Paulo Coelho has let me down. I am not talking about his literary genius. He is simply a great author, and I wait anxiously to get hold of his books. Every work of his that I have read so far, has inspired me positively in some way or the other. Whether it is The Alchemist, or The Eleven Minutes, or even the not much talked about By the side of River. each one of them glorifies positivism, determination, faith, and love. But Brida is different. Somehow I feel, he is confused about the message he wants to convey here.
Brida is about a girl and her journey towards her destiny. She is all but 21, and out in the quest of finding her true love, her soulmate. In the process, she discovers herself, and realises the purpose of her life. So far, so good. But the end? The end has disappointed me for sure. This book talks about love, soulmate, destiny, and Paulo Coelho has ably woven a story covering all this and more, but. somewhere, he himself is lost, and confused.
The story is the middle is stretched a bit, but thats ok. Am not very much against the way it is written, rather I am against some of the messages it gives out. As an author, or a teacher, or a poet, I think it is our responsibility to give out the proper message - and precisely thats why I like Paulo’s works so much. But this around with Brida, I felt he glorified pain, and misery. He looked down upon love as it always brings pain alongwith. I didnot get a "feel good" feeling as I read along. Sometimes, it was there, sometimes it wasnt, and at the end definitely the entire "feel good" factor was missing. This book reminded me of a particular dish I had once, at the relative’s place. Ever since we sat on the dining table for dinner that day, I was attracted to this special dish that was spread on the table. The look, thecolor, the aroma, the presentation. everything was just too perfect about the preparation. And I couldnt stop myself from taking a large portion of the preparation for my own serving! But as I started having it, I realized, the taste - the main thing about any food- the dish lacked there - it had no proper taste! may be salt was late, or a particular spice or more.all the ingredients were there, but not in the perfect proportion, amy be. whatever it was, it didnt taste good despite being almost perfect in every other area - look, aroma, presentation etc.
Similarly, the main problem with Brida is that despite having all the ingredients it lacked in the context, in the message. though all the ingredients were there - they were not in the perfect proportion.
Since the expectation level from Paulo Coelho is much more, I was not satisfied with whatever the book had to offer. For me, its a situation like, if I believe in the philosophy of Alchemist, then I cant believe in what Brida has to teach and vice versa. so am thoroughly confused, as confused as the author himself.