Eleven Minutes (original 2003; edition 2004)

Well It was okay but based on this book I am not looking forward to read any more of this authors books if I am honest. I started to get really bored after a while and that sucked cause I did like the writing. Still have 2 books here by him but I think I will give them back to my mother. ( )

Paulo Coelho, excelente autor Colombiano hace un detallado recorrido por la vida de una joven la cual lleva una vida muy dura ( )

María, una adolescente de un pueblo del norte de Brasil viaja a Rio de Janeiro donde conoce a un rico empresario que le ofrece un trabajo en Ginebra. Ella sueña con encontrar fama y fortuna, pero acabará ejerciendo la prostitución. El aprendizaje que extrae de sus duras experiencias modificará para siempre su actitud ante si misma y nte la vida. Esta novela explora la naturaleza del sexo y del amor, la intensa y dificil relación entre cuerpo y alma y como alcanzar la perfecta unión entre ambos. ( )

It was basically a boring book. I don't think Coelho knows half as much about women as he thinks he does. I doubt that he has spent any time in Geneva except maybe the sex bars. (I lived there for three years, and would have liked a little familiar local colour.)

It is also dangerous because it trivializes the very real hazards most women face when they are brought to Europe by strangers. Most of them don't have any choice about prostitution; most of them don't have legal status; most of them end up a year later with HIV, not with the money to go home and buy a farm. ( )

From my blog

I have had Eleven Minutes on my bookshelf for 2 years, one of the first books I brought after blogging. The main thing I can say about this book is that it was thought provoking. It was hard to decide what to rate this book, the beginning I was fascinated and as it went on I began losing interest but I enjoyed the ending of the journey and how it all came together with the understanding of the clever title Eleven Minutes. This book will not be for everyone, it is exploring sexuality with spirituality undertones and may make some feel uncomfortable.

What I enjoyed about this book was that it was like reading a thesis paper, very literal with artfully contrived meanings but easy enough for you to understand and have your own opinion on. Maria was looking for adventure, to become a star, find a husband and be happy, we went on the journey along with her. I thought she gambled with her life, she took risks that many do when they are young but some of hers could have caused her her life.

Now that I have experienced reading a memoir when I read different novels I realise if it was a memoir I would have enjoyed it more, this is in that category. The character was inspired by someone but Paulo Coelho still put his own interpretation on the choices and consequences.

If you want a thought provoking but easy read I say go for it. This is the first book I have read that I can understand every rating, if someone DNF or rated it a 1 to 5 star, I get it but it has its place in the writing world for sure. It seems like Paulo Coelho very much has a style of writing, that may seem formula like but I think it is more like a personal research paper that he allows the reader to experience and think about also.

Another favourite was the opening, I would like to share.

Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. Wait as minute. "Once upon a time" is how all the best children's stories begin and "prostitute" is a word for adults. How can I start a book with this apparent contradiction? But since, at every moment of our lives, we all have on foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss, let's keep that beginning........

More favourite "thought provoking" quotes

A writer once said that it is not time that changes man, nor knowledge; the only thing that can change someone's mind is love. Page 53

"Does a soldier go to war in order to kill the enemy? No, he goes in order to die for his country. Does a wife want to show her husband how happy she is? No, she wants him to see how devoted she is, how she suffers in order to make him happy. Does the husband go to work thinking he will find personal fulfillment there? No, he is giving his seat and tears for the good of the family. And so it goes on: sons give up their dreams to please their parents, parents give up their lives in order to please their children; pain and suffering are used to justify the one thing that should bring only joy: love." ( )