Solid read. Nowhere near the alchemist and not even as good as the pilgrimage tbh. But worth a read. Some valuable lessons about self sabotage and being grateful for what you have. A couple really good passages and a little bit of filler in the middle of said really good passages. Paulo Coelho is the GOAT regardless.

One of the worst books I've ever read.

NOTA: 1

Eu não faço parte da galera que rechaça tudo o que Paulo Coelho escreveu só pela galhofa da coisa. Não compartilho do sentimento de aversão crônica a sua figura. Tenho muito respeito por sua carreira como letrista, em especial as colaborações com Raul Seixas. Mas minha boa vontade acaba por aqui.
Li este livro por uma única razão. Ouvi o autor dizer em uma entrevista que "As Valkírias" relatava a história real do grande preço que ele precisou pagar por se envolver com magia. Minha curiosidade falou mais alto. O livro é até curto e não me tomou muito tempo.
A prosa é simples, às vezes simples demais. Mas está longe de ser o problema aqui. O que me deixou irritado é o quão superficial ele se esforça pra ser em absolutamente tudo neste livro.
Não existem metáforas profundas e absolutamente nenhum dos "conceitos mágicos" tratados aqui me soaram como magia, de fato. Tudo parece um esforço coletivo dos personagens em enxergar significado onde não existe.
O pior de tudo é o famigerado "preço alto" a que o autor se referiu na entrevista simplesmente não é explicado aqui de forma clara e suas consequências se resumem a uma pessoa bem sucedida que está infeliz. Não desmereço o poder da infelicidade e a incapacidade do dinheiro em alcançá-la, mas a superficialidade com a qual o tema foi tratado gerou um livro insípido.
Sigo apreciando a carreira de Paulo Coelho como letrista, porque como autor está bem difícil.

This, deemed classic by many semi-biographical masterwork of self-discovery, spirituality and goal-reaching from Coelho, is about one man’s battle with self-doubt and fear on his Mojave desert expedition with his wife ostensibly in search of visual proof of angels, is a companion read to Coelho’s other bestselling and influential books dealing with similar themes, such as The Alchemist and The Winner Stands Alone.

Like The Alchemist, this work just really isn't for someone like me. Maybe I am too much of an idiot or too centred in realism? I am aware of the impact of this work on millions of people, but it may just be a case of different strokes for different folks. Let's get real, I don't even have a spirituality or self-help bookshelf! So why would I re-read a book that I had previously given One-Star to again? Honestly? I'm just working through my Coelho collection :). I rated this a single point higher after this re-read, making it a 3 out of 12, which is still a One-Star read, but a very strong one. Meanwhile, here's the kind of Valkyries that get my attention:

2023 and 2005 read

Honestly I didnt really get the point of this book..

Paulo Coelho, telling this story of his own, becomes the instrument to tell the story of how he overcomes his habit of destroying the things he loves the most. This book is all about forgiving our past and to battle the most stubborn and subtle of the fears present in the back of our minds; thus believing in love and believing (and realising) that oneself is worthy when fortune comes their way. Though the book is not as gripping as others by Paulo, it can help overcome our oldest fears and help us regard ourselves worthy. This book should not be seen for the story it tells but for the message it intends.

Da li je iko ikada rekao da zemlja pruža dovoljno da zadovolji potrebe, ali ne i pohlepu – nastavi starica.
*
„Sve što se dogodi jedanput ne mora se nikada ponoviti, ali sve što se desi dva puta, desiće se i treći put.“

i mean its just like a religious experience, i liked some parts of it but like idk not for me

People who know me in person will probably know that I really like ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. It’s a special book and it’s a book that has been following me for almost half of my life now. In the last decade I often came across Paulo Coelho breadcrumbs… a mystical quote here, an intertextual reference there, while speaking about ‘The Alchemist’ to someone on the airport coming face to face with a giant poster of Coelho, etc.

At a local garage sale, a few months ago, I was going through some old books of a neighbour. And I saw ‘The Valkeries’ by Coelho. Only 1 Euro! I couldn’t resist. Although we already have too many books in our house, and I pledged not to buy anymore books :-) I bought this one. And. I finished it in a week or so. I was hooked. It’s a bit of a strange book. The main character is also named Paulo and I was in dubio- like… Is this a work of fiction? Or not? Is thus a book about real life events?

I will not give away the answer :-) The only thing I can tell is that this is a book for the true believers of magic and invisible stuff. This is a book about people on a mission, on a quest to find deep answers to almost unsolvable questions about the hidden layers of our world, of our cosmos. It’s a book about angels. It’s a book about light. And… also about darkness. And I simply love it. I really mirror myself with the main character and I feel connected with him and with his story.

I’m on a quest myself. I also want to learn about the alchemical riddles and dive into the unknown. I want to learn how I can truly know myself and the world that surrounds me. And often I feel ridiculized when I talk about such things with others. We are living in very rational times and a lot of people seem to have forgotten the Old Ways and the Knowledge from the past; so it’s often a struggle to talk about mystical things. This book gave me hope. I’m not the only one who is searching. I’m not the only one who is on a road too somewhere. I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what he is doing.

I highly recommend this book to all the searchers out there, to the misfits, the creative ones, the crazy ones. Be open minded, smile, take a breath and read this book :-) There is more to life then we think we know

I've always loved Paulo Coelho's works and expected this book to be a new entry to my favorite-books shelf. Nevertheless, this one was a major let down.
First of all, I couldn't figure out, all through the book, if the events were reality-based or not. In other words, the author was presenting a work of fiction, or non-fiction? Because all the real namings of people left me with the impression of a non-fiction piece. Meanwhile, the incidents and themes were beyond paranomality; to be more specific beyond basic religious beliefs; messing all the way with one's pillars of belief about god, angels and the foresight-ing signals a man can share with his creator. Hence, while reading I couldn't help listening to that snoozing questionable nudge of "is this meant to be fictional? Because if not, meh!".
Secondly, one of the best things about Coelho's works- and it's a very rare quality- is acing a fable-telling tone. Unfortunately, in the Valkyries, something about the narrating ruined this quality. It was overdone.
The third reason lies in what I'd prefer to describe as the "Spaghetti events". The sequence of events weren't that irritating as the first two points, but certainly it was pretty obvious too. It cried for a better handle; a re-maping.
The only two things that pleased me were the plot base and the characters carving. The plot base was so promising; another reason that got my hopes up high. The main characters only- Paulo and Christina- who were well-carved, but the rest were not, which still left me more skeptical that the non-fictional probability was true. Therefore the nudge was doubled.

2.5

با خوندن اثار کوئیلو متوجه شدم که شخصیت های اون دنبال نوعی عرفان یا یک جادوی والا هستند و اینم به این معنا نیست که کتاباش شامل ی رده سنی خاصی می شه که واسه سرگرمی باشه ( اینو میگم چون خودم وقتی میخواستم اولین کتابش رو شروع کنم همچین حسی داشتم:) بنظرم شخصیت های کوئیلو بعد های مختلف وجودی اون در هر فصل از زندگیش هستند هر چند که اعتقاد به معجزه و جادو معمولا مربوط به سال های نوجوانی میشه اما تا الان هرچی ازش خوندم این عنصر رو درش دیدم و این نشون میده جادو برای کوئیلو یه مسئله گذرا نبوده و هنوز هم همراهش هست