meets a painter named Ralf Hart, who, lo and behold, she falls in love with. She tries to stop herself because she didn't believe in love, or finding orgasm through actual sex. And then guess what? She finds it. Somehow. Somewhere within the depths of her woman cave, she finds that orgasm.
Despite many people's initial reaction to the word "prostitute" written on the back covers of books, this wasn't porn, erotica, or any of the sort. It could be, to a point, but it wasn't the whole point of the book. Which was great, because Coelho wrote it in a way that it was about Maria, and not the whole prostitution thing, which she could easily get lost in, in context. I also liked her diary entries--they were the quotable ones. I particularly liked:
"I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer
in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life."
That stuck to me all day and lifted my spirits up somehow, made me a little more optimistic. Because they were true. Good words to live by. I really admired Maria. She did things that most women, including me, would never dream of doing. I'm already scared enough to go alone into a city I'm not familiar with. I usually tell my friends that if you put me in the middle of Manila, I'll never make it home. I'm too scared. (Yes. I'm sheltered, I get it.) Which is why I greatly admire Maria and her guts and her drive. She ventures out to Rio and Geneva. She learns the language and manages to survive. I really did enjoy reading about her life, it's like peeking through that little window on the red door of the secretive world of prostitution, or other people's sex life, for that matter.
And I emphasize again that this is NOT porn... yeah, don't get off on it like 50 Shits, although I don't know how people get off on it.
And I emphasize again that this is NOT porn... yeah, don't get off on it like 50 Shits, although I don't know how people get off on it.
Overall, it's a nice read. The ending kinda left me hanging there, like most stories about love. But no one really talks about what happened after happily ever after, right? I do like it, I really do. But it's not like your typical story, the one that everyone raves about with the plot twists and magic and stuff. It was based on his friend's life story. It sits on the "nice" shelf, but not quite up there with The Night Circus or HP. I enjoyed Coelho's writing style a lot. It's a mature read, not in the sense of PG-18 (well, in this case it is), but it would take more than your average reader to thoroughly enjoy the messages being sent by the novel. It's a little deep. There, I said it.
The gist: 7/10
Rest assured though, I will definitely read more books by Paulo Coelho. But he's too mainstream that I might not. Who knows.
Ps.
I really find that book cover weird, though. The other leg of the woman looks like... I don't know. I don't know what that other leg is or if it even is a leg. I know it's a leg but... Enlighten me. You might be seeing something I'm not seeing, I don't know. It looks like an alien to me. :P
Ps.
I really find that book cover weird, though. The other leg of the woman looks like... I don't know. I don't know what that other leg is or if it even is a leg. I know it's a leg but... Enlighten me. You might be seeing something I'm not seeing, I don't know. It looks like an alien to me. :P
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