Introduction
- ISIN: 978-81-8400-609-4
- Genre: Fiction
- Publishers: Random House India
- Price: Rs. 299/- (I received the book for review from the publisher)
Linda knows she's lucky.Yet every morning when she opens her eyes to a so-called new day, she feels like closing them again.Her friends recommend medication.But Linda wants to feel more, not less.
And so she embarks on an adventure as unexpected as it is daring, and which reawakens a side of her that she - respectable wife, loving mother, ambitious journalist - thought had disappeared.Even she can't predict what will happen next...
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About the author
The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1986, PAULO COELHO did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. In the following year, COELHO published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. Other titles include Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), By the river Piedra I sat Down and Wept (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo entitle Maktub (1994), the compilation of texts Phrases (1995), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), Veronika decides to die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in Stories for parents, children and grandchildren (2001), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005), The Witch of Portobello (2006) and Winner Stands Alone (to be released in 2009).
During the months of March, April, May and June 2006, Paulo Coelho traveled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella in 1986. He also held surprise book signings - announced one day in advance - in some cities along the way, to have a chance to meet his readers. In ninety days of pilgrimage the author traveled around the globe and took the famous Transiberrian train that took him to Vladivostok. During this experience Paulo Coelho launched his blog Walking the Path - The Pilgrimage in order to share with his readers his impressions. Since this first blog Paulo Coelho has expanded his presence in the internet with his daily blogs in Wordpress, Myspace & Facebook. He is equally present in media sharing sites such as Youtube and Flickr, offering on a regular basis not only texts but also videos and pictures to his readers. From this intensive interest and use of the Internet sprang his bold new project: The Experimental Witch where he invites his readers to adapt to the screen his book The Witch of Portobello. Indeed Paulo Coelho is a firm believer of Internet as a new media and is the first Best-selling author to actively support online free distribution of his work. You can reach him through his website here.
Me thinks
Like I have said before Paulo Coelho's books have always come to me when I have been looking for some serious answers in life. He has been the messenger to me through whom God chooses to communicate to me and I simply adore his books, despite there being a lot of people talking negatively about his books.
I admire his writing for a very simple writing, he talks about flaws. Flawed people, flawed lives, flawed relationships, flawed desires, flawed world and yet brings out a sense of perfection in them celebrating those flaws. That is what makes him so endearing. Not everyone has had a perfect life and not everyone gets everything that one wants to have..... and just like this story there are many who might have everything they would have ever wanted in life and still there heart burns every day seeking more of something they themselves are unaware of.
This story is of Linda, a woman in her thirties who has a perfect life, doting husband, loving children, a job that she enjoys and most importantly a lifestyle that can actually be envied by most of us. Still there is a sense of emptiness in her which makes her indulge in adultery, with her high school crush whom she meets once again.
For me more than adultery the book is about the complexities of human nature, of how we desire somethings, get them and instead of feeling satisfied we embark on yet another quest to achieve something more. The day our heart ceases to make such quests is when we cease living and begin to exist and that is the moment when we tend to do things which otherwise in our sane minds we would perhaps have not done.
This book is full of such moments where insanity rules the roost but given the background you relate to it so much, the emotioal highs, the roller coaster ride of sentiments playing high all around and then that deep plunge into nothing leading to a never ending abyss.... yes that is what this book is all about.
Needless to say I loved this book out and out, not only because this is from Paulo Coelho but because no other author could have tackled a delicate subject like adultery so beautifully as he did. It is only him who can add grace to something that is looked down upon and show us the vulnerable souls who commit adultery and are often misunderstood as mere lusting bodies.
A small piece of advice here - People who believe in perfect fairytales and impeccable lives are advised not to read this, they might not be able to connect with this. It is for people who are deep readers, who enjoy thinking along with the protagonist and pondering over all that is said and unsaid by the author in those few words.
Foodie Verdict
This book islike iced mint tea- refreshing, delicious and one that quenches a thirst within you in a manner that you want more of it!
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