The ZAHIR

Paulo Coelho. The Zahir. 

I wanted to read another Coelho for a wider impression. Brida was not a favourite, and The Alchemist was coming-of-age. The Zahir is the story of an older man trying to find his wife who left him mysteriously after ten years. Set in Paris, and travelling to Kazakhstan, the protagonist moves from lauded writer to the street people of Paris, to the deserts of Asia, looking for wisdom and the reason people he loves choose to leave him. Obsession. Creativity. Epilepsy. An interesting combination of the things we need to learn and the people who are sent to help us do so. 

The ALCHEMIST

Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist. Harper, 1993.

First selection for the Hawthorne Book Club. Glad to get the opportunity to read such a world-wide popular author. This story of a boy's quest and coming of age reminded me of The Little Prince. The style seems to me to be "comforting," telling the reader what the protagonist sees, hears, thinks, and feels. 

Brida

May 14, 2017

Paulo Coelho. Brida. Harper, 2008.

A young Irish woman, Brida, goes to a teacher, Wicca, and a Magus, to be initiated into an ancient tradition. Translated from the Portuguese.