I never pay too much attention to the plot of Coelho books because the plot is merely a means of this author to get his point across. The chapters of this book do culminate in to a satisfying climax, however the messages in the book are woven in to the detail of the text throughout rather than the end.

I found the third person narrative quite annoying to begin with, it is very perplexing to me as to why someone would choose to write about themselves in the third person. However writing is a continuous process of experiment so I will cut Mr Coelho some slack. This must have been a difficult book to write, it was certainly a difficult book to read because it was so crammed with wisdom that I wanted to remember every sentence. I would suggest rereading many pages as you go along and taking your time with this piece, you will be rewarded with many great things to churn over in your mind. I read it in six days but I wish I spent ten or more days on it.

I gave this book five stars because Paulo is a gifted thinker and the ideas he produces in his work amaze me at the genius one person can possess. I can understand that many people might be uncomfortable with the topic of angels and associate his work with the oddball wave of the ‘New age’ authors that have surfaced within the past two or three decades but I beg you to go with it nevertheless.

I loved 'Veronica Decide to die' the most among the books of Coelho, Alchemist to some extent but I did not find it a realistic book, Eleven minuets I loved-it has well pitched to earthy realities. Valkyries, is well written but it was not my cup of tea. I believe that is for a different group of readers. And I do not criticize the book, it was just I did not like it but it well written and demonstrates the extraordinary story telling skills of the author.

The juice was not worth the squeeze. Confusing and jumpy and frankly not the content I connect with.

Angels Brought me Here
(A book Review of Paulo Coelho's The Valkyries)

In the Author’s Note at the back of this book Paulo Coelho said: "Anyone who has read The Valkyries, will know that this book is very different from The Pilgrimage, The Alchemist and Brida" — true enough it is.

The Valkyries sets off in Brazil when Paulo’s Master, J., gives him (yet another) a task: "to break the curse" by speaking with his angels. One week later, he and his wife Christina are on the road to the starkly beautiful yet dangerous Mojave Desert to seek "contacts," people that will help and guide him on a forty day quest to look for the Valkyries, leather clad warrior women who cruise around the desert on motorcycle that will show Paulo, and Christina as well, how to converse with their angels.

I believe the book started out quite strong and, to be honest with you, I was moved by the central question it relates to the reader: "Why do we destroy the things we love most?" But as I progress it just become trudging reading for me. Half way through the book I’m still clueless how communicating with angels will truly help Paulo on his spiritual search — and I still am puzzled over it after closing the book. I was taken aback that what the author’s been trying to say can all be just condensed into a simple message in the epilogue of the book.

The main thing why this book just didn’t really work for me is that it lacked the fabulist magic of The Alchemist and failed to capture the simple spiritual teachings that The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom presented. It also seems to me that Coelho talks down to his reader, well not actually him, but this one concerns the Valkyries whose principles I find too preachy and overtly one-dimensional that it all unsuccessfully made an impression to me.

Even so, The Valkyries retains some of the quintessential Coelho elements and has its share of rosy moments: one that really made an impact to me was when Chris learns "to look at the horizon." This for me works as a literal truth and a striking metaphor. A truth as I consider it a rare ability to live in the present, in the now all the while striving to strike a balance in a world that shouts for our constant attention; a metaphor in that it is much harder to attain a broad perspective of one’s life and sense of self. One of the things I consider the book’s strong point is that we encounter a different Coelho in its pages as we see him reveal details on his private life, on his almost failing marriage and in the process makes himself vulnerable, exposed to the judgment of others. As it is, the book is also peppered with nuggets of wisdom here and there, some of which I quote below:

"Someone once said that the Earth produces enough to satisfy needs, but not enough to satisfy greed."

"Faith is a difficult conquest, and it requires daily combat in order to be maintained."

"That’s what infatuation is: the creation of an image of someone, with out advising that someone as to what the image is."

I have faith in The Valkyries core message of “letting go of the past and believing in the future” in that I’m looking beyond this one and hopefully Paulo Coelho’s upcoming book that I’ll read soon will be none such as this.

.در کل شیوه نوشتن کوئیلو رو خیلی دوست دارم.خیلی خیلی لذت بردم
تابحال صحرا یا کویر نرفتم.اما با خوندن کیمیاگر و این کتاب انگار با سانتیاگو و پائولو و کریس سفر کردم بهش

“Angels are love in motion. They never rest, they struggle to grow, and they are beyond good and evil. Love that consumes all, that destroys all, that forgives all. Angels are made of that love, and are at the same time its messengers.”

I have come to the realisation that the best way for me to read Coelho’s autobiographical works is by imagining that they are fictional, allowing me to get into its magical elements. Though having said that, I appreciate the vulnerability and rawness of the story, as mentioned by Coelho in his author’s note at the end. A very easy read and quite enlightening and spiritual, particularly towards the end of the story. I certainly enjoyed this more than The Pilgrimage (for its increased believability) but not as much as The Alchemist (for its increased magical elements which do not fully resonate with me). I feel like there may be a lot of context that I am missing in order to fully appreciate Coelho’s more personal stories and might endeavour to reread them at some point, to try and fully understand his message. Nevertheless, an enjoyable story about self-belief and its development across human life.

I gave up on this book too many times, thinking that it's a non sense novel. But during my life I gave up on many things as well, but I sat up a challenge to finish this one, not because I wanted to know the ending or to fulfill my curiosity, but for the sake of finishing the book itself, because I have learned that unfinished business might haunt you. And so I have finished this one, till the last word. Then?? Everything made sense to me, I was stupid, prejudice controlled me and I regretted that. I have enjoyed the ending.... To destroy what you love the most in order to find your path?? it somehow mirrored my thoughts, an obvious reflection of everything inside my heart. I was never convinced of any thing just like Coelho's wife but then to face the truth is the most convincing way, Paulo has used his own wife as a cynic, who refused to accept even the possibility of an angel, but soon becomes a medium herself to gain better access to mind’s hidden recesses. And this is a pure paradox... I liked it, because it's worth it "when god wants to drive a person insane, he grants that person's every wish".

Desert Solitaire meets Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but this is not as good as either one.
I see how much Coelho struggles to be a good writer and appreciate his effort to capture something mystical, but it doesn't work... I suppose he can make all the deals with the devil he wants, but the gift of writing has not been bestowed, he was cheated ; p
I wonder if he was very jealous of the success of J.K. Rowling when Harry Potter came out? Much better telling of a sort of similar story, but in a work of fiction. How is Coelho as popular as he is? Perhaps because of the simplistic writing? Can non-fiction and fiction be compared? Overcoming a cursed past is story many of us want to hear about... would be refreshing to get something like that with a "Catholic perspective."
At the end, in the authors note, he mentions that he needed to write so that the story was accessible to all readers, does this mean he lied about using drugs? It seems like he was dealing cocaine in Brazil and probably used peyote or mesclun in the American Southwest desert...
The book Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos came to mind. A well written memoir of a famous children's book author who had a rough start in his teens and early 20's. A real, honest telling of going from a "bad guy" to becoming the famous author of the beloved Rotten Ralph series. Life can be long and trajectories can change, Gantos story is worth reading.

I enjoyed the alchemist over 10 years ago and looked forward to reading another book by the author.

I couldn’t get into the story and the narrator (aka author) seemed to dismiss and lie to his wife was off putting and maybe that got better but I just didn’t want to keep reading to find out.

Put the book up in a donation bin at the hotel I was at and hope it brings fulfillment to someone else. Not for me.

Langweilig

So habs jetzt nochmal gelesen und hab schon so das Gefühl, dass der gute Paulo a bissal ein Schlag hat. Menschen, die dieses Buch gut finden, essen wahrscheinlich auch bei Vöner und laden ihre Kristalle im Vollmondlicht auf. Naja.

Was there a story here? If there was then I missed it. The plot is extremely lacking or (at best) very difficult to decern. The conversations are boring as the characters jabber on about nothing consequential. I'm being generous in giving it even 1 star. Ugh, just not a good book.

The only good thing about this book was that it was a relatively easy read. Otherwise, the entire plot and the characters are like the yawn-inducing, bland portraits found in some struggling artist's repertoire. Overused, hipster enigma of fabled tales doesn't work here as well as it did in The Alchemist. The result is boring, colourless and instantly forgettable.