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[2.5 stars] A quick read that catapults the reader back to the year 870 BC in present-day Lebanon. As a religiously persecuted prophet, Elijah has to leave his homeland but finds the love of his life in his new home. The city he moves to is threatened by an army and so his new love is also in danger.
The actions of the protagonist are guided by visions of angels or other characters in the book, from which he draws the wisdom to carry on even in the worst of circumstances.
In my opinion, Coelho tries too hard to sound particularly philosophical, but many of the wisdoms seem more like platitudes. What is interesting, however, is the narrator's comments about how clerics at the time saw the advent of writing as a threat. Literacy was seen as a threat to their power.
All in all It's an entertaining book, but that's not enough for me to really recommend it.
The actions of the protagonist are guided by visions of angels or other characters in the book, from which he draws the wisdom to carry on even in the worst of circumstances.
In my opinion, Coelho tries too hard to sound particularly philosophical, but many of the wisdoms seem more like platitudes. What is interesting, however, is the narrator's comments about how clerics at the time saw the advent of writing as a threat. Literacy was seen as a threat to their power.
All in all It's an entertaining book, but that's not enough for me to really recommend it.