The Fifth Mountain
by Paulo Coelho
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"More ambitious than The Alchemist. A thought-provoking tale." – TIME magazineIn The Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho takes us back to the ninth century, to the turbulent Middle East, where the prophet Elijah is struggling to keep his faith alive in a world of constant upheaval, tyrannical royalty, and pagan gods.
Elijah's story is a lesson in persistence, an exercise in hope, and a journey you will never forget. Inspired by a circumstance that forever altered Coelho's own life, The Fifth show more Mountain is a testament to the truth that tragedy in life should not be considered a punishment, but a challenge of the spirit. Gripping in its narrative and graceful in its prose, The Fifth Mountain teaches and inspires like no other novel. This is a timeless story for the ages, a tale of the past that resonates powerfully today.
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Okay, I'll be honest with you. I don't really know the biblical story of Elijah. Like, at all. But, I had read and appreciatedThe Alchemist, biblical fiction is right up my alley, even if I don't know the basis, and I had picked this book up twice now (once on the $2 clearance shelf, and once at Book Bums - a coffee shop/lending library in Olde West Chester), so I figured it was time to read it.
And, wow.
Maybe once a year, I find a book that hits all the right chords of prose. Once every couple of years, I finish a book, close it, and hold it to my chest, hoping a bit more of the seamless goodness will make its way to my heart through osmosis.
No, this is not a book for all audiences, but it is one that I would have trouble NOT show more recommending to someone. Even if you are not a believer in one higher power (be it a trinity or a solo figure), this is a book that helps to define what it is that makes a human being a great one: the ability to challenge himself and the powers acting in his life; the ability to learn to love and to lose; the ability to set your own goals, even when no success has come your way in quite sometime.
So many have deemed The Alchemist a life-changing novel. This is Coelho's masterpiece for me... at least of the ones I've read so far, and I will certainly be looking to complete my collection. show less
And, wow.
Maybe once a year, I find a book that hits all the right chords of prose. Once every couple of years, I finish a book, close it, and hold it to my chest, hoping a bit more of the seamless goodness will make its way to my heart through osmosis.
No, this is not a book for all audiences, but it is one that I would have trouble NOT show more recommending to someone. Even if you are not a believer in one higher power (be it a trinity or a solo figure), this is a book that helps to define what it is that makes a human being a great one: the ability to challenge himself and the powers acting in his life; the ability to learn to love and to lose; the ability to set your own goals, even when no success has come your way in quite sometime.
So many have deemed The Alchemist a life-changing novel. This is Coelho's masterpiece for me... at least of the ones I've read so far, and I will certainly be looking to complete my collection. show less
“Although I have the colours, only the Lord can mix them with such harmony.”
All of Coelho's books seem to have religion at their centre but this is the first that I've read that actually features a named person from the Bible, the prophet Elijah whose story Coelho has then elaborated upon to form this book.
Elijah's is a reluctant prophet, taught by his parents to ignore his calling and become a carpenter. Prophets tend to fall out of popularity with the secular leaders and are often then killed.However, when King Ahab, allows his wife,a Phoenician princess Jezebel, to compel the people of Israel to pray to one of her pagan gods or face death Elijah has a visitation from an angel and given a prophecy. When Elijah tells this prophecy show more to King Ahab he becomes a hunted man. He escapes and is taken in by a widow in Akbar, despite the fact that she is very poor with barely enough food to feed herself and her son. Whilst living with the woman and the boy Elijah learns to love and struggles against fanatical forces who fear the written word. So fanatical that they are willing to see Akbar destroyed rather than see the spread of the use of the 'alphabet'. Elijah feels that his steps are haunted by death but in the end realises that by forgetting his path he can bring forward new life, some tragedies are just unavoidable.
In many respects it is interesting to see Elijah rebel against the will of God rather than merely submit often questioning God's commands as he struggles between faith and reality. I got the impression that the author believes that God wants his disciples to question His deeds rather than merely blindly follow along and that is why Man was given an inquiring mind but then again I may be reading far too much into it.
This is not one of my favourite books by the author but all the same it was an enjoyable read and despite racing through id did make me stop and think.
“There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them.
But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.” show less
All of Coelho's books seem to have religion at their centre but this is the first that I've read that actually features a named person from the Bible, the prophet Elijah whose story Coelho has then elaborated upon to form this book.
Elijah's is a reluctant prophet, taught by his parents to ignore his calling and become a carpenter. Prophets tend to fall out of popularity with the secular leaders and are often then killed.However, when King Ahab, allows his wife,a Phoenician princess Jezebel, to compel the people of Israel to pray to one of her pagan gods or face death Elijah has a visitation from an angel and given a prophecy. When Elijah tells this prophecy show more to King Ahab he becomes a hunted man. He escapes and is taken in by a widow in Akbar, despite the fact that she is very poor with barely enough food to feed herself and her son. Whilst living with the woman and the boy Elijah learns to love and struggles against fanatical forces who fear the written word. So fanatical that they are willing to see Akbar destroyed rather than see the spread of the use of the 'alphabet'. Elijah feels that his steps are haunted by death but in the end realises that by forgetting his path he can bring forward new life, some tragedies are just unavoidable.
In many respects it is interesting to see Elijah rebel against the will of God rather than merely submit often questioning God's commands as he struggles between faith and reality. I got the impression that the author believes that God wants his disciples to question His deeds rather than merely blindly follow along and that is why Man was given an inquiring mind but then again I may be reading far too much into it.
This is not one of my favourite books by the author but all the same it was an enjoyable read and despite racing through id did make me stop and think.
“There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them.
But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.” show less
`Пятая гора` - мастерский и захватывающий рассказ о 23-летнем Илье-пророке, жившем в IX веке до н.э. Под угрозой казни Илия вынужден покинуть родную страну. Он находит прибежище в прекрасном древнем городе Акбаре, у молодой вдовы и ее сына. Илие мучительно трудно сохранять свою святость в мире, истерзанном тиранией и войнами, а тут еще приходится выбирать между впервые открывшейся ему любовью и глубоким show more чувством долга... Живописуя драматические приключения в ярком и хаотическом мире Ближнего Востока, Пауло Коэльо превращает рассказ о пророке Илии в необычайно трогательную поэму об испытании человеческой веры. `Прекрасная сказка о судьбе...` show less
At times The Fifth Mountain felt a little too parsonic, little more than an imaginative re-telling of a Hebrew-scriptural tradition. Yet it gained its own literary and spititual momentum late in the piece, and for that it merits a read. Not Coelho at his best, though. The characters too wooden, the plot a little unimaginative, the dialogue likewise. Sermonic, almost. But by no means a wasted read.
A bit more interesting than "Veronika Decides to Die" but still typical mystical New-Age writing from Paulo Coelho. Not as bad as VDtD, and definitely not as preachy - this is a modern retelling of Elijah and his lifetime, with Paulo's 'New Age' take on things. Makes me wish to read actual REAL writing of that time period (aka non-Bible/non-Paulo, more secular writings of the actual time period and real historical events rather than the mythical and Biblical take on it). As with all of Paulo's books, it's fast, easy to read, New Age style spiritualism, and a bit preachy; but definitely not as preachy as VDtD. A small nod to The Alchemist in the novel as well, for those who read The Alchemist before.
Coellho exhibits an amazing virtue of transparency that makes his writing like a path of energy that inadvertently leads readers to themselves, towards their mysterious and faraway souls
The story is based on the prophet Elijah who apparently got run out of town by Jezebel for predicting no rain until the people repudiated Baal. This was kinda hard to empathise with, I've very little patience for whining, vacillating anti-heroes; couldn't stand Hamlet (it still annoys me to this day).
The best bit was the introduction where Coelho says "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." He talks about manifestations of the unavoidable which he calls events that may seem awful or tragic but which exist to teach you how to stay true to your path.
The best bit was the introduction where Coelho says "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." He talks about manifestations of the unavoidable which he calls events that may seem awful or tragic but which exist to teach you how to stay true to your path.
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Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 24, 1947. As a teenager, he wanted to become a writer, but his parents wanted him to pursue a more substantial and secure career. At the age of 17, his introversion and opposition to his parents led them to commit him to a mental institution. He escaped three times before being released at show more the age of 20. Once released, he abandoned his ideas of becoming a writer and enrolled in law school to please his parents. He stayed in law school for one year. In 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life. On the path, he had a spiritual awakening, which he described in his book The Pilgrimage. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist, and journalist. He wrote song lyrics for many famous performers in Brazilian music including Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Raul Seixas. His first book, Hell Archives, was published in 1982. He has written over 25 books since then including The Alchemist, Brida, The Fifth Mountain, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, The Zahir, The Witch of Portobello, Like a Flowing River, and Adultery. He received numerous awards including Las Pergolas Prize, The Budapest Prize, Nielsen Gold Book Award, and the Grand Prix Litteraire Elle. In 1996, he founded the Paulo Coelho Institute, which provides aid to children and elderly people with financial problems. In 2007, Coelho was named a Messenger of Peace to the United Nations. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- La cinquième montagne
- Original title
- O Monte Cinco
- Original publication date
- 1998
- People/Characters
- Elijah
- Important places
- Israel; Akbar
- Epigraph
- And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great f... (show all)amine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Zarephath, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. -- Luke 4:24-26
- Dedication*
- À A. M., guerrier de la lumière
- First words
- At the beginning of the year 870 B.C., a nation known as Phoenicia, which the Israelites called Lebanon, had marked almost three centuries of peace.
- Original language
- Portuguese
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 869.3 — Literature & rhetoric Spanish Literature Literatures of Portuguese and Galician languages Portuguese fiction
- LCC
- PQ9698.13 .O3546 .Q5613 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures Portuguese literature Provincial, local, colonial, etc. Brazil
- BISAC
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