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Eleven Minutes
by: Paulo Coelho

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780007166039
ISBN: 0007166036
Label: Thorsons
Manufacturer: Thorsons
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: August 18, 2003
Publisher: Thorsons
Studio: Thorsons
Sales Rank: 280609

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The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream

By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept

Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk Review:
Paulo Coelho's astonishingly beautiful writing in Eleven Minutes virtually guarantees it the cult status that The Alchemist already enjoys. But what is the Paulo Coelho phenomenon? How can an author who (only a short time ago) was virtually unknown to most readers have taken the world of books by storm--and without the benefit of glitzy advertising? The answer is simple: quality. Such books as The Fifth Mountain andThe Devil and Miss Prym are enough to explain a considerable following for the author, with their atmospheric prose and involving characters.

Eleven Minutes tells the story of young Maria living an innocent life in a Brazilian village and is played out in a measured fashion, but with all the author's brilliant scene-setting (very lush here) fully in place. But then Maria experiences love and suffers great pain. From this point, Coelho has us inexorably in his grip. Maria's disillusionment with love leads her to Geneva where she finally ends up selling her body (Coelho may offer us the beauty of life, but never at the expense of its harshness). Maria's approach to sex is complex--this is no mere revulsion arising from what she is now doing with her life. And then she meets a seductive young painter, who may or may not offer her a new path in life. But does she prefer to continue on the dark sexual odyssey she has embarked on, at the expense of real love?

There are echoes of DH Lawrence in Coelho's exploration of the sacred and spiritual aspects of sex and it's a brave author who tackles a subject that can so easily slip into strained seriousness. That never happens here, and Maria's journey is one that the reader willingly undertakes; the lesson she learns are lessons for the reader. --Barry Forshaw

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Interesting In A Somewhat Morose Way
As a pretty, young teenager in Brasil, Maria, partly by accident and perhaps partly by design, gets recruited for a prostitution ring in Europe. She works in a restaurant/bar with other prostitutes, earns some money, gains some independence but feels yearnings toward greater things. She becomes torn between someone she loves and someone who offers a strange,fascinating but dangerous area of sexuality and sensation. Ultimately she must choose. The book is based on conversations Coelho had with a woman who led such a life and the book reflects this authenticity and avoids the sensationalism of the subject for more thought-provoking ideas.

Rating:

- Quite honestly a terrible book
This must be a contender for the worst book I've ever read. I read 'The Alchemist' by the same author largely because it appeared in the 'BBC 100 favourite reads' poll and was described as 'life changing'. I didn't like it, but thought this may just be due to the fact that the story is a cross between a parable and a self-help book, and decided to give Coelho another go. I shouldn't have bothered!
The story here is of a naive young Brazilian girl wanting to make some money by travelling to Switzerland ostensibly as a dancer, but soon becomes involved in prostitution. It's full of unbelievable scenarios and characters, some of which are frankly risible, mixed with a generous dose of half-baked adolescent philosophy. The heroine moves ... Read More:

Rating:

- Vying for top spot for my number 1 book!
This is the first of Coelho's books I've read - and it has quite simply left a profound impression on me. Very thought provoking and grabbed me from the first words, then dragged me through the rest as I couldn't keep up with the words. I guess some books speak only to you at the right point you pick it up - and this was one of those moments for me. Bought almost a year ago it's just been sitting on my shelf. And when I picked it up to start reading, I had no idea what the book was about or what Eleven Minutes meant.
One of the negative comments in an earlier review said you'll only enjoy this book if the Celestine Prophecy was your thing. Now much as I know the Celestine Prophecy has it's own cult following (of higher being spiritual schmaltz ... Read More:

Rating:

- Worth reading

This is my second reading for Paulo Coelho, Such amazing wonderful reading that I was enjoying each minute of it. I liked this as much as I liked The Alchemist.

The concept of the story ( despite the job of the main character as a hooker ) it gives alot of moral and themes for personal life.

This man has a lovely style of writing that capture you with him till the end, especially with this novel from a woman side

Overall, it is a worth reading for those who would like to understand the male and female for different sides.

Rating:

- Another 'follow your dreams' novel
Having sworn never again to read any more Paulo Coelho, my book group chose Eleven Minutes as this months read. This is now my 4th book by the author and I am no more a fan than after the first. I find his patronising style simplistic and child-like and he repeats 'key' statements ad nauseum throughout his books. While they are often quick reads - this one took less than 24hrs - I still end up wondering why I bothered.

Maria, a naive young Brazilian girl, decides to take a week's vacation in Rio de Janiero. There she meets a talent scout on the look out for dancers to perform in Geneva. Maria decides to take a chance but finds that things are not quite as she'd been led to believe. When she gets sacked for missing a day's work, things start ... Read More:

Books : Eleven Minutes