And so it fell on to me, to read and
review Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes for my book review. My teacher
does not like me much (she thinks I have authority problems, I think
Authority is my problem). Anyway the moment she gave me a Paulo
Coelho book, I was wondering why she gave me just a 300 page book to
study. As all reading assignments I started my reading with gusto.
Mid way through, I was confused. Coelho had begun to describe this
book as the story of a prostit*tes, but somewhere in the middle it was
all about sex.
Coelho is hailed as an inspirational
writer, in that case maybe Coelho was hell bent on providing
inspiration to have sex? I mean sure you can claim that it is the
story of a prostit*tes and yes there was every reason he would have a
reason to put in graphic details. What that has only done is dilute
what ever little effect the book could have had. I have read books
from writers from different countries, different writing styles. And
to be honest Coelho missed a trick on this one.
Coelho is well renowned the world over
for the inspirational nature of his books, okay so lets see what
could have been inspirational in this one. A prostit*tes joins
prostitution for money, discovers that she is doing it because she is
lonely and finally decides to quit prostitution because she falls in
love and she must let herself and her lover be free, so she decides
to returns to her home town. Okay so that takes out the angle that
Coelho is against prostitution, I am not saying he has glorified it
in any way but he has not thrown the kitchen sink at it either.
Angle two the path that one follows in
finding love, well to be honest if this was a love story, can someone
please explain why the book had nearly 100 pages of graphic, sexual
acts and discussion. I mean unless Coelho wanted to exploit his
capabilities as a porn writer, it defeats the purpose.
I have read stuff from Tolkien to John
Grisham and trust me, this book is no where near up to the mark, if
it has sold anything then its probably because of the name Coelho has
made for himself from the Alchemist (which I will now never read
because Coelho has disappointed me so).
In conclusion I do not recommend this
book because it does not make sense, sure if you are in the mood for
some erotic reading go ahead it makes sense. As always no revealing
the plot. (PS: The book is called eleven minutes because that
according to the author is the time taken to have sex, Yeah Right
Coelho you super man)