Paulo Coelho,on every other book of the author you would see the quote "from the internationally bestselling author of The Alchemist".Before Eleven Minutes,the other two books I had read were The Alchemist(quite obvious!!) and 'The Witch of Portebello'.I admired reading both the books and with this one in my hands,I expected a real good read and luckily for me Coelho delivers.
Eleven Minutes is a work by the author aimed to explore the sacred nature of sex and love.Maria: A young Brazilian villager,who is ambitious enough to chase her dreams ;the protagonist narrates the story and I must say narrates it beautifully.The diary entries of the girl who choses her profession to be a prostitute are realistic enough to connect to the nerves of the reader.
The other half of the story is the character 'Ralf',a man who tasted success early in his life.The character who is expected to be happy but ironically who is not, has been portrayed brilliantly.The novel runs around these two characters searching their happiness,their sexuality ,their soul.
The story progresses with the meeting of these two in a coffee shop,where Ralf the acclaimed painter,acknowledges the 'light',that he saw in Maria and later through the conversation of these two ,Coelho delivers the message of the natural need of LOVE.
The strength of the novel lies in the perfection of the author with which,he has dealt the sensitivity of the theme.From page one to the end,the book connects to the reader and he /she reads it as Maria.The natural poetic flow of Coelho's work is worth appreciation too.
Weaknesses though rare to find, yet after reading it,if you analyse in terms of real world,such thinking prostitutes and painters are not the characters around you.The story is a very well written fiction ,yet plays no role in improving our daily lives.
Reading this piece of work is itself an opportunity, as the preciseness in Coelho's writings in showing the world from a woman's point of view is touching.
Mentioning the threats,the book deals with a mature topic and many would not agree with the point of view of Maria/Coelho. A bit less realistic,some may find the story ,but still a MUST READ.
Some quotes that made it into my diary from 11 minutes..
- How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanquish so quickly?
- Sometimes you get no second chance and that it’s best to accept the gifts the world offers you.
- If I must be faithful, I have first of all, to be faithful to myself.
3 Comments:
This book was something to which I could'nt connect at all! All characters seemed exaggerated and beyond my mind's capacity to digest. Anyways, perceptions matter!
Haven't read it yet. Looking forward to read it now.
Adding up a bit...the most fascinating part of the book for me were the diary entries of Maria....
Dunno how much of there was exaggeration but I appreciated the honesty of the character..
And of course,Perceptions matter.. :-)
@ Mohi
Yups...read it :)
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