It started off pretty good, but then dragged on...rather disappointing, actually. Maria was really not a character I could sympathize with. ( )

Paulo Koeljo se smatra najuticajnijim savremenim piscem. Njegova dela prodata su širom sveta u tiražu od preko 320 miliona primeraka, objavljena u 170 zemalja i prevedena na preko 88 jezika.

Život je kratak – ili isuviše dug – da bih sebi mogla da dozvolim taj luksuz da živim loše.

„Bila jednom jedna prostitutka po imenu Marija...“ Tako počinje ova sasvim posebna Koeljova knjiga, zapravo priča o devojci čije će srce prepući posle prvog susreta sa ljubavlju. Uverena da nikada neće otkriti pravu ljubav, odlazi u Ženevu u želji da tamo pronađe bar zrno sreće i sretne svoju sudbinu. Malodušna i razočarana, sreće lepog, mladog slikara, pa njene crne predstave o ljubavi odmah bivaju dovedene u pitanje... U ovoj odiseji samootkrivanja Marija mora da izabere između stranputice kojom je krenula i rizika da izgubi sve što je stekla zarad otkrivanja „unutrašnje svetlosti“ u sebi i mogućnosti prosvetljene putene ljubavi...

„Veoma senzualan roman... Bajka za odrasle.“ The Washington Post

„U poređenju sa prethodnim Koeljovim romanima, Jedanaest minuta je dvostruko veći i dvaput interesantniji... U ovoj zaista fascinantnoj knjizi može se uživati mnogo duže nego jedanaest minuta.“ Известия

„Koeljo ne bi bio majstor svog zanata da Jedanaest minuta nisu eksplicitna vera u snagu ljubavi. Emotivni spektar njegovih likova ovde je kudikamo raznovrsniji nego ranije.“ Westfälischer Anzeiger

Roden u Rio de Žaneiru (Brazil) 1947. godine, Paulo Koeljo je autor nekoliko naslova koji spadaju u najcitanije knjige našeg vremena. Medu njima su Dnevnik jednog carobnjaka i Alhemicar koji su ga i ucinili svetski poznatim. Naravno, Paulo Koeljo je napisao mnoge druge knjige koje su dirnule srca ljudi širom sveta – Brida, Veronika je odlucila da umre, Jedanaest minuta, Alef.

Dobitnik je brojnih prestižnih medunarodnih nagrada. Izabran je za clana Brazilske književne akademije 2002. godine, a od 2007. godine je ambasador mira Ujedinjenih nacija. Godine 2009 dodeljeno mu je priznanje Ginisove knjige rekorda za najprevodenijeg autora jednog romana (Alhemicar). Takode, on je i autor koga prati najviše ljudi na društvenim mrežama.

Quick read. Interesting background of a prostetute. ( )

I honestly can't tell if I "liked" that book, or just thought "it was ok". However, I now know it's true that if you read one book by Coelho, you read them all. That might not be enough to prevent me from reading another one of his books in the future since they are - generally - very light and slightly engaging.
The story in itself is not brilliant, nor exciting (a book that tells a story of a prostitute should be, right?) I'm guessing it might have been a more enjoyable read if the story with all its details was an actual one written by Maria (the protagonist), since it was definitely interesting. I've learned a few things I wanted to know more about before, but never had the chance to (History of prostitution, and more things of the like).
( )

This book, about a girl with simple yet complex dreams and her choices which she thinks, are adventurous, will lead us to introspection even though the events in her life and ours are entirely different .. and that I think is the art of writing which the author has brought about in his work... I would recommend this book to people who love reading novels, the ones who think a lot after reading, and to the ones who are so good at picturing the entire novel creatively in mind 😉 I think it will be a great loss for novel lovers if they couldn't read this book....and I end up by a quote from the book. ( )