This review will be in a question-answer system as a tribute to my recently concluded examinations.

Q. What were your first impressions of the book, "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho?

A. As I embarked on the harrowing journey of reading this book, I was initially impressed by the cover. The dedication of the book to the author’s wife was also well written. The writing was lucid and there were some quotes that touched my heart. Overall, these factors made me look forward to reading "The Zahir".

Q. What do you mean by the Zahir?

A. As quoted from the book, the Zahir refers to "someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness."

Q. Who is the Zahir in the book?

A. The Zahir in this book is Esther, the narrator’s wife who has taken flight to find peace of mind and to realise her true calling. She has abandoned her husband (as she should have done long before) to live the life she has wanted to live without any restraints.

Q. Who refers to Esther as the Zahir?

A. The narrator in the book, "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, refers to Esther as the Zahir. When she was reported missing, the narrator’s initial thought was that he was a free man. He was aggrieved by this decision of his wife’s that led to his image getting maligned in the public eye. But later, he becomes obsessed with his Zahir and his singular mission in life becomes the search for his wife around the whole world, if need be.

Q. Supply a brief character sketch of the narrator in the book "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho.

A. The unnamed narrator in the book, "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho is, by occupation, a writer. He refers to himself as a famous and successful writer who has produced many bestsellers and repeatedly mentions his books during the narration. He is married to his wife for years and yet he beds other women because he is bored and wants to add "a little zest to life". He believes that the earth should stop spinning because he is in pain. He is upset because the world doesn't seem to care for him when he is sad and alone and he thinks everyone should wallow in HIS sorrow.

While the only thought, when he heard that his wife had left him, was that of immense hurt because his image had been reduced to a man abandoned, he later becomes obsessed with her and cannot stop thinking about her. He decides he would go to the ends of the earth to find his wife and bring her back to him. And if that wasn't possible, he wanted answers from her. But even that doesn't stop him from taking in a girlfriend because, again, he is bored out of his mind and he needs someone to sympathise with him. His girlfriend, Marie, changed his life in an instant. Balance was restored and he took part in the many activities that a writer has to give time to. And yet, he cannot stop thinking about Esther, effectively stringing both women so he can have one to fall back upon when he gets ditched.

He meets Mikhail, Esther’s translator while she worked as a journalist, and he asks him to guide him to the place where Esther has been living after she left him. Even while he looks for his lost love, there is still immense selfishness showed by the narrator leaving the reader to think that he was only going so far so as to achieve his own means and prove to the world that he was not and could not have been, abandoned.

Q. Comment on the ending of the book, "The Zahir".

A. The ending of the book was, in all ways, completely absurd. There was no reason for the reader to believe that it was a happy ending with peace restored between the husband and wife. There was no concrete conclusion that would assure the reader that the entire journey was not for naught. It was open to interpretation, which perhaps was the author’s intention, but sadly, there wasn't a lot to interpret and very little room for interpretation.

Q. What was the lasting impression that the book left on you?

A. The lasting impression that the book left on me was of utter disappointment. There were a lot of expectations from this one as it was my first book by Coelho, who I've heard great things about, but this book did not deliver. I was inclined to abandon the book around the halfway mark and if it wasn't for my inability to leave a book unfinished and people cheering me on to finish this one, I would sadly have had my first abandoned book. Thank you, god, for having mercy.

Note: Please pardon this non-English Literature student for botching up the review with the stupid questions I put to myself and the even stupider answers. I know that had I written answers like these in a real examination, I would probably have failed. But you should be happy that I didn't put a Schematic Representation question in here, because that is the kind of question I’m more likely to encounter in my examinations.

I usually love Coelho’s works, but with this novel I found myself actually struggling to read it till the end.
In contrast to his other novels, I felt that this one was quite blunt and underdeveloped fetus of a male perspective in a relationship.

First of all, I will start with things I actually liked about the book.

- the general idea of a plot was quite interesting and innovative, it definitely kept me going for the next few chapters
- at times, there were places with indeed very deep and meaningful dialogues and conversations with lots of thought-provoking quotes.

That’s it for the good parts.

Now, my personal critique:

- the plot was very underdeveloped, I felt that some places weren’t logically consistent, and some just lacked any sense. It was very disappointing to me, since the other novels I read were way better than this.

- I had a huge problem with the ending of a book, I think that it was the weakest part of the novel actually. Firstly, the introduction of a new characters (Dos, Nina, others) was very confusing. Secondly, the resolution, when Ester and the writer met was very blunt and poorly written, and the part when she turned out to be pregnant (like what?). The entire ending was confusing and meaningless. It was hard to follow to say the least. I also felt like the author, that is passionate about love and true feelings, made such an emotionally tense moment (in theory) so flat and artificial.

- I personally found that the entire spirituality theme in this particular novel was quite out of hand and unnaturally exaggerated to the point where i felt that I am reading some manual of a new sect. Usually i really enjoy how Coelho develops this theme in his books, but here it was a bit non-sensual and weird. I also found that this theme was often abused in order to make sense out of character's motivation or their attitude.

- the female characters were very flat, I never saw a strong female character, whose life was not centered around man and his life. Although they (Mari or Ester) are described as successful women with good careers, we never actually see them as someone, who have actual interests beyond attracting male attention or being loved, in contrast to male characters.

- lastly, the main character was always contradicting his beliefs with his actions. he was always portraying himself as a deeply loving husband who was obsessed with his wife, yet he treated every women like trash, including his "dear" wife. His personality and his words were not convincing at all, that made his entire motivation ridiculous to me.

Vielleicht bin ich zu blöd um das Buch zu verstehen oder mir fehlt der Sinn für diesen esoterischen Kram. Auf jeden Fall war das Buch für mich vor allem eins: langweilig! Und zwischendurch zusätzlich ärgerlich, wenn von Stimmen die Rede war, die einem sagen, was man tun soll und wann der richtige Zeitpunkt gekommen ist, bestimmte Dinge zu tun, und von der Energie der wahren Liebe, die in der Welt verbreitet werden muss (oder so). Handlung gibt es eigentlich wenig, der Ich-Erzähler führt überwiegend innere Monologe, in denen er ständig von der Liebe zu seiner Frau schwafelt, die ihn verlassen hat und die nun sein Denken bestimmt. Ich versteh's nicht, sorry.

I think this wasn't a story of someone who was obsessed over his wife and finding her , but instead it was a story of self discovery and how we forget to acknowledge pretty things about ourselves, about life but are entangled in the nonsense of show off and the world is nothing but a useless concern . This also teaches about a voice which is inside you suppressed deep inside all because we don't want to listen it or ignore it but if we start listening it you will attain Nirvana for sure and you will be a much happier person . Impeccable story writing !!

I wish I could find a love like that

amazing sir!

I believe The Zahir is a chain of events with really great quotations rather than a novel because it has no climax, rising and falling action. It deals with Sufism, psychology and somehow magic realism. Its main themes are love, loss, obsession, marriage.
Coelho's words resonated deeply within me and in fact, helped me to "see" and unlock some feelings that I haven't been able to understand for quite some time.
you should know yourself before doing anything special in your life. this is the rule I deeply believe in it after reading the Zahir.
I don't recommend this book to anyone who believes in traditional concepts of marriage.

The Zahir goes to my favorite list. Why? No, I'm not biased to Paulo Coelho. I didn't like few of his titles and didn't pursue them. Yet I'm inspired by him. A man writing in a country where people don't read, in a language which only handfuls of people know- that's him. And why did he write? Because it was his childhood dream.

He stood by his dreams. He walked looking up at his beckoning star. He lost path, fumbled, failed, changed path and yet he found himself just below the shining star, his dream. His journey seems wonderful, magical, like that of Santiago.

The book though declared fictional recount stories from his life. A famous writer is a protagonist of book. He too, like Coelho, postponed writing what he always wanted to do. He too travels the road to Santiago for pilgrim. But where it hooked me was his philosophical thoughts in lyrical language. I read them, re-read and re-read. I felt mesmerized, like sitting with a friend who's earned wisdom and telling his experiences. The hearty conversation among buddies, you know.

“Freedom is not the absence of commitments, but the ability to choose - and commit myself to - what is best for me."

“We don't always choose the best solution but we carry on regardless, trying to remain upright and decent in order to do honor not to the walls or the doors or the windows but to the empty space inside, the space where we worship and venerate what is dearest and most important to us.”

“if a book isn't self-explanatory, then it isn't worth reading.”

Qe te jem e sinqerte po edhe une hyj te ata qe thone se Coelho ka me shume emrin sesa eshte. Nuk mund te them se libri s'ishte interesant,apo s'kishte dicka qe ia vlente per tu lexuar ,po pavaresisht sesa perpjekje ben shkrimtari brenda librit qe te ta fitoje zemren,zorr se ia arrin aq shume. Une qe ne fillim e ndjeja : Ky liber do kete prej meje o 3 o 5 yje. Pritja per te takuar Zahirin ,sigurisht te tundonte. Po kishte dicka monotone aty,pikerisht nga ato shprehjet qe ne fillim te duket sikur po lexon dicka te papare po me kalimin e faqeve te behen bajate. 400+ faqe per nje dialog aq siperfaqesor,nuk e di! Nuk e mohoj qe disa mesime prej ketij libri i mora,disa reflektime,por prape sado "lidhur" te mbante mu duk si nje liber i cuditshem. Disa mund ta konsiderojne "mrekulli" disa liber "kot" une s jam per keto ,po dhe nje vije te mesme se di. Me ka lene pak ne dileme sepse se mohoj dot qe dicka terheqese aty ishte,thjesht s ishte aq terheqese edhe ne stilin e duhur. Me duket sikur kete histori kaq te gjate pas nje jave do kujtoj vetem Energjine e Dashurise. Edhe thjesht Ester,Zahir. E di qe dukem e lige ,kur neser ndoshta mund te zgjohem e te them " i meriton 5 yje apo 4,2" (kjo varet) po mos e lexoni kete liber nese keni ne mendje kete e dike tjeter njekohesisht. Probably being savage more than I have to

Aşk, toplumsak kalıplar, kendimize koyduğumuz engeller ve daha niceleri...

İlk okumaya basladığımda alışkın olduğum Coelho dilinden belki de tarzından farklı bir yazımla karşılaşmış gibi hissettim. Ama her kelimesinde kendimi bulmam ve beni her zaman yaptığı gibi yaşamımı sorgulamaya sürüklemesi en sevdiğim yazarlardan neden biri olduğunu bana tekrar hatırlattı.
Esther'in ortadan kaybolması ile başlayan kitabımız bize ünlü bir yazar olan kocasının bakış açısından bir erkeğin aşk ve yaşam üzerindeki görüşlerini sayfa sayfa gözler önüne çıkardı. Onunla birlikte "aşk" kavramının bedenlerden ruhlara doğru geçişini, o sorgulama evrelerini her satırda hissettim. Bitirince kafamda hala soru işaretleri bıraktı doğrusu.

"Aşk" kavramını yıllarca sorguluyordum ve hala da sorguladığım bir kavram. Zahir ile birlikte yıllardır toplumumuzun, ailemizin, çevremizin, dostlarımızın ve en önemlisi kendimizin toplumun nasıl hayatımızı yönlendirmesine izin verdiğii gösterdi. Kalıpları, kavramları tekrar tekrar sorgulamamı sağladı. Aşk, evlilik, doğrular veya yanlışlar bunların hepsini kendimiz ne düşünüyoruzdan çok elalem ne der durumları ile hayatımızı yaşamaktayız. Kendimizin doğrularını bazen göz ardı edilip toplumun doğrularına yönelebiliyoruz. Hiç sorgulamadan, toplumun doğrularının da belki yanlış olduğunu düşünmeden hayatımızı devam ettirebiliyoruz. Hiç düşünmüyoruz aslıda. Kültürümüzün bize sunduğu evlilik kalıplarını, en önemlisi yaşam kalıplarını kendi süzgecimizden geçirmeden hayatımıza entegre ediyoruz. Peki bu yaşamı kendimizin yaşadığına emin miyiz? "Herkes kendi hikayesinin kahamanıdır" artık sehir efsanesine dönüşmüş durumda. Esther ve kocası ile bizlere aslında o kalıp yargıları, toplumsal cinsiyet kalıplarını, kadın ve erkeğin sorumluluklarını ve buna isteyerek veya istemeyerek nasıl uymak zorunda kaldığımızı yansıtıyor. Kendi doğrularımız bile değişkenken yoplumsal kalıplara neden bu kadar bağlandığımızı bence sorgulatmaya çalışıyor. Aşk ve evlilik, ikili ilişkiler üzerinden gibi gözükse de ilk kendimizi bulma yolu olan aile kavramının aslında önemli olduğunu ve bu önemi yerine getirebilmek için kendi doğrularımızı ve kendi ruhumuzu bulmamız gerektiğini göstermektedir. Hala kitapta sorguladığım kısımlar var doğrusu ve bu kendim olmam için (?) güzel bir adım ve etkileyici bir kitaptı. Bende Zahir'imi ve en önemlisi kendimi bulma yolunda ilerliyorum...

Reading this again now... Read ten years ago and so much info in my journal about it... I had to buy it again... Also bought the Thai version for my wife.

J’ai cru ça allait jamais finir

Complete perfection. Recommended for every body