Well... that was different. Let's use some adjectives: different, strange, confusing, some kind of spiritual that I don't necessarily relate to..
Let me first be clear for all those who did love and rave about this book. If you loved it and it helped you, for lack of other wording "Get your life", great and more power to you. I detract nothing from your experience with my n  opinionn.
When I looked at the page for this book, there seems to be so many reviews praising this book for it's depth and spirituality. I won't deny that there are some great spiritual and inspiring quotes. I won't deny that there are some good points being made but as a book, this just didn't hit it out of the ball park for me to be honest.
It seemed like the story was almost secondary to the need for the author to express whatever are his religious and spiritual views.

I was intrigued by the title. I was even drawn in by the first chapter, wait, let's back track.. the author's note even. I was curious. And I believe in a way I still am wondering, "What did I just read?" It was very confusing to me. A woman, reunites with a childhood friend who she realizes she's in love with and now he's become some sort of holy man healer. To me, basically that was it with a very large spattering of religious spiritual views permeating the entire thing. There was talk of God, saints, mention of the three big religions, sacred people, objects, places, assumptions, visions.. I just.. thought again, I found some good quotes, this book didn't do too much for me. And this review is not from a person who lacks a religious belief system. This daughter of a Christian Baptist minister is very strong in her faith in God, the Bible and who God is to her and to the world. I think I had a conflict with the overtone of the book, although, again I did think there were some good inspiring quotes. It just struck me as odd, reading some other reviews people tended to revere this book, whereas I felt at times it was a little irreverent.

From a purely fiction book stand point, I thought many a time, "Ok, so you said you loved each other, now WILL YOU PLEASE go off and get married so we can be finished with this book." I'm sorry and I'm not sorry, that is just honest. It drug on a bit for me, it at times was confusing and was full of the author's spiritual views. I don't like circle talk, I felt like I went around and around.

I'm giving it two stars. It was not really profound to me. Will I read other books by this author? I don't know now. I need someone to tell me, objectively, are his other books really fiction or more virtual pulpit for his sermons? (joking/yet serious) Do I recommend it? I don't recommend it, nor do I not recommend it, this one I leave up to readers to judge for themselves. Once again, if this book helped you or you loved it, I can respect that but just provided me with a few good inspirational quotes.

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

Childhood friends meet again as young adults and explore concepts of love, faith, commitment, spirituality, and religion, specifically Catholicism. The narrative never gets deep enough to inspire serious thought or discussion but in 180 double-spaced pages of large print it makes a nice snack for a neighborhood book club.

This is my first read by Paulo Coelho, and it won't be my last. What an amazing author. That old saying of "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" is exactly how this book felt to me. While the story involves a man who can perform miracles and his decision to give it all up for the woman he loves, it's meaning is much deeper. It is really about falling in love with a higher power which no words can describe, and connects us all. I loved that it also included the feminine side of this power. I don't think I've ever highlighted so many passages. This is a real masterpiece. It's underlying meaning brings a profound message to our world. Highly recommended.

أكثر رواية قرباً إلى قلبي وسأكتفي بنقل المقطع الذي أسرني .. و الذي اقرأه مرارا وتكرارا دون ملل

ردد بنبرة اصرار:
أريد أن أتحدث عن نوع آخر من الحب، الحب الذي يتقاسمه رجل وامرأة، ومن خلاله أيضا تظهر المعجزات
أمسكت بيديه، كان بمقدوره أن يكون عالما بأسرار الإلهة العميقة، أما الحب، فلم يكن يعرف عنه أكثر مما أعرف، حتى بعد أن جاب العالم بأسره. ولذلك كان عليه أن يدفع الثمن، أن يبادر، ذلك أن المرأة هي التي تبذل الثمن الأبهظ، أن تهب ذاتها.
لبثنا على هذه الحال لبعض الوقت، كنت أقرأ في عينيه المخاوف السحيقة التي يفرضها الحب، بمثابة اختبارات ينبغي تجاوزها، وقرأت رفض الليلة السابقة، والأعوام الطويلة التي قضيناها بعيدين أحدنا عن الآخر، وسنوات الدير سعيا وراء عالم لا تحدث فيه مثل هذه الامور.
كنت أقرأ في عينيه ألوفا من المرات تخيل فيها هذه اللحظة والديكورات التي شيدها من حولنا، تسريحة شعري ولون ملابسي، كنت أريد أن أقول بلى، أنه ستحسن وفادته، وأن قلبي ربح المعركة، كنت اريد أن أقول له كم أحبه وكم أشتهيه في تلك اللحظة.
غير أني لزمت الصمت، شهدتُ كما في حلم، صراعه الداخلي، رأيت أنه كان ماثلا أمام رفضي، وخوفه أن يفقدني، والعبارات القاسية التي سمعها في مواقف مماثلة، ذلك اننا جميعا نجبه مثل هذه اللحظات، وتبقى لنا مجتمعة ، آثار جرحها.
التمعت عيناه، كنت أعلم أنه موشك على اجتياز كل السدود.
عندئذ، أفلتُ احدى يديه، وأخذت كأسا ووضعتها على حافة الطاولة.
قال:
-tسوف تقع
-tبالضبط، وأريدك أن توقعها.
-tأن أحطم كأسا؟
أجل، أن يحطم كأساً ، إنها حركة بسيطة في الظاهر،لكنها تشتمل على كل المخاوف التي لا نتمكن يوما من فهمها، فما الضير من تحطيم كأس عادية، في حين أننا جميعا فعلنا ذلك في لحظة أو في أخرى، من دون قصد منا؟
ردد سائلا:
-tأن أحطم كأسا؟ لأي سبب؟
-tباستطاعتي أن أذكر لك بضعة أسباب، ولكن في الحقيقة، أريدك أن تحطمها، لكي تحطمها وحسب.
-tنيابة عنك؟
-tبالطبع لا
كان يحدق في الكأس عند حافة الطاولة، مهجوسا باحتمال وقوعه عنها.
وددت أن أقول له، أنه اختبار بلوغ، كما تقول انت أنه المحظور، فالعادة تقول أن الكؤوس لا تحطم عمدا، وعندما ندخل مصنعا أو ندخل بيتا، نحرص على ألا نترك الكؤوس على حافة الطاولة، عالمنا يتطلب منا أن ننتبه إلى احتمال سقوط الكؤوس عن حافة الطاولة وتحطمها، ومع ذلك، إذا حدث أن حطمنا كأسا بلا انتباه، فإننا نكتشف في آخر المطاف، أنه ليس أمراً خطيراً، يقول النادل: " لا بأس" ، ولم يسبق أن أضيف يوما إلى فاتورة الحساب، إن تحطيم الكؤوس هو جزءاً من الوجود، ولا يرتب أي ضرر لا علينا ولا على المطعم ولا على الآخرين.
ضربت براحة يدي على الطاولة، ترنحت الكأس، لكنها لم تسقط.
صاح بعفوية:
-tانتبهي.
فقلت باصرار:
-tحطم هذه الكأس.
ورددت ف�� ��رارة نفسي: " حطم هذه الكأس، لأن تحطيمها بادرة رمزية، حاول أن تفهم أني حطمت في ذات نفسي أشياء أثمن بكثير من مجرد كأس، وأنا سعيدة لأنني فعلت، راعِ صراعك الداخلي، وحطم هذه الكأس، لأن أهلنا علمونا أن نحافظ على الكؤوس وعلى الأجساد، علمونا أن شغف الطفولة ينتمي إلى مضمار المستحيل، وانه لا ينبغي ابعاد الرجال عن الكهنوت، وأن الناس لا يجترحون المعجزات، وأن أحدا لا يسلك طريق السفر إلا اذا كان يعلم إلى أين يفضي به، حطم هذه الكأس أرجوك وحررنا من كل هذه الافكار المسبقة اللعينة، من هوسنا بتفسير كل شيء، والإحجام عن أي شيء لا يقر به الآخرون.
قلت مرة أخرى: حطم هذه الكأس.
حدق إلى عيني بنظرات ثابتة، ثم ببطء، حرك يده سوية ظاهر الطاولة إلى أن لمست الكأس، وبحركة مباغتة دفعها وأوقعها أرضاً .
لفت تحطم الكأس على الأرض انتباه الجميع، وبدل أن يعتذر، رمقني مبتسما، فبادلته الابتسام.
صاح النادل الذي كان يعني بتلبية طلبات الزبائن: " انه أمر بسيط"
لكنه لم يصغ، كان قد نهض ثم جذبني من شعري وقبلني.
جذبته أنا أيضا من شعره، وضممته إلي بقوة، عضضت شفتيه، وأحسست بلسانه مختلجا في فمي، كانت قبلة لطالما انتظرتها، ولدت على أنهار طفولتنا وكنا لا نزال نجهل ما هو الحب، قبلة بقيت معلقة عندما كبرنا، وجابت العالم بأسره ومعها ذكرى مدالية، قبلة بقيت لأعوام مخبأة خلف رزمة من كتب الدراسة لأجل امتحان دخول لوظيفة عامة، قبلة فقدت مرارا و اذ بها تعود في البرهة التي استغرقتها القبلة ، احتشدت سنوات من البحث والخيبات والأحلام المستحيلة.
بادلته قبلته بقبلة أكثر حرارة، ولابد أن رواد المطعم القلائل كانو يتطلعون إلينا، ولم يروا في ذلك إلا قبلة، فقد كانو يجهلون أن برهة القبلة تلك كانت اختصارا لحياتي كلها، لحياة كل من أمِل وحلم وبحث عن طريقه تحت الشمس.
في لحظة القبلة تلك، اجتمعت كل لحظات البهجة التي عشتها

MY FAVORITE LINES FROM THE BOOK:

At some point, we have each said through our tears, “I’m suffering for a love that’s not worth it.” We suffer because we feel we are giving more than we receive. We suffer because our love is going unrecognized. We suffer because we are unable to impose our own rules.

True love is an act of total surrender.

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

Every day, God gives us the sun - and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day, we try to pretend that we haven’t perceived the moment, that it doesn’t exist – that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention in their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment. It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seems the same to us. But that moment exists – a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.

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.

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

Dreams mean work.

აი, ისეთი წიგნია რა, ზაფხულში ზღვაზე დასასვენებლად მიმავალი სულელი გოგო მოდის გამო რომ ჩააგდებს ჩანთაში. მერე პლიაჟზე ყოველ მეორე გასვლისას 10 გვერდს რომ წაიკითხავს. ერთი თვის მერე თბილისში ჩამოსული წიგნის ნახევრამდეც რომ არ იქნება მისული და მომავალი ერთი წლის განმავლობაში კითხვაზე, ბოლოს რა წაიკითხეო, კოელიოს ''რიო პედრას ნაპირიო'' რომ უპასუხებს. ძალიან მაგარი რამეაო.

  

“I will not talk to my own darkness anymore, I promised myself, closing the door on the Other. A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the hundredth.

If I have to fall, may it be from a high place.”

This book had me so confused. By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept Is again a very, very spiritual book. The reason is used the word 'again' was that I haven't really read a lot of Paulo Coelho's works but whatever I have read, it's mostly all spiritual. And since I don't really read books like that a lot, I really tend to enjoy reading them once a while.

Now why was I so confused after finishing off with this one?
It's because I really liked it but half the time, thingd just went way over my head. It's not exactly like I didn't understand anything. There was a lot of really good stuff. There was a lot of talk about religion, faith and soul and it really fascinated me. Personally, I am not a very religious person and moreover this book is completely based on Catholic beliefs and I am not even Christian. But still as I said before, it was all very fascinating and interesting to me.

“Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.”

But.

There were some things that I had to read like thrice or more but I still couldn't quite understand what was being tried to convey. All that stuff about feminine side of the God and everything, I am sorry but I couldn't get any of it. I don't know, maybe that makes me a shallow person or something but really, that was something wayyy beyond my understanding capacity. It was nevertheless interesting and fascinating to read about such different notions varied by perspectives. It's really hard to explain it, perhaps it was just fact itself that I was reading something good. I don't know.

But if someone is looking for a book with a great plot, this book isn't the one you might want to pick. Because it has no plot. Nil. Nada.

Really, it's just about a girl, Pilar, who meets her childhood sweetheart after so many years and then decided to go on a short trip with him and is constantly at war between her heart and her mind.

Nothing really happens. The book is all preaching and talks. Might not really come off as very appealing to a lot of people out there. I found Pilar very confusing and at times quite irritating. The first half of the book it was just about her indescisiveness about her feelings for her friend. She knew he was an explorer, and he wouldn't stay put at one place for the rest of their lives and would have to leave her one day. So she was constantly denying her feelings.

All the time she was - Maybe it is the wine.
Maybe it is the wind.
Maybe it is the spring, no wait but it's autumn right now.

I mean seriously, maybe it's the fact that you're a goddamn idiot.

Like every single chapter and she would just go on about how she wasn't falling in love and blah blah. But I still liked the quotes and the stuff her friend used to talk about. It kept me going.

I also loved the fact that his name was never revealed. He was always refered to as 'he' or 'my friend' by Pilar. It had a nice feel to it. But the ending was the most ridiculous. I just don't understand what Pilar wants with life. I mean, she had clearly overreacted. I am not going to say much but it was stupid.

So overall, it was a good book, just a whole lot unclear and baffling.

  

آقای کوئیلو ..سلام! کتابتون رو خوندم . باور بفرمائید برای همخوابه شدن یه دختر با یه کشیش نیاز به وساطت عیسی و مریم باکره و کلیسا نیست! با تأسف باید بگم کهنه نتها بشدت کسالت بار و ناامیدکننده بود بلکه احساس کردم شما با این سبک نوشتن دارین دام مذهب رو دوباره جلوی پاهای ما باز میکنیین .. تلاشتون برای معرفی کشیش به عنوان شخصی که معجزه میکنه! جالب بود .. دوبار از طرف یه زن و یه مرد معجزه رو نسبت دادین به کشیش کاتولیک .. آقای کوئیلو .. باور کنین قرون وسطا خیلی وقته گذشته .. قبول دارم اگرچه هنوزم طرز تفکر سیاه و مذهب زده اون دوران در وجود خیلی از ما هست .. ولیکن نمیدونم هدفتون از خلاصه کردن انجیل تووی این کتاب چی بود .. هدفتون از نسبت دادن معجزه به کلیسا و شفا گرفتن مریض توسط کشیش و حرف زدن روح القدس با کشیش چی بود .. با عرض معذرت اما من باید بگم که اگر به چیزی که نوشتین واقعا اعتقاد دارین خرافه تا اعماق مغزتون نفوذ کرده .. آقای کوئیلو شما نویسنده این .. پس لطفا مثل عوام نباشید .. تووی دویست صفحه کتاب چه لزومی داره که بیشتر از ششصد بار اسم عیسی و مریم باکره و روح القدس رو بکار ببرین؟ واقعا برای تبلیغ مذهب روش جالبی نیست .. لازم نیست که ذکر کنم که فروید درباره دین چی گفت .. بهر حال امیدوارم کتابای جدیدتون واقعا رمان باشه .. وگرنه من انجیل رو خوندم .. پیروز باشید

Palabra que resume este libro: bodrio.
De verdad me dieron ganas de llorar por el árbol cuyas hojas habían sido desperdiciadas para imprimir este texto mal escrito, mal redactado y con ideas completamente fuera de contexto racional.
Este es uno de los dos únicos libros que he tirado a la basura.

Impossibile non essere avvolta da un senso di pace interiore e benevolenza mentre si legge questo volume breve ma intenso. Un testo che affronta temi profondi che ci scavano dentro pur parlando di spiritualità. Una bellissima scoperta!

L'amore riesce a sopravvivere solo quando esiste la speranza, sia pur lontana, che conquisteremo la persona amata.

https://ilmondodichri.com/

دختری روستایی که برای شرکت در سخنرانی عشق دوران کودکیش در یک مهمانی به سفری یک هفته ای میره و در این یک هفته که با عشق کودکیش سپری می کنه متوجه میشه که عشقش خودش رو وقف زندگی روحانی کرده و زندگیش دچار تحولاتی میشه .
اثار معروف آقای کوئیلو سطح توقع بالایی در خواننده ایجاد میکنه که ممکنه کتاب فوق توقع خواننده رو نتونه برطرف کنه ولی در کل کتابیه که ارزش مطالعه رو داره و تجربیات یه آدم متفاوت در جامعه رو نشون میده.