Ο τίτλος είναι παραπλανητικός!

I found this in the used section and picked it up for $2. The Alchemist has been my favorite book since I read it the first time, 18 years ago. I loved this book for similar reasons. Though it is written more like a narrative and event retelling, the subject matter is intriguing. I didn't want to put it down.

A story of one couple's journey to find and learn from Valkyries, and speak with and see angels.

I rated this book with four stars at start, then I thought about and change it to three. WHY? I'm not sure, I don't know how I feel about this book. Just as they say it's a biography of the author with a little bit of fictitious events, so that's why it's different. It's different when you read fiction, because your are prepared for all sort of supernatural and occult events. It's easy to accept them given the account that they are fabricated, that they are suppose to be the way they are and that there is no limitation to one's imaginations. But when it comes to biographies and REAL life experiences, so it become hard to accept such occult abstractions, more less the events.

But I liked the book, for it's simplicity. Paulo Coelho knows how to express all those weird ideas in simple terms, also to make the simple actions and behaviors notable. It doesn't need much effort to understand what he try to convey.

“That's what infatuation is: The creation of an image of someone, without advising that someone as to what the image is”. “Each would always be fascinated by the other–so long as each remained exactly what the other imagined.”
That's dejected but that's what reality is.Half of our relationship problem arises from this, because we fail to distinguish between love and infatuation.

Besides He mentioned angels. I've always taken all his accounts about magic and angels metaphorically. Yes! we all have voices inside us, guiding us, warning us and consoling us. We call it intuition. Replace them with terms like instincts, sixth sense, divination, revelation etc. He called them angels and I understand but I never thought about their corporeal existence and I'm not sure if he meant exactly when talking about their appearances and that's the problem, because you never know to take it literally or metaphorically.

I'm curious about the Valkyries, if they really exist. I'm intrigue if there are still those sort of people seeking those sort of magic. I'm unable to comprehend how a person leave everything behind in search for the unknown. He talk about following you dreams, but I don't know what that dream is and how are you suppose to find it. He talk about new world and I'm curious what changes it may bring. He talk about the conspiracy and the occult traditions and I'm curious if it really work the way he showed.

I liked the concept of second mind, The convenience behind small difficulties, and the message about forgiving ourselves and our past and believing in our future. I had difficulties accepting the events but I liked the message and I think that's what actually matters.

The thing I like most about Coelho books is 'The Quotes'.
“When God wants to drive a person insane, he grants that person's every wish.”
“Someone once said that the earth produces enough to satisfy needs, but not enough to satisfy
greed,”
“People destroy what they love.”
So if you are a quotation fan and you don't get offended by literal events and personal convictions, then you might really enjoy this book.

Some Books are Hair Raising and then some are Hair Splitting and Then there are third kind, that will take away all your hair , by the time you reach the end.

Okay ...anyone who has read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" ... (not completely, at least a half or at least a quarter of it-like me )..will know.. where Paulo was inspired from. Then he Twists the Story about searching Angels, putting females riding Motorcycles in desert , calling them Valkyries.

The Book should be named Introduction to Witchcraftism ( ye ye .. i know. ..there is no word as witchcraftism...but i hope you get the point). Amidst those motorcycle riding females, who perform Voodoo in desert, you will find Paulo blabbering like a nut and his wife bearing his blabbering about god knows what.

I Wish..Goodreads considers negative ratings from book..and this will top this list.

Why did I continued reading it after 50 % ?

Because, I wanted to review it Harshly....

PS.. the entire wisdom is in last 20 percent of the book... read that and you will save yourself from this head-aching experience.

At 50% it was Crap...by the time i finished it ... it was Truck Load Of Crap.

Onleesbaar gebrabbel!

Άλλα μια αποκρυφιστική προσωπική εμπειρία του Κοέλο. Αν και είναι από τα πρώτα του, προσωπικά βαρέθηκα. Όλη αυτό το μπλέξιμο που'χει στο μυαλό του και έχει ανακατέψει όλες τις θρησκείες, καθόλου δεν με συγκινεί. Αντιθέτως γίνεται αστείος, όταν παίρνει γνωστές ιστορίες και τις πλάθει όπως θέλει, όπως της Αγίας Μαρίας της Αιγυπτίας στο παρόν βιβλίο.

I am always impressed by Coelho's way of writing solid short stories. As usual, this book was an easy read and presented some helpful spiritual/personal concepts that can help improve ones life.

Not the best work by Coelho I would say. A good baseline but the story was at times haphazard.

Liked the title very well thought “Valkyries” also served as the temptation which led me to complete this book.

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Difícil opinar sobre este libro, volviendo atrás en mis inicios con la literatura me decantaba con Paulo Coelho y me gustaba... ahora no se si es sacrilegio o pura vergüenza admitir esto pero si lo hacia.


si, si lo era...

Sin embargo este fue el ultimo libro que leí del autor y no me gusto en lo absoluto... lo termine mas que nada por no abandonarlo a la mitad.

I like reading Paulo Coelho with his philosophically demanding stories and simple style. However, every now and then, you come across one of his "spiritual" books that deals with religious mumbo jumbu and takes itself a little too new age worldy for me. There is even some suggestion in the book that this is not fiction, in which case, as a biography it is just nonsense.

Boring, pedantic and pointless. Full to the brim with trivial new-age denial tactics designed to distract Coelho’s fans from their failed lives, miserable vegan diets and god-awful joss-stick stink. I would burn this book if I wasn’t now so afraid of offending the god of fire.

This to me was a rather disappointing Coelho read. Having liked, even loved, most of his other books, it was a bit puzzling to me how this book was so off the mark, both plotline, storytelling and message wise. Still don’t really get it. But I guess you can’t win every time.