Book Review: Eleven Minutes

“You can either be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It all depends on how you view your life.”

Book Title : Eleven minutes

Author: Paulo Coelho

My Ratings: 4.5/5

Recently, I got to read this book as one of my friend suggested to read Paulo writings. Though this book was famous back then, I just got a hold of the copy now.

“I’m not a body with a soul; I’m a soul that has a visible part called the body.”

Eleven Minutes: In a nutshell

The book revolves around a young woman, Maria from Brazil that believes in existence of true love, fells disappointed when she couldn’t confess her feelings to her first crush. She was disheartened with her first real love, as he cheated her with her bestfriend. Later, she dreams of travelling to overseas to get glimpse of modern and luxurious life.

In Switzerland, in hope of pursuing her dreams and fortunes for her and her family. Her aspiration to be a model, wasn’t in favor for her life and soon was a let down. Without any savings left, she decides to spend a one-night-stand with an Arab man for 1000 francs and that marked the beginning of her life as a prostitute. She becomes a professional as she is quick in learning the tricks and trade of the job. With time, she grooms herself in different ways of mind relaxation by listening to her clients and talking to them.

“Eleven minutes”, The world revolved around something that only took eleven minutes. While sitting in a café; she meets a young successful Swiss painter, Ralf Hart – sees her inner light and tries to paint her. In their coincidentally meeting each other, they fell in love and tries to discover intimacy without the need to have sex. She encounters what true love as the experience of freedom, as most important thing without owning it. 

“What is real always finds a way of revealing itself”

About The Author

PAULO COELHO: Born on August 24, 1947, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  In 1986, Coelho had a spiritual awakening in Spain and he described about it in his first book, The Pilgrimage. It was his second book, The Alchemist, that’s infamous and is the most translated book in the world.

Coelho said, “If I see a white feather today, that is a sign that God is giving me that I have to write a new book.” Coelho found a white feather in the window of a shop, and began writing that day. – Wikipedia

Eleven Minutes: My Review

“Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person. The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.”

There isn’t much ‘great’ story line, but his writings captivated me enough to take break and literally immerse in the words. The book ravels around emotional connection of sex, love, pain, sufferings, pleasure and desires. It talks about love and emotions in simple words and there lies the beauty. What is love, and what does it mean to be loved. It also talks about aspects of sex in a sort of attachment without touching in-depth subject. It teaches what is love and what is meant to be loved. Something we could all connect with…an intimate relation with feelings and desires. The book sees something beyond the physical world, the bond that connects two souls, love. The ratings are merely for his writings. Like simplicity wrapped in meanings so profound!

“I am two women: one wants to have all the joy, passion and adventure that life can give me. The other wants to be a slave to routine, to family life, to the things that can be planned and achieved. I’m a housewife and a prostitute, both of us living in the same body and doing battle with each other.”

I believe, the reason why all like Paulo Coelho is because his writings are so simple yet have profound meaning. It depicts on a mystical fiction on spiritual voyage from character outlook and us, readers can easily connect it with his words woven so beautifully. He had a life of a director, song writer, journalist but his dream as the writer has fulfilled to the best amongst readers.

“Considering the way the world is, one happy day is almost a miracle.”

I fell in love with Maria’s diary entry, only if I could imitate those words those raw feelings. She explores her world in a different light and understands desires with so much ease. Her understanding of her emotions are quite unique as if the character is engaging to us, naïve but innocent thoughts. Is it possible to conclude emotions as unidirectional? BUT Is it possible for an innocent lady to write deep philosophical content in her journal in her teens to a woman? Not that I’m being cynical. It’s intriguing the passion behind those words so love.

You should consider reading this book on a rainy day with a hot tea.. amazing feeling with the choice of words. You shall travel into your world of imaginations. Otherwise, honestly, the storyline is bit okay. BUT I’d suggest you to read his amazing creation. 

When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between luxurious life, sexual pleasures, or risk it all to pursue true love or the possibility of a sacred sex and pleasures of pain. Which one do you think she choose?

If you want to know more, grab a copy of yours in Amazon.  I ensure, you shall have a rollercoaster ride with raw feelings.

“If I must be faithful to someone or something, then I have, first of all, to be faithful to myself. “

© Kikzbee 2020