Eleven minutes by Paulo Coelho | A brief review.

Hey folks! Welcome back to the reader’s corner. I am back after a couple of weeks. The gap is because of my reading slump. Finally, I am here with the review of the book that kicked my reading slump. That is,
ELEVEN MINUTES by Paulo Coelho. Let’s dive in!

ELEVEN MINUTES by PAULO COELHO

About the book

The book ELEVEN MINUTES by Paulo Coelho is published in 2003 by Harper Collins. Initially, the book was published in Portuguese and was translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa. The author’s book has sold around 140 million copies and translated into 72 languages. Also, this book won Ex Libris Award in 2004.

Description of the book

(Blurb of the book)

“Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer…” so says Maria, a young Brazilian girl convinced from an early age that she will never find true love. A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, but the glittering life she hoped for was a fantasy. The reality- selling herself to survive- is a dehumanizing grind that pushes her further away from real love, towards a fascination with pure physical pleasure. But when her emotional barriers are tested by a handsome painter, she must choose between the dark past she is on and risking everything to find her ‘inner light’. Can she move beyond the meeting of bodies to a meeting of minds or even souls – to a place where sex itself is sacred?

My review

First and foremost, the storyline is very much interested me. When I read the blurb, I made my mind to read this book for sure because of the very unusual story. Eleven Minutes is the story of a prostitute. Not everyone speaks or tells a tale about them. So, the story is very captivating and flowing.

Secondly, the language is straightforward and clear to understand. Speaking of the character, Maria, she is very different from the normal girls, courageous, and adventurist. The way she utters her thoughts about love, passion, freedom, expectations, fate is so intense and subtle. There are few extracts from Maria’s diary in between that have profound and wise thoughts about life, souls, predestination, inner light, connecting threads that are mesmerizing. It took me few minutes to understand and process it. I even re-read those pages which are philosophical.

I loved her perspective of life, love, etc. And I would like to quote one from Maria’s diary here that I loved the most.

“ True experience of freedom is having,
the most important thing in the world without owning it. ”

Just re-read it and think about it. I loved the concept.

The novel has some mature content apart from that it, has more thought-provoking things like the history of prostitution where they spoke about sex as a sacred thing. The inner light in oneself and the souls that all together is fascinating. Here and there the author has sprinkled some Brazilian myths and superstition that is interesting. I am the kind of person who loves to read about different myths, superstitions, traditions, the culture that made me love the book more. Also, apart from the physical appearances, status, virtues, lust, this novel speaks about the love between two souls suchlike is totally different from what our society tells us.

Eventually, coming to the author, Paulo Coelho has never failed to surprise with his books and stories. It always carries unusual things. I read his book called The Alchemist first and loved it. Later I read Veronica Decides To Die and didn’t understand well. After that, I didn’t read any of his work. Finally, after the suggestion of a booktuber bought this book, read it, and loved it!

Dear readers, if you want to read something about prostitution and discovering the inner light of oneself, choose Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. Because this story tells us the other side of a prostitute.

Happy Reading!

P.S. 

In case if you are looking to buy this book, let me make it easier. Here is the Amazon link for this book. Click, own a copy, and enjoy reading. Link – Eleven minutes by Paulo Coelho

If you are looking for similar book review posts, then you must definitely check out my previous blog posts. Here is the link –Readers’ Corner.

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