Written with the same masterful prose and clarity of vision that made The Alchemist an international phenomenon, The Fifth Mountain is Paulo Coelho's inspiring story of the Biblical prophet Elijah. In the ninth century B.C., the Phoenician princess Jezebel orders the execution of all the prophets who refuse to seek safety in the land of Zarephath, where the unexpectedly finds true love with a young widow. But this newfound rapture is to be cut short, and Elijah sees all of his hopes and dreams irrevocably erased as he is swept into a whirlwind of events that threatens his very existence. In what is truly a literary milestone, Coelho gives a quietly moving account of a man touched by the hand of God who must triumph over his frustrations in a soul-shattering trail of faith.
The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1986, PAULO COELHO did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. In the following year, COELHO published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. Other titles include Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), By the river Piedra I sat Down and Wept (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo entitle Maktub (1994), the compilation of texts Phrases (1995), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), Veronika decides to die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in Stories for parents, children and grandchildren (2001), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005), The Witch of Portobello (2006) and Winner Stands Alone (to be released in 2009). During the months of March, April, May and June 2006, Paulo Coelho traveled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella in 1986. He also held surprise book signings - announced one day in advance - in some cities along the way, to have a chance to meet his readers. In ninety days of pilgrimage the author traveled around the globe and took the famous Transiberrian train that took him to Vladivostok. During this experience Paulo Coelho launched his blog Walking the Path - The Pilgrimage in order to share with his readers his impressions. Since this first blog Paulo Coelho has expanded his presence in the internet with his daily blogs in Wordpress, Myspace & Facebook. He is equally present in media sharing sites such as Youtube and Flickr, offering on a regular basis not only texts but also videos and pictures to his readers. From this intensive interest and use of the Internet sprang his bold new project: The Experimental Witch where he invites his readers to adapt to the screen his book The Witch of Portobello. Indeed Paulo Coelho is a firm believer of Internet as a new media and is the first Best-selling author to actively support online free distribution of his work.
I enjoyed the book but I don't think I can give it more than 3 stars. It's really a simple story simply told but it gives one some things to think about. I have to add that I read the Bible when I was a kid. but I didn't remember the story of Elijah. I don't know how close to the Bible the story is but it is of interest. Israel is in decline following the reign of the great Solomon. In fact, Jezebel, the princess from Phoenicia, is trying to force her religion of Baal-worship on the Israelites. so it's a time of tyranny but also chaotic. Elijah is the prophet who has to deal with the troubles besetting the people of Israel. He will find his faith sorely challenged... Although I only give this book 3 stars, I would like to read more of Coelho's books.
رواية ضعيفة جدا.. وأفكارها مباشرة بأسلوب ممل.. اما عن تصور الكاتب عن النبي إنه مسير دائما، واي تصرف بوحي وكل إنجاز بمعجزة تساعده على تحقيقه، جعلني أشعر بعدم اهمية بطل الرواية.. كأن تعامله مع المواقف كان نظريا فقط!
.هذه ليست رواية، فأحداثها يمكن تلخيصها في عشر صفحات.. والبقية دروس ووعظ مباشر من الكاتب
:D
.. نجمة واحدة للنص Quotesالنجمة الثانية للـ :D
لا توجد فرصة أخيرة.. الرب يمنح فرصا متعددة
الألم الذي نشعر به، أنا وأنت، لن يزول أبدا، لكن العمل سيساعدنا على تحمّله
فالخوف يستمر فقط حتى النقطة التي يبدأ عندها وقوع المحظور ، عندئذ يفقد الخوف معناه ، ولا يتبقى لنا سوى الأمل في أن نكون قد اتخذنا القرار الصحيح
This was my second reading of The Fifth Mountain, a rarity in and of itself. I barely have time to read a book once, I don't usually get around to re-reading it. But it had been years since I had read Coelho's book, and so much has changed in my life since then that I wanted to see how/if the story still spoke to me.
The last time I had picked up The Fifth Mountain, I was practicing yoga, and although I never embraced Coelho's whole New Age, Warrior of Light idea, I thought it interesting. But now that I've returned to my Catholic faith, I was curious to see how Coelho dealt with a major biblical figure, Elija.
As a writing project, I think Coelho did an amazing job. He filled in the blanks and re-told (re-imagined) a powerful story of faith. Sort of.
To the best of my knowledge, Elija did not write Warrior of Light, yet that is what Elija tells his young charge at the end of The Fifth Mountain. As an author, I can let that go. You can't fault an author for writing a tie-in to another one of his books. Just ask Stephen King.
The other idea that Coelho mentions is more complex and, to me, more troubling. As Elija imparts his wisdom to the widow's young son, whom he has promised to take care of, he re-tells the story of Jacob wrestling with a stranger (who turns out to be God). At daybreak, the stranger cannot beat Jacob in the contest, and wants to take his leave. Jacob, having recognized that he was wrestling with God, refuses to let him go, and then demands a blessing. God blesses him, and changes Jacob's name to Israel.
The lesson Elija imparts from this is: sometimes you gotta take the bull (or God) by the horns and wrestle from Him your destiny. If we add to this concept the New Age (read The Secret) ideas that the universe is there to do your bidding, peppered throughout The Fifth Mountain, it led to a disappointing and troubling read. Yes, the Jacob story is in the Bible (Genesis). So it must have an edifying purpose. But is the message to be gleaned a New Age message, where God is just one more celestial being in and among the universe who can/should be bullied into giving us what we want simply by whining about it long and loud enough? I don't think so.
So, to recap, The Fifth Mountain is a great story, obviously well-written, a fine piece of historical/Biblical fiction, but ultimately it fails in that, I suspect, many readers will come away thinking erroneously that the Bible is yet another New Age text, or worse, that the Bible supports New Age ideology.
O carte cu un mesaj simplu si clar: întotdeauna poți merge mai departe; lucrurile nu sunt întotdeauna cea ce par, trebuiesc analizate si apoi sa decizi in consecință; nu ceda fara lupta; cauta sa te descoperi, apreciaza tot ce ai, fara discriminare, de la lucrurile mici la cele însemnate; fii bun si cauta să ajuți; sfârșitul nu înseamnă sfârsit.
Paolo Coelho is definitely one of my top 5 favourite authors. He has set the bar really high with 'The Alchemist', a book I keep going back to for motivation and direction in life. The Fifth Mountain brings into perspective the struggles of a prophet and Paolo does a good job of accentuating the moments of doubt in his sacred journey. The book is great for quotes and notes of wisdom. However, the details can sometime get boring and too dramatic to stick to the pages. The story can sometime be hard to discern from fiction as it has a slight narrative/historical voice. In any case, I am glad I have added one more to my compendium. I look forward to his follow up works, the most inquisitive one for me being "Manual of the Warrior of Light'. I am hoping I can connect the dots through future reading and decipher more of the message that Paolo is trying to impart to readers.
"وقتی با یک بار مردن میمیریم ، چرا باید روزی هزاران بار بمیریم؟"
هرچند کوئیلو در اکثر کتابهایش به یک یا چندین قضیه تکراری اشاره میکند و بارها آن را تکرار میکند اما هنوز خواندن کتاب های کوئیلو را تنها به یک جهت دوست دارم،همیشه تاکید میکند برای بدست آوردن رویاهای شخصیت مبارزه کن و نترس.هر آنچه که قرار باشد اتفاق بیفتد میفتد و هر حادثه و هر فاجعه ای چالشی است جدید. فاجعه تنبیه نیست ! مبارزه است . گاه لازم است برای فرار از نا امیدی و مصائبی که در این دنیا هست به کتابهایی از این دست پناه برد تا برای چند ساعت هم که شده به خود بقبولانم که دنیا جای زیبایی است و ارزش مبارزه کردن دارد. نکته ی دیگری که لازم است بگویم فارغ از هر بحث عقیدتی باور دارم که مفاهیمی به مانند عشق و صلح و آزادی و نفرت و کینه از درون میاید و هر چیزی را که بطلبیم سر راهمان قرار میگیرد و به خودمان برمیگردد؛به عبارتی هر چیز که در جستن آنی،آنی. هرانچه را که برای دیگران بخواهیم سر راه خودمان هم قرار میگیرد. خوشا به حال کسانی که به سمت عشق و پیوندن دادن و اشتراکات قدم برمیدارند،نه نفرت و گسستن و تفاوت ها.اگر نیک بنگریم این تفاوت ها و اشتراکات هرکدام در مکان و زمان خود زیباست و قابل تامل
کتاب کوه پنجم داستان مبارزه و مقاومت و استواری است.داستان زندگی ایلیا نبی که در سرزمین اسرائیل میزیسته است.داستان گریختن وی در ۲۳ سالگی از سرزمین اسرائیل بخاطر بیم از قتلش توسط آخاب پادشاه عصر(عهد عتیق،پادشاهان) و آشنا شدن وی با بیوه زن و به عهده گرفتن سرپرستی وی و فرزندش و آزمایش هایی است که در این مدت با آن روبرو میشود.داستانی بر اساس کتاب مقدس به مانند دیگر کتاب های کوئیلو کتاب مملوء است از پیامهای عقیدتی در ارتباط با عشق ، مقاومت ،آزمایش ، مبارزه و دوستی چند جمله از متن کتاب
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