Very slow to get started, didn't get any better towards the end. Very disappointing!

A beautiful experience. Reading Paulo Coelho makes my heart so happy and full, and soaking up the text of this awe-inspiring story has changed my perspective of life itself. The story is much more than a narrative of a love story, it is about following dreams, believing in yourself, supporting others and never giving up. It is about being unique and chsding your own path, instead of a path made by others. It might sound cliche but it makes so much sense. Coelho writes in such an exquisite way. I believe that this book has the ability to change me as a person.

El libro más entretenido que he leído del autor. No es mucho de mi gusto pero debo admitir que cumplió su cometido de hacerme pasar el rato. Mas allá de la mitad se volvió tedioso pero como faltaba poco para terminarlo me animé hasta la última página.

Tragically beautiful.

بودایی ها حق داشتند ، هندو ها حق داشتند ، هندی ها حق داشتند ، مسلمان ها حق داشتند ، یهودی ها حق داشتند . هر گاه انسان صادقانه راه ایمان را دنبال کند می تواند با خدا ه وحدت برسد و معجزه کند ... خدا همان است . هر چند هزار نام دارد ، اما آدم باید نامی را انتخاب کند که او را به آن نام بخواند

Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei = By the river piedra I sat down ond wept, Paulo Coelho
By the River Piedra I sat Down and Wept (Portuguese: Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei) is the first part in Coelho's trilogy "On the Seventh Day". The other two parts are Veronika Decides to Die and The Devil and Miss Prym. Their subject is a week in the life of someone ordinary to whom something extraordinary happens. The story focuses on Pilar, an independent young woman, who is frustrated with the grind of university life and looking for greater meaning. Pilar's life takes a turn when she meets up with a childhood sweetheart, who is now a spiritual teacher and a rumoured healer and miracle worker, and sets off with him on a journey through the French Pyrenees. Her companion now has to make a choice between his calling and his love for Pilar.
عنوانها: در ساحل رودخانه پیدرا نشستم و گریه کردم؛ کنار رود پیدرا نشستم و گریه کردم؛ کنار رود پیدرا نشستم و گریستم؛ کنار رودخانه ی پیدرا نشسته ام و گریه میکنم؛ کنار رودخانه ی پیدرا نشسته ام و گریه کردم؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه فوریه سال 2004 میلادی
عنوان 1: در ساحل پیدرا نشستم و گریه کردم؛ نویسنده: پائولو کوئیلو؛ مترجم: دل آرا قهرمان؛ تهران، میترا، 1375؛ در 176 ص، شابک: 9645998093؛ چاپ سوم 1375؛ چاپ چهارم تا ششم 1376؛ چاپ هفتم 1377؛ هشتم 1378؛ نهم 1379؛ دهم 1380؛ دوازدهم 1378؛ شابک: 9789645998095؛ موضوع: داستانهای برزیلی در باره زندگی دختر جوانی به نام پیلار - قرن 20 م
عنوان 2: کنار رود پیدرا نشستم و گریه کردم؛ نویسنده: پائولو کوئیلو؛ مترجم: دل آرا قهرمان؛ تهران، میترا، 1375؛ در 176 ص، شابک: 9645998093؛ چاپ سوم 1375؛ چاپ چهارم تا ششم 1376؛ چاپ هفتم 1377؛ هشتم 1378؛ نهم 1379؛ دهم 1380؛ دوازدهم 1378؛ شابک: 9789645998095؛ موضوع: داستانهای برزیلی - قرن 20 م
با عنوان 2: مترجم: میترا عرفانیان؛ مشهد، آوای رعنا، 1388، در 160 ص؛ شابک: 9642578382؛
با عنوان 2: مترجم: میترا میرشکار (سیاهکل)؛ تهران، پر، 1386؛ در 192 ص؛ شابک: 9648007195؛ چاپ دوم 1387؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، نوین، 1392، در 192 ص؛ شابک: 9789646325487؛
عنوان 3: کنار رود پیدرا نشستم و گریستم؛ نویسنده: پائولو کوئیلو؛ مترجم: آرش حجازی؛ تهران، کاروان، 1381؛ در 219 ص، مصور، شابک: 9647033192؛ چاپ سوم 1381؛ چاپ ششم 1383؛ چاپ نهم 1386؛
با عنوان 3 و 4: مترجم: سوسن (شاهین) اردکانی؛ تهران، نگارستان کتاب، 1383، در 219 ص؛ شابک: ایکس 964815516؛ چاپ سوم 1389؛
عنوان 4: کنار رود پیدرا نشسته ام و گریه میکنم؛ نویسنده: پائولو کوئیلو؛ مترجم: حسین نعیمی؛ تهران، روایت، 1375؛ در 306 ص، چاپ دیگر: تهران، ثالث، 1377؛ در 306 ص؛ شابک: 9646404065؛ چاپ سوم 1379؛ چهارم 1386؛ چاپ پنجم 1389؛ شابک: 9789646404069؛ از همین مترجم با عنوان 5 : کنار رود پیدرا نشسته ام و گریه کردم؛ تهران، ثالث، 1392؛ چاپ ششم در 306 ص، شابک: 9789646404069؛
داستان یک هفته از زندگی دختر جوانی به نام پیلار اشاره داردد و به خوانشگران میگوید در دوره های کوتاهی ممکن است دگرگونیهای ژرفی در زندگی انسان رخ دهد. نویسنده میگوید عشق میتواند مردمان را به دوزخ یا بهشت ببرد، اما همیشه عاشقان را به جایی که باید میرساند. عشق میان دو شخصیت اصلی داستان، زندگی آنها را به راهی بدل میکند که به خدا میرسد. عشق مریم مقدس نیز در سراسر داستان، آنها را دربرمیگیرد و نمیگذارد احساس را وانهند. پیلار می‌اندیشد تمام‌ آن‌چه‌ را که‌ در زندگی‌ برایش‌ اهمیت‌ داشته، در یک‌ هفته، سخاوتمندانه‌ به‌ او ارزانی‌ شده، بنابراین‌ قلبش‌ را به‌ روی‌ عشق‌ می‌گشاید و نور عشق‌ بر او می‌تابد. او می‌پذیرد که‌ معشوقش‌ پس از مدتی... ا. شربیانی

I opened this book with NO expectation's. Many people take Paulo Coelho's books with this expectations that it will be as good as The Alchemist is. But no book will ever be good as Alchemist is. So, for me this book was quite unexpected but in a good way. I have read many books of Paulo but this book was quite exception of Paulo's writing. It was desperate, Spiritual and so knowledgeable. I quite learned about Christianity, Spirituality. Love and Decisions.

n  n    “If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him.” n  n

And so the novel starts out. The most beautiful opening paragraph I’ve ever read in my life. And unless you are heartless or have never been in love, I don’t know how this wouldn’t at least rank somewhere on your list of most beautiful passages.

n  n    “By the River Piedra I sat down and wept. There is a legend that everything falls into the waters of this river – leaves, insects, the feathers of bird – is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed. If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current, then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.” n  n

n  n    n  n

This book was told by the protagonist Pilar's POV, she took us from the streets of Zargoza to the mountains of France to the river of Piadera. For not believing in Love to falling in love. This book showed us different phases of a human's life to her journey to the life of spirituality. This book's main focus was on the female face of GOD. That women's have been degraded from the early era to now, that Male God's have been more in light then women's. This book told us so many tales and knowledge about Virgin Mary. Which for me was quite interesting. As a Muslim, after Islam the most interesting is Christianity. and this book provide alot of it.

n  n    “In real life, love has to be possible. Even if it is not returned right away, love can only survive when the hope exists that you will be able to win over the person you desire.” n  n

By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept carries a spiritual theme, as he touches quite a bit on the mystical nature of God. In this particular piece, he focuses on the young man’s belief in a feminine God that grants him the power to heal. and then their is Pilar, Pilar struggles to accept and embrace her feelings for him. He struggles to reconcile his love for the seminary, the gifts he has been given and the love he has held onto for so many years. While the beauty of their love story as it unfolds kept me wanting more, I found myself disappointed, especially toward the end when I didn’t feel the same intensity of emotions as I did with the opening paragraphs.

n  n    “But love is much like a dam; if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole structure and soon no one will be able to control the force of the current.” n  n

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. I have two more books by Coelho that I want to read. And if you know me, you’ll know that there are VERY few authors from whom I’ve read more than one book. I must really like this guy.

n  n    “That is why I write - to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance.” n  n

We all need like this journey to find love and faith, and to reach the spiritual side of ourlives.

“By the River Piedra I sat down and wept. There is a legend that everything falls into the waters of this river – leaves, insects, the feathers of bird – is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed. If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current, then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.”

And so the novel starts out. The most beautiful opening paragraph I’ve ever read in my life. And unless you are heartless or have never been in love, I don’t know how this wouldn’t at least rank somewhere on your list of most beautiful passages.

n  By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Weptn was written by Paulo Coelho. He is best known for writing n  The Alchemistn which just so happens to be my least favorite of the three books I’ve read by him. My introduction to Coehlo was n  The Zahirn which was, like the other two I read, a beautiful story of love. Neither of those however prepared me for the beauty I would find in that very first paragraph of the novel.

It then continues:

By the River Piedra I sat down and wept. The winter air chills the tears on my cheeks, and my tears fall into the cold waters that course past me. Somewhere this river joins another, then another, until – far from my heart and sight – all of them merge with the sea."

A couple pages later the protagonist, Pilar, takes us back to the beginning to tell the story of how she ended up weeping for this young man. They seemed to have always loved each other, even as childhood friends. However, they grew up and took separate paths in life. He chose to leave their small town to learn about the world (a theme present in both The Alchemist and The Zahir) while she chose to take the prescribed path of enrolling in a nearby university. They kept in touch throughout his travels, and one day he invited Pilar to hear him give a lecture in Madrid.

The story is a whirlwind from here. Pilar struggles to accept and embrace her feelings for him. He struggles to reconcile his love for the seminary, the gifts he has been given and the love he has held onto for so many years. While the beauty of their love story as it unfolds kept me wanting more, I found myself disappointed, especially toward the end when I didn’t feel the same intensity of emotions as I did with the opening paragraphs.

Like the other Coelho books I’ve read, By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept carries a spiritual theme, as he touches quite a bit on the mystical nature of God. In this particular piece, he focuses on the young man’s belief in a feminine God that grants him the power to heal. For some this may be an appealing aspect of Coehlo’s writings, but it tends to throw me off. It gives me some of the same vibes that the n  Celestine Prophecyn gave me, which is more eerie than anything else.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. I have two more books by Coelho that I want to read. And if you know me, you’ll know that there are VERY few authors from whom I’ve read more than one book. I must really like this guy.

This book wasn't even close to as good as The Alchemist, and it seems as though it was translated really poorly too. If I could read Portugese I would try it, but since I'm limited to English or Spanish, I think I'm done with trying to make this book better than my original reaction deemed it.

It wasn't a very cohesive story, the whole "feminine face of God" thing was cool, but fairly random and not well elaborated, the "love story" was sappy and pathetic.

It is a super short book, especially when considering the size of the font and the margins, and yet I felt like I was creeping through it. I finished it, as other reviewers have mentioned, solely for the sake of finishing it. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why can't I be more like Trish and just let sucky books go without having to finish them?

Anyway, save yourself from the self-flagellation that will come when you don't feel like finishing it, and don't even start it.

I have just experienced a wonderful and enlightening love story that has moved me deeply. Indeed, Paulo Coelho's "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept" is a must read for people who have lost, found, or still seeking for love.

I have made some references to this novel in some of my past blogs. But now, I am writing more about it on my personal realizations after experiencing this enigmatic literary work.

I have jotted down some lines from the book that struck me the most, and taken note of my insights.

(1) But love is much like a dam:if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole stucture and soon no one will be able to control the force of the water.

Me: Falling in love is a beautiful experience. Deciding to fall in love is the hard part. But this analogy of love and a dam, explains it quite well. Once you start having the slightest thought that maybe love is possible or start seeing a person in a different light, all other feelings and ideas will start to rush in. Then you feel afraid of what you have just realized and try to thrust it away. No escape. Your heart and mind fight it out. Still, it doesn't matter which ends up victorious, because from then on, you will never see things the same way again.

(2) In real life, love has to be possible. Even if it is not returned right away, love can only survive when the hope exists that you will be able to win over the person you desire.

Me: Love is forbearing. But sometimes the heart is impatient. This statement is still unclear to me. Maybe because, I have often easily given up in this quest for "winning over the person I desire". I guess this statement is experiential, only then will there be full understanding of it.

(3) Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.

Me: How would we know if it is time to move on or that it is still worth another try? I have seen a lot with this dilemma, both from movies and through acquaintances. And indeed, seeing them in that state where they have no idea which way to take is truly heart breaking. I have been in both situations. I have waited. I have forgotten. But by some cosmic conspiracy, somehow I still find myself wondering, what if I took the other path? Forgetting is like a point of no return. If you choose to forget and leave, then you must stand by your decision, no matter how difficult it promises to be. Only by then will you be able to move on. In waiting, the clincher would be how long should you wait, and do you really have something to wait for. Either way, you will find yourself hurting at one point in time.

(4) What I remember is that love returned in the form of another man, new hopes and new dreams.

Me: The bible says that love is constant and that love is forever. Poets reiterate this in their masterpieces. Hopeless romantics sing about it. Then if this be the case, I have no reason to believe that love ever fails. It just transforms. This should be able to keep the flame of hope of finding the love of our lives burning through and through.

There you go. I am done with another book. A couple of weeks later, I would no longer fully remember what it was about or who the characters were. But somehow I would still recall the feelings I got as I was reading through it and my pot of insights has yet again been stirred and repleted.

P.S. The female character is Pilar. She was the one telling the story. But the male character remained nameless. Hmm... Or did I just forget his name already? ;)


(Wrote this review in 2004 right after reading the book. Review published on my (ex)blog @ http://theobnoxiouslevin.blog-city.com)

2.5 stars *

The novel is about the struggle between who we are and who we want to be , surrendering and making concessions to ourselves and the people we love .

I'm a Muslim and we believe that God has no son wife or feminine face, though i enjoy roaming in the thoughts of other people religions, thus this novel has much much details :D
any way i liked the second idea of the novel of crossing the boundaries that we put to ourselves and let the "other" voice inside as control our lives and decisions life is too short , opportunity is given only once .
But i get bored at some points , the idea of novel is really nice but it needed some-things more .

parts i liked most :


We do not recognize that God is wherever we allow Him/Her to enter*


True love is an act of total surrender.*

The wise are wise only because they love. And the foolish are foolish only
because they think they can understand love,"*

Anyone who can conquer her heart can conquer the world.*

Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows*


The universe always helps us fight for our dreams, no matter how foolish they may be *