On the Seventh Day #1

Am Ufer des Rio Piedra saß ich und weinte

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Sie waren Jugendfreunde, ehe sie sich aus den Augen verloren. Elf Jahre später treffen sie sich in Madrid bei einem Vortrag wieder: sie, eine angehende Richterin, die das Leben gelehrt hat, stark und vernünftig zu sein und sich nicht von Gefühlen mitreißen zu lassen; er, Weltenbummler und sehr undogmatischer Seminarist, der vor seiner Ordination Pilar noch einmal wiedersehen will. Beide verbindet ihr Drang, aus ihrem sicheren Leben auszubrechen und ihre Träume zu wagen. Der Weg dahin ist lang, voller Durststrecken und kostet Überwindung: Überwindung der Angst, sich hinzugeben, der Schuldgefühle, der Vorurteile. In einem kleinen Dorf in den Pyrenäen offenbart sich ihnen eine Wahrheit, die ihre Sehnsucht und Leidenschaft übersteigt.

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1994

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About the author

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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.

Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
31(31%)
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3 stars
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99 reviews All reviews
April 25,2025
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ضميري يمنعني غالبا من أن أبدأ كتابا ولا أنهيه !
كويلو حبيب الجماهير .. :/
الرواية فقيرة ،
من زاوية الحب فالقصة بسيطة ولا تصلح قصة غرام .
أما من زاوية الإيمان ومعرفة الله فالرواية أتت بتساؤلات قد يطرحها الملحد أو ضعيف الإيمان، ثم ماذا بعد أين الأجوبة ؟؟!
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ربما هي آخر رواية أقرأها لباولو ... فالحياة أقصر من أن نقرأ كتبا لا تضيف إلى إيماننا وعواطفنا وحبنا شيئا يذكر.
April 25,2025
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By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho offers an exploration of love, spirituality, and personal transformation, but ultimately falls short in delivering a meaningful or engaging narrative. The prose feels overly simplistic, and the philosophical musings often come across as repetitive or forced rather than thought-provoking. Coelho's attempt to explore the deep connection between the protagonists and their journey towards self-actualization feels superficial, lacking the emotional depth or complexity needed to make their journey resonate.

The pacing is slow, with long stretches of introspection that detract from any potential momentum. The romance, which is central to the story, feels clichéd and contrived, making it difficult to connect with the characters or their emotions. Rather than offering insight, the book seems more like a collection of vague aphorisms, which may appeal to readers seeking spiritual guidance but will likely frustrate those hoping for a more substantial or nuanced story. Overall, it’s a disappointing read that fails to live up to the promise of its premise.
April 25,2025
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Ήταν το πρώτο βιβλίο του Κοέλο που διάβασα και δεν είμαι σίγουρη ότι ήμουν έτοιμη για το στυλ γραφής του συγγραφέα. Μάλλον θα ξεκινούσα με τον Αλχημιστή. Ωστόσο με παρακίνησε να διαβάσω και άλλα βιβλία του.
April 25,2025
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لم ترق لي هذه الرواية...صفحة تلو الاخرى حتى ايقنت بأن وقتي ضاع بلا فائدة ترجى
وقت المرء أثمن من أن يهدره فيما لا ينفع ولا متعة في هذه الرواية ولا شيء فيها مشوق.
April 25,2025
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That was actually a very good read. :) I think I'm starting to like Coelho. Hahaha. Sincerely, a Sparks enthusiast. It was a very light-read, and I just felt so at ease while reading it. The beginning parts of the book already caught my interest a lot, and often I was at the edge of my seat waiting for what's gonna happen next in the little love story between the main characters.

I would like to share this very tiny part in the book, that really amused me.

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"Tell me what you know about the religious life, my child."

"Very Little. Only that the priests take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience."...."That they threaten us with the fires of hell for mistakes that they themselves make. And they present God to us as a vengeful being who blames man for the death of His only Son."

The padre laughed. "You've had an excellent Catholic education." he said. "but I'm not asking you about Catholicism. I'm asking about the spiritual life."
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:))

I've only had Nicholas Sparks books before in getting my own fix of love/romance novels, so it's kinda nice and refreshing to see how Coelho does it. This is definitely a book I would love to re-read every now and then. :)
April 25,2025
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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
April 25,2025
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Buvo ir gerų minčių, bet buvo daug ir painių. Sakyčiau iš visų trijų dalių šita labiausiai man pačiai neįtikusi.
April 25,2025
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مثل همه ی کتاب های پائولو کویلو خیلی تاثیر گذار بود
یک بار دیگر میخوانم تا آخر همین هفته
یک چیزی در من باید بیدار شود
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