The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.)
by Paulo Coelho (Goodreads author!)
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
philosphers and lovers
This book gave me a lot to think about. I found it a little bit "Sohpie's Choice" in that Paul Coelho uses his characters as mouthpieces for ideas and visions. As characters, they are not altogether believable: when they speak, the dialogue is less important than the master vision the author is trying to convey. Some of these overarching visions he has for the way people should live in the world were hard to grasp because they are not as accessible to the Western mind... I will have...more
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Read in November, 2007
به نقل از پشت جلد:
فصل اول
فایل فلش معرفی کتاب
سایت رسمی پائولو کوئلیو به زبان فارسی
نویسنده ای مشهور پی می برد ...more
فصل اول
فایل فلش معرفی کتاب
سایت رسمی پائولو کوئلیو به زبان فارسی
نویسنده ای مشهور پی می برد ...more
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Read in March, 2008
Typical Coelho...lots of really good quotes. whether you agree with them or not does not really matter but he makes you think by hitting the extremes.
When i get time i will type my favorite two pages which I think summarize the whole book. here are some others.
"Although I know that I may have lost forever the woman I love, I must try to enjoy all the graces that God has given me today. Grace cannot be hoarded. There are no banks where it can be deposited to be used when I feel more...more
When i get time i will type my favorite two pages which I think summarize the whole book. here are some others.
"Although I know that I may have lost forever the woman I love, I must try to enjoy all the graces that God has given me today. Grace cannot be hoarded. There are no banks where it can be deposited to be used when I feel more...more
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Read in March, 2008
While reading "The Zahir" I was constantly wishing that I had read other works by Coelho first. His books are often inspired by his actual life, or at least are filled with references to his experiences, indeed he even wrote in this book that this is the only way to write. This book is no exception, it makes frequent references to his previous books and his life, and I was left feeling like I should have read his other books before reading "The Zahir." Nevertheless, it was wo...more
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Read in December, 2007
So far my least favorite of Coelho's books. Awoman leaves her husband with no explanation to find out how to be happy. She leaves no note, no messenger, takes nothing, just seems to disappear. He finds himseelf in the journey and learns he needs to look for her because he loves her, not because he is obsessed. Along the way other hearts get broken.
Quotes:
"When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive - I'll find love again."
"In order to be able ...more
Quotes:
"When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive - I'll find love again."
"In order to be able ...more
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Read in December, 2004
As I have said in other reviews of Coelho's books...I am a big fan of Paulo Coelho's work. I can say that he is my favorite author. And I believe eventually time will show him to be an important writer of this time.
I remember reading The Valkyries and I bought it for friends to share with everyone. Many of his titles are a part of my permanent library.
Okay so all that say I was a little disappointed by The Zahir. I read somewhere that Coelho puts himself into many of his books....more
I remember reading The Valkyries and I bought it for friends to share with everyone. Many of his titles are a part of my permanent library.
Okay so all that say I was a little disappointed by The Zahir. I read somewhere that Coelho puts himself into many of his books....more
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recommends it for:
People in the journey to their personal legend.
I believe the quotation below will be sufficient to show how brilliant Coelho is:
‘Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face?
‘That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.’
‘No, the one with the dirty face will look...more
‘Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face?
‘That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.’
‘No, the one with the dirty face will look...more
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Read in December, 2007
Saya senang sekali selama membaca The Zahir ini.
Tidak seperti novel lainnya, di novel ini saya merasa sedang ikut berjalan dalam peristiwa hidup seorang penulis buku yang tengah belajar memahami arti cinta dan kehidupan.
Tanpa menggurui dan bersikap sok tahu, di bagian tertentu diselipkan informasi-informasi tambahan yang benar-benar menambah kosakata dan wawasan kita mengenai kehidupan dan adat istiadat di negara lain.
Beberapa paragraf berisi pikiran atau isi hati sang tokoh tidak me...more
Tidak seperti novel lainnya, di novel ini saya merasa sedang ikut berjalan dalam peristiwa hidup seorang penulis buku yang tengah belajar memahami arti cinta dan kehidupan.
Tanpa menggurui dan bersikap sok tahu, di bagian tertentu diselipkan informasi-informasi tambahan yang benar-benar menambah kosakata dan wawasan kita mengenai kehidupan dan adat istiadat di negara lain.
Beberapa paragraf berisi pikiran atau isi hati sang tokoh tidak me...more
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Read in January, 2007
A great book for anyone struggling with attachment or ownership of something that you love.
"I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved the seemed to be to the parent's wishes, to a marriage in which they had promised to stay with the other person "for the rest of their lives," to the bathroom scales, to their diet, to the half-finished projects, to lovers to whom they were incapable of saying "No"...more
"I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved the seemed to be to the parent's wishes, to a marriage in which they had promised to stay with the other person "for the rest of their lives," to the bathroom scales, to their diet, to the half-finished projects, to lovers to whom they were incapable of saying "No"...more
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Read in January, 2005
This book got me through an extremely rough patch in my life and gave me hope to live and love again.
"Although I know that I may have lost forever the woman I love, I must try to enjoy all the graces that God has given me today. Grace cannot be hoarded. There are no banks where it can be deposited to be used when I feel more at peace with myself. If I do not make full use of these blessings, I will lose them forever.
God knows that we are all artists of life. One day he gi...more
"Although I know that I may have lost forever the woman I love, I must try to enjoy all the graces that God has given me today. Grace cannot be hoarded. There are no banks where it can be deposited to be used when I feel more at peace with myself. If I do not make full use of these blessings, I will lose them forever.
God knows that we are all artists of life. One day he gi...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone
The Zahir is a decent read, but not in my opinion, one of Paulo Coelho best novels. It is written in first person narrative, and although Paulo himself is not the narrator, it is quite obvious that it is strongly based upon his life. It starts well, and it filled with ponderous thought, as most of his books are, yet to me this novel came across as a more of a wealthy man complaining about finding his place in the world. Which is an easy thing to spend hours contemplating, when you don't have to ...more
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Read in October, 2007
I saw The Zahir at the supermarket and picked it up. Just finished reading it and wow, all the things that had come to me in one of those revelations were written down by Paulo Coelho. I couldn’t believe it. I thought I was the only weird one thinking that way about love and marriage but I can just relate so well to what he was saying. Do you remember that guy Mikhail who had the epileptic attacks that wasn’t really epilepsy, he just had this energy rushing through him that made him have...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Kristan by:
Roserecommends it for: anyone
Coelho's The Alchemist gets all the press, but I enjoyed this book so much more. The biggest difference for me was that I connected to the characters in The Zahir, whereas those in The Alchemist were too broadly drawn -- like the stars in Aesop's fables, I learned from them, but I did not feel for them.
Other than that, Coelho's trademark style and simplicity, his worldliness, his intimacy -- these are all intact, and effective as ever. He's really a wonderful writer, and a great storyteller,...more
Other than that, Coelho's trademark style and simplicity, his worldliness, his intimacy -- these are all intact, and effective as ever. He's really a wonderful writer, and a great storyteller,...more
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Read in October, 2007
i have only about 50 pages to go, so i am sure i will finish this book this evening on the metro ride home... so far i have enjoyed the book and i am glad that i am reading it. it reminds me a lot of the alchemist though, and they actually reference the main character's trip to santiago numerous times - the zahir focuses on love and it's power in our lives and how it can change our destiny. i don't necessarily agree with a lot the things coelho says in the book, and a lot of the lessons he sp...more
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recommends it for:
ones in a journy to find love
Maybe because i read The Witch of Portobello first i felt the zahir very similar however not as nice:
He lost his wife, or maybe he didnt. He doesnt know.
He finds out that he has to know himself better then go in search for her as he follows signs that come upon with the help of Mikhiel (the kasakh guy)
He reaches her as Ulysses reaches his wife, and there she is waiting for him, and funny for an ending as it might seem, she is PREGNANT!!
Hehe, well he accepts that she's pregnant and he is ...more
He lost his wife, or maybe he didnt. He doesnt know.
He finds out that he has to know himself better then go in search for her as he follows signs that come upon with the help of Mikhiel (the kasakh guy)
He reaches her as Ulysses reaches his wife, and there she is waiting for him, and funny for an ending as it might seem, she is PREGNANT!!
Hehe, well he accepts that she's pregnant and he is ...more
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Read in January, 2008
highly inspirational in a "you can't handle the truth!" sort of way as long as you ignore all the kookie "the Voice said it's not the right time" sort of comments. although i was exstremely disappointed in the final two pages: how can his journey be so enlightening and enthrawaling, and yet her's be so stereotypical and flat? It's like Paulo got tired of writting so he just wrote a conclusion paragraph right where he was in the story. Had I written the ending (only the ending...more
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Read in February, 2008
The Zahir tells the story of a writer whose wife just disappeared all of a sudden. He was so lost, confused and obviously had no idea what went wrong in their marriage at all. However, as he embarked on the seemingly hopeless search for his missing wife (or ex-wife), he ended up finding not only the one he loved most, his Zahir, but also his true self and what it meant to live life fully and anew moment by moment. Well, apart from the plot that I'm already very fond of, I also find the law of Ja...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Joan by:
Cindy at Swati's book-swap :)recommends it for: people after a break-up, looking for answers
I would give this book a 3.5 if I could. There were parts of it that I thought were insightful and useful, and other parts that felt incredibly tedious. Maybe it is the translation, but I did not feel challenged by the prose in the least (which I like). The author's beliefs on writing and writers, I don't agree with all of it -- maybe just not the right thing to read after "Resistance, Rebellion, & Death." But I commend the fact that he keeps writing these books from his heart ...more
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Read in January, 2006
wow. do you know how and when i discovered this author? at the airport bookstore- at la guardia, the american terminal-the one next to the dunkin donuts/baskin robbins that one must ignore... you know how difficult it is to find something worthwhile to read in the airport bookstore, and i was about to buy something else- this book was in the low corner pocket and i saw it. the cover, and the title, are enticing, but could have been just over the top. but i usually test drive books buy opening th...more
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baru beli kemarin di book fair
belum sempat baca tapi kayanya bagus juga
udah sampe pertengahan dan ternyata memang bagus!
bahkan aku sampe merasa perlu menambah satu bintang lagi hehehe
buku ini bisa dibaca siapa aja karena isinya memang bisa dianalogikan ke berbagai situasi
misal penulis yang menganalogikan lautan sebagai samudera kata ternyata masuk akal juga karena memang dalam rangka menulis buku bisa juga dibilang berusaha menyebrang samudera dan kalo kita kalah dengan badai yang meng...more
belum sempat baca tapi kayanya bagus juga
udah sampe pertengahan dan ternyata memang bagus!
bahkan aku sampe merasa perlu menambah satu bintang lagi hehehe
buku ini bisa dibaca siapa aja karena isinya memang bisa dianalogikan ke berbagai situasi
misal penulis yang menganalogikan lautan sebagai samudera kata ternyata masuk akal juga karena memang dalam rangka menulis buku bisa juga dibilang berusaha menyebrang samudera dan kalo kita kalah dengan badai yang meng...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.58 (2531 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.59 (2001 ratings) number of reviews: 307popular shelves
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"If you are nobody, if your work has no impact, then it deserves to be praised. If, however, you climb out of that state of mediocrity and are a success, then you are defying the law and deserve to be punished..."
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