Poor Veronika!

heya!

So I mean, yes! I got addicted to Coelho's writings. 

I read another one- Veronika Decides to Die. A young, juvenile, good-looking woman who attempted suicide because her life lacked adventure. 

There were very few characters in the novel (except of course the staff of the hospital). The two mad-women that Veronika encounters during her short stay in the hospital, Mari and Zedka. The schizophrenic Eduard, whom Veronika eventually falls in love with and the main character (actually more significant than the girl whose name has been used in the title) Dr. Igor who happened to be the director of the Mental asylum- Vilette. The writer takes you in to the lives of each and everyone named above (including Veronika herself, of course). Half of the time, I kept wondering that what do we have to do with the lives of those with whom the heroine had an encounter, all we- the readers, needed to know was whether or not Veronika made it in the end (although the writer was keeping up the hopes that she had very little to live but being optimists, we still mange to hope for the things that seem unmanageable, unreachable and impossible). 

So, never mind if Veronika could or couldn't make it through but what I figured out in the end that the story of Zedka (the depressed), Mari (the one who got panic-attacks), Eduard (the schizophrenic) and Veronika herself (the failed suicidal case) was of little importance as compared to the interesting and completely emotionless plot set up by the director of the asylum- Dr. Igor. I must say, Doc Igor! You're the man!

Brida- the witch.

Whoa!

Another one by Coelho finished- Brida. Before I discuss about the story of the novel and the way it has been put forth and the character sketch and the impression the novel has left on me, I would like to share a little history associated with this particular novel. The first time I heard about Paulo, I came home, turned the internet on and searched for this author's work. I found all the novels written by him and the only title that attracted me (more than the title that was actually suggested to me for a read) was this- Brida. I have no idea why but when I wrote Brida in the toolbar of the search engine, I discovered this front cover of the novel:

Surprisingly, I found this cover and again, unknowingly, my interest exceeded. I was desperate for this novel. I downloaded many novels by Paulo but Brida was included in my list of the top three (which was neither suggested to me nor was it in the most famous works by Paulo). And so my curiosity led me to finish it in a mere duration of 24 hours. 

A spell-binding novel, no doubt! Brida- an ordinary Irish girl with a special Gift for witchcraft set out on a journey to find out answers to her questions about life. The first person she came across (the Magus) was the one she is expected to go with in the end but the end turns out to be even more startling and to some extent- frightening for the ones who are hoping to see the soul-mates together. But the aim of the novel, as far as I figured out, was that not all persons necessarily have 'one' soul-mate. And therefore, we shall always be prepared to never try to 'own' or 'possess' somebody we love because we never know what the fate has in store for us but at the same time, never stop loving too- For when we stop loving, we cease to comprehend the meaning of existence.

The novel was, altogether, a good read :)

Something about Coelho.

Well, now then, now then...
I couldn't really recollect when was the last time when I actually accomplished 'completing' a novel. I hadn't found any interesting 'fiction', so I really didn't bother finishing any novel that I started. Then, a suggestion came in from more than one sources to read the work by Paulo Coelho. I collected a lot of his work and then I began to wait when my mid-terms would end and I would actually find some spare time to read it. And then that time arrived too and I found myself finishing three novels in three days (one of which was not by Coelho by the way, but never mind)!
The two novels that I read written by the same man were a total contradiction of views (that I thought it was). The first one was 'The Alchemist', which I am sure many people have read by now and certainly I had to enter in the fan-following of Alchemist as well because it is so close to the phenomena such as philosophy, soul searching, raison d'etre, and of course alchemy itself. The second one was 'Eleven Minutes' and OMG! I could only say- what a daring novel! Personally, I learned a lot of history from that novel (and I am glad that I did not learn anything else) but really, I completely disagreed with the writer's approach of the way of putting a dream into reality. Although, at the end it was mentioned that the novel was partly based on a real story but so what?! When someone has such great a number of people following him, he should at least be a little bit cautious. I did not feel weary of lauding the way Alchemist had been written and I still feel its one of the best efforts made by a writer, in fact any writer! But I think it was my own mistake that I chose such a daring novel written on such a bold subject (which doesn't really matter as far as the right is encouraged and the wrong is discouraged) and in that too, such absurdity of scene description has been made. Eleven Minutes was a novel that might be appreciated by the masses but it really makes one feel as if life has no other aim but sex. The fan, refrigerator, air conditioner, television, telephone, airplane, sophisticated watches and mobile phones and all this advancement in science- isn't it all an outcome of the brilliance of human mind? Okay, keeping science apart- the philosophy, psychology, economics, politics, warfare, sociology, civilization, history... even the invention of a small hairpin, the recipe of making a bread loaf out of wheat, the ability to make larger buildings each day- aren't all these aims of humans necessary too except 'that' one (and which is considered to be the most important topic of discussion as well) aim??
I am not making a review of 'Eleven Minutes' the way I made a review of 'The Alchemist' (how well written it is), but still, my only aim was to bring all those important and significant stuff into consideration that has played a pivotal role in differentiating man from other animals- as simple as this.