في البدايه تجد المقدمه العربيه بقلم باولو كويلو تتحدث عن احد القصصه الموروثه بالعلم الصوفي

والروايه كلها تتحدث عن نفس فكره التصوف
الا وهو حب الاله
بطريقه مسيحيه
حب المسيح وحب مريم العذراء

نسير معا مع بيلار وصديق طفولتها الى رحله البحث عن الذات , واعاده ايمانهما
لضحض التناقضات واختبار مشاعرهما

المساله هنا مساله الدروب المختلفه التي يسلكها الفرد لتحديد مصيره

هل سعينا بالارض مجدا اما لا؟
هل نحن سعداء فيه ام لا؟
هل هناك شيئا ندمنا عليه ام لا؟

اسئله ينسى الانسان ان يطرحها على نفسه في مسيرته

This was a very interesting take on a romance novel. It was probably more of a spiritual and philosophical guide, but romance did figure prominently.

From the back of the book: Rarely does adolescent love reach its full potential, but what happens when two young lovers reunite after eleven years? Time has transformed Pilar into a strong and independent woman, while her deovted childhood friend has grown into a handsome and charismatic spiritual leader... Now, they are together once again, embarking on a journey fraught with difficulties...

What I liked most in this story was Pilar's battle between her head and her heart. She'd grown weary of dreams and possibilities, and had settled into a life of mundane details, dominated by concerns like paying the bills and taking out the trash. But then she was faced with the prospect of reuniting with a childhood love, a man who owned no home and who made his living through preaching miracles--specifically, the feminine side of God. Pilar's heart fluttered and her head worried. I can totally relate to Pilar.

The writing was beautiful and lyrical, full of so many thought-provoking quotes, like

"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." (p. 31)

"For years, I had fought against my heart, because I was afraid of sadness, suffering, and abandonment. But now I knew that true love was above all that and that it would be better to die than to fail to love." (p. 104)

"But he wasn't listening. He had stood, seized my hair in his hands, and was kissing me. I clutched at his hair, too, and squeezed him with all my strength, biting his lips and feeling his tongue move in my mouth. This was the kiss I had waited for so long--a kiss born by the rivers of our childhood, when we didn't yet know what love meant...A kiss that had been lost so many times and now was found. In the moment of that kiss were years of searching, disillusionment, and impossible dreams." (p. 148) Now THAT was a kiss!

I have a special affinity for water after being a competitive swimmer all my life, and I love what Coelho wrote about the Goddess manifesting herself to us through water. The metaphor of breaking a glass representing breaking through our fears was also masterful.

It was fascinating to me that Coelho never names Pilar's male friend. No doubt the author is audacious and unique!

What I didn't like so much was the ending. It felt rather dry after the rich, flowing text that came before it.

I joked on my blog that I needed a Clif's Note version to understand this book, but I can proudly say that I wrote this review all by myself and I think I grew to understand and like this book better in the process! I'm giving it 3.5 stars. It's not really my cup of tea--I need more plot and character development--but if you're in for a thoughtful read, this is it. Someday I'd love to read The Alchemist.

A ja usiadłam nad tą książką i zgłupiałam.
I do tej pory nie za bardzo wiem, co autor miał na myśli.

Moja wersja w wielkim skrócie wygląda tak: dwójka przyjaciół z dzieciństwa spotyka się po latach i gada o Matce Boskiej. Facet chyba ma być księdzem, ma dar uzdrawiania ludzi, a kobieta nie zabrała ze sobą na tę wycieczkę żadnego ubrania na zmianę i chodzi w jednym. Później uprawiają seks, więc chyba mu ta monotonia konfekcyjna nie przeszkadzała. Czy będą ze sobą, czy może jego powołanie do kapłaństwa okaże się silniejsze? Nie wiem, nie obchodzi mnie to.

P.S. U nas też młodych kleryków wystawia się na próbę, żeby przed święceniami kapłańskimi dobrze się zastanowili nad wyborem drogi życiowej. Nazywa się to piesza pielgrzymka na Jasną Górę, a czynnikiem nacisku są młode panny w niej uczestniczące :)
2/10

Sách của Paolo Coelho luôn có kiểu lắng nghe lời thì thầm của trái tim, hòa nhập với Chúa, đi theo tiếng gọi bên trong mình.

Khoảng 3.5 đối với mình. Thực ra với người không tìm hiểu hoặc không thích đạo Công giáo thì đọc sẽ thấy khó hiểu. Nhưng kỳ lạ là mình dù gần với triết lý Phật giáo hơn nhưng đọc quyển này vẫn có những chỗ thấy đồng cảm và thích vô cùng. Kỳ lạ là thấy mình từng có rất nhiều cách suy nghĩ như một người theo Thiên Chúa. Chắc vì cùng hướng về tình yêu, về phép màu, về những điều kỳ diệu trên đời. Đọc xong thấy mình được nhắc để nhớ tới những lời cầu nguyện mà mình thường làm ngày trước, thấy mình gần hơn với cái chân tính tốt đẹp bên trong.

A very amazing book I know I will keep coming back to read again and again.
Some quotes:
"All love stories are the same."
"Yes we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and we will experience many disappointments - but all this is transitory; it leaves no permanent mark. One day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken."
"I could have. - What does this phrase mean? At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have happened but didn't. The magic moments go unrecognized, and then suddenly the hand of destiny changes everything."
"Son los locos que inventaron el amor. - The song was right: it must have been the lunatics who invented love."
"Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows."

"In fairy tales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the princesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs."

una lettura a dir poco tediosa. sentimentalismi inutili, massime da santone baci perugina edition che pretendono di insegnare la vita dall'alto di una sapienza uniformante. trama inesistente e tutt'altro che originale, vista e rivista, e uno stile piatto e completamente anonimo. gran delusione, anche perché ho letto di meglio di Coelho.

*takes deep breath*
Okay , so I saw a GR update about this book and I was like yeah..!! I have read it and its a really good one but i couldnt remember the plot and everything. So I started searching for this book and for what it felt like a million years I found it and read it AGAIN.
Then I mentally slapped my brain for not remembering this book, and my brain was like -'yeah..!! Theres only one explanation for not remembering it, that the aliens must have had abducted me and wiped my memory clean'.
Just kidding (or not)

It was an essential reading , asserting to recognise life's opportunities as they come & accept them by not judging them in the light of the past. Because ultimately everything results in either 0 or 1, and even after judging too much to get a 1, things may always change later.
I disagree with one point in it, God throws the dice! As Einstein put it , " God does not play dice. "

Μέχρι να το τελειώσω, κι εγώ έκλαψα. Όχι απ' τη συγκίνηση αλλά από ψυχαναγκασμό. Όμως ήμουν μικρός κι είχα ακόμα ηθικές αρχές, μία εκ των οποίων ήταν να μην αφήνω βιβλία ημιτελή. Κι επειδή είχα ήδη πατήσει τον όρκο μου με βιβλίο του ιδίου που άφησα στη μέση, έσφιξα τα δόντια και το τελείωσα. Μέγα σφάλμα.
Όταν ένα βιβλίο δε σε συνεπαίρνει από τις πρώτες σελίδες, δεν πρόκειται να βελτιωθεί με κάποιο μαγικό τρόπο λίγο πριν το τέλος όσο κι αν συνωμοτήσει το σύμπαν (ή το Chivas).

this book was a joke.

horrible, pretentious, verbose, and yet basically content-free language - which in itself might be seen as quite an achievement if you're trying to do really bad writing.

and the content....?! uummmmm, empty, trite banalities and cliches. - i really dont understand how anyone who has even spent a *minute* reflecting on any philosophical question would get any sort of insight out of such a book!

as i remember it, the outline of the plot even sounded pretty promising.... sth about a woman and a man reuniting and falling in love again, i mean, you could work with that, right? but since the entire plot was nothing but a stage for his, as i mentioned, really very insightless "insights"..... it was not much help, either. especially, when he started the crazy religious talk, that i seem to remember, some crazy "miracle" stuff..... yeah, that was when i seriously lost patience with that book.

i honestly have to say, in terms of style, language, *and* content, this was probably the worst book i have ever finished reading.

En kjedelig, cheesy, kristen-erotisk novelle

لطالما مَثل نوفمبر شهر العطاء بالنسبة لي دائماً الأشياء الجيدة تحدث في نوفمبر وهذه الرواية هي التي كنت أنتظرها منذ بداية العام لم أتصور إنني سأعشق نتاجاً لكويلو هكذا لا بل ويؤثر وربما بقليل من الحظ يغيرك نحو الأفضل

قصة بسيطة عن فتاة تلتقي بصديق طفولتها لمدة أسبوع لينمو الحب بينهما هذا هو اختصار القصة واعتدنا عليها بل ومللنا منها ما الذي يجعل هذه مختلفة إذن , الإختلاف يكمن في عوالم البطلين وحواراتهم الغنية التي في كل جزء منها تمس حياتك الشخصية أنت , فالأنسة بيلار لا تروي قصتها بل تعبر عن مخاوفنا هواجسنا قلقنا الدائم( وخاصة الخفي منه الذي قد نعاني بسببه بدون إدراك وجوده حتى لكونه تحول لأسلوب حياة إعتدناه واي مسارٍ خالفه حذرنا العقل من سلوكه) وتطرحه بكل شجاعة وتقدم الحل الذي يعلم جميعنا بأمره لكن نتهرب من الأخذ به لأسباب واهية , بيلار تحكي عن رحلتها الروحية عن بحثها عن الله وتجول بنا في كل مراحل مغامرتها في استكشاف ذاتها الذي سرعان ما يتحول لذات القارئ نفسه ببراعة باولو واسلوبه ولغته السحرية , بيلار مع شريكها تعرض الوجه الحقيقي للحب الذي يبني ويرمم كل ركن في حياتك ويكون المكمل لرحلتك مع الرب.

سعيدة لإستعارتي هذا الكتاب واقاوم شعور الاحتفاظ به وعدم إرجاعه للمكتبة وممتنة لعزيزٍ أتاح لي فرصة القراءة هذه
أفضل ما قرأت لباولو حتى الأن


"yes we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times and we will experience many disappointments but all of this is transitory it leaves no permanent mark, and one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken"

" sooner or later, we have to overcome our fears because the spiritual path can only be traveled through daily experience of love"

"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"

" Thomas Merton once said that the spiritual life is essentially to love. one doesnt love in order to do what is good or to help or to protect someone. if we act that way we are perceiving the other as simple object and we are seeing ourselves as wise and generous persons, this has nothing to do with love. To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God"