Ever known the feeling when you’re reading a book and it seems like the author is speaking directly to you? Or, when you’ve finished the journey from the front cover to the back, you let out a great sigh and want to start all over again? In short, ever known that feeling of reading a story you’d like to revisit again and again? I’m sure you have.
Most of us have that favourite book that we like to read when we’re down in the dumps, which has pages worn down with being turned over and over, one that somehow perks us up every time. Paulo Coelho is one of those authors whose words have acted as companions in gloomy times for a whole lot of people around the globe. If you’re interested in books, I’m sure you know at least one person who holds some book of Paulo Coelho in the category just mentioned above. So, it’s just natural that when the author comes out with another book, presumably about his own journey — or pilgrimage, as he puts it — many of us would be waiting to lap it up. Here’s another one to add to that ‘comfort reading’ list, right? Not this time, though.
Aleph can definitely not be called one of Coelho’s best. The plot seemed to have infinite possibilities — a journey across Russia aboard the trans Siberian railway definitely spells adventure. Of course, since it’s not just a story — it’s an autobiographical episode — you can’t complain that it isn’t juicy or spicy enough. But, all said, it does make you feel a bit tired of the same old stuff. The spiritual quest to get in touch with your real self… going into a past life to clear out the dark spots that haunt your present… now where have we read that before?
Granted, there are bits that would catch your interest — like the symbolism of the Chinese bamboo, which grows downwards for the first five years, spreading its root network, and then suddenly, in the sixth year, shoots up to a height of 25 metres. Or the discovery of Coelho’s past life and his role in the hideous tortures inflicted during the Spanish Inquisition.
In true Coelho style, there are also those little life-truths that make you stop and think a bit, wondering at the simplicity of the fact and its ability to hold things in a new light.
“…Conflicts were necessary for humanity to be able to evolve…” the writer tells Hilal, the volatile, unpredictable woman accompanying him on his journey. “The motto of the alchemists was Solve et coagula, which means ‘separate and bring together’.” He goes on to illustrate — “This morning you and my editor quarrelled. Thanks to that confrontation, you were each able to reveal a light that the other was unaware of. You separated and came together again, and we all benefited from that.”
As for the Aleph itself — the magical ‘point in the universe containing all other points’, well, you will either be rather bored or rather fascinated, depending on whether you’ve read earlier works that contain much the same thing stated in a different manner. Then there is the ring of light exercise, quite tempting to any reader, precisely because it is so simple and comes with that delicious tag of being ‘warned about’.
At the very least, you might enjoy the book. But you certainly wouldn’t bother to come back to it.
Most of us have that favourite book that we like to read when we’re down in the dumps, which has pages worn down with being turned over and over, one that somehow perks us up every time. Paulo Coelho is one of those authors whose words have acted as companions in gloomy times for a whole lot of people around the globe. If you’re interested in books, I’m sure you know at least one person who holds some book of Paulo Coelho in the category just mentioned above. So, it’s just natural that when the author comes out with another book, presumably about his own journey — or pilgrimage, as he puts it — many of us would be waiting to lap it up. Here’s another one to add to that ‘comfort reading’ list, right? Not this time, though.
Aleph can definitely not be called one of Coelho’s best. The plot seemed to have infinite possibilities — a journey across Russia aboard the trans Siberian railway definitely spells adventure. Of course, since it’s not just a story — it’s an autobiographical episode — you can’t complain that it isn’t juicy or spicy enough. But, all said, it does make you feel a bit tired of the same old stuff. The spiritual quest to get in touch with your real self… going into a past life to clear out the dark spots that haunt your present… now where have we read that before?
Granted, there are bits that would catch your interest — like the symbolism of the Chinese bamboo, which grows downwards for the first five years, spreading its root network, and then suddenly, in the sixth year, shoots up to a height of 25 metres. Or the discovery of Coelho’s past life and his role in the hideous tortures inflicted during the Spanish Inquisition.
In true Coelho style, there are also those little life-truths that make you stop and think a bit, wondering at the simplicity of the fact and its ability to hold things in a new light.
“…Conflicts were necessary for humanity to be able to evolve…” the writer tells Hilal, the volatile, unpredictable woman accompanying him on his journey. “The motto of the alchemists was Solve et coagula, which means ‘separate and bring together’.” He goes on to illustrate — “This morning you and my editor quarrelled. Thanks to that confrontation, you were each able to reveal a light that the other was unaware of. You separated and came together again, and we all benefited from that.”
As for the Aleph itself — the magical ‘point in the universe containing all other points’, well, you will either be rather bored or rather fascinated, depending on whether you’ve read earlier works that contain much the same thing stated in a different manner. Then there is the ring of light exercise, quite tempting to any reader, precisely because it is so simple and comes with that delicious tag of being ‘warned about’.
At the very least, you might enjoy the book. But you certainly wouldn’t bother to come back to it.
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