Goodreads | Eleven Minutes: A Novel

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Paulo Coelho Group	1	17	10/23/2007 04:02AM
help plz	2	7	09/22/2007 12:21AM

Lesley rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

09/04/07

bookshelves: love-sex-obsession

Read in August, 2007

I'm giving this book five stars because I definitely thought it was amazing. BUT ... like every other Coelho book I've read, it let me down in the end.

How can he articulate so many nuggets of wisdom, often through characters the writing of which expresses the irony and profundity of their insights, and yet packaged in stories with such cliche outcomes?!?! So many of his books explore the ephermerality of love, the moment, the permanence of change, the fleetingness of forever... and yet, his...more

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Vivaldi rated it:

(review of isbn 9792234551)

07/22/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2008

Membaca karya-karya Paulo Coelho selamanya selalu memerlukan perenungan. Dan penulis yang konsisten mendedah misteri kehidupan ini, ternyata juga berani menulis topik tabu yang biasanya dihindari penikmat buku genre ini: Persetubuhan. Penulis dalam kata pengantarnya juga mengakui, ini adalah karya yang sedikit berbeda. Karena dia tidak hanya ingin menulis apa yang pembaca ingin baca, tapi juga realitas yang ada di sekeliling kita.

11 menit, adalah judul buku yang ingin ditulis oleh sang tokoh...more

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Elena rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

04/25/07

bookshelves: amazing

Eleven Minutes begins, as most children's books do, with "Once Upon a Time,' but by no means is this novel about sex and love a children's fairytale. It is the fairytale of a young woman in search for the answers to her desires.

Why is it that we all long for love, yet it is so elusive to so many? Is sex an expression of love or merely a physical act? What is worse, to keep love at bay in order to avoid pain, or give in to your passions? By virtue of her profession, the protagonist b...more

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Maria rated it:

07/22/08

bookshelves: booksthatmademeblush

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: women.

In comparison to my experiences with his other pieces. I can confidently say that this Paulo Cohelo work tests the reader in a unique and dangerous way.

Each of his novels teach valuable lessons for adults through the interesting happenings of his protagonists. This story does the same. However the lesson taught borders on relationship counseling and sexual education. It was just as compelling and effective as it was uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in the sense that the information being ...more

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Sonia added it (review of isbn 0060589280)

11/18/07

اصلا خوشم نیومد . من خیلی از کتابهای پائولو را خوندم ولی معتقدم زدن حرفهای تکراری که تو کیمیاگر اومده بود نیازی به این نوشته نداشت . تو کیمیاگر پائولو میگه که دنبال آرزوهات و رویاهات برو و تو این کتاب میگه فکر نکن دنباله روی بی چون و چرا از رویاها تو رو به موفقیت می رسونه . استفاد...more

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Chadijah rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

09/10/08

bookshelves: alreadyread

Read in September, 2008

Some of my friends were raving about Coelho's "The Alchemist"; however, my first encounter with his writing is this book. I'm a little bit disappointed, though, because I expected more.

My friends said that Coelho writes simple topics but with philosophies that could give new meanings on the subject--and some enhancement to the readers. I do agree on the philosophical thingy, but for my point of view, it doesn't quite fit in this book.

Maria, the prostitute who became the main ...more

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Mita rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

03/02/08

Read in February, 2008

recommended to Mita by: no one...
recommends it for: everone who want to liberate themselves, perempuan2 , para pelacur yg masih malu2...

Gila sekaliii...!!!

Buku ini WOW & FUIHHHH...

Dalam beberapa hal, Paulo ternyata smacam menyampaikan dengan jelas apa yang aku pikirkan , yakini dan khawatirkan... Padahal aku tidak memiliki koneksi apa2 dengan orang ini (hehehehe yeah of course not,how come idiot?!)

Jelas sekali bagiku pesan mengenai seks dan cinta. Keduanya adalah bentuk kebebasan dan kemerdekaan... Semua sudah begitu banyak yang kehilangan makna hingga harus dimaterikan bahkan ditampikkan dengan wajah kemunafikan...more

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Bookshop rated it:

(review of isbn 0007166044)

07/29/07

bookshelves: biography

Read in January, 2006

I was burnt by his book titled "Veronica decides to die". When I flipped through his bestseller, "The Alchemist", I was not too impressed either. I thought he was too "Celestine Prophecy". When I asked people what "The Alchemist' was all about, they always said it was about searching for something. But they could never be able to explain what that something was and they quickly moved on to rave about how inspirational the book was. How you can say searching for...more I was burnt by his book titled "Veronica decides to die". When I flipped through his bestseller, "The Alchemist", I was not too impressed either. I thought he was too "Celestine Prophecy". When I asked people what "The Alchemist' was all about, they always said it was about searching for something. But they could never be able to explain what that something was and they quickly moved on to rave about how inspirational the book was. How you can say searching for something you don't even know inspirational is beyond me. I'm too dumb for stuffs like that.

Anyway, I picked up this book in Freiburg's train station while waiting for our train to Titisee. I remembered wrongly that this was the book that Cindy raved about. Having read her review, I wanted to give Paulo Coelho a second chance.

The book is about Maria, a young Brazilian girl who comes from a poor family, dreams of fairy tales and ends up as a prostitute in Geneva. Apparently, this is based on a true story. That's the first mistake. The idea is not unique but I suppose variations can be spun into interesting stories. However, he fails to marry his philosophical style with this true story with a fixed ending, which, to do it successfully, I'm sure must be extremely difficult.

The first few chapters outlining the life of little Maria are engaging enough. I couldn't put the book down at this stage. Once she gets to Switzerland, the lecturing, dreamy, philosophical style that I dislike starts. Maria is no ordinary prostitute. She is beautiful as well as smart (Yawn). She first attempts to justify her reasons or anybody's reasons to be a prostitute. Before that is concluded, she moves on to find a rich and young and handsome painter who worships her (Snore). At the same time, she is tempted into masochism by a rich (again) and famous music producer who is disappointed by his wife's infidelity. She must choose between these two! That is essentially the story. In between the story about Maria, the author inserts graphic descriptions of various sexual acts, sex education, which sometimes read like a newspaper's sex column (ejaculation is not the same as sex, please!), and historical information (the history of prostitution complete with years marking civilization. Pah!).

I also note a few exaggerations in this book. One I cannot stand is this. He describes that the loneliest people are the top executives, commanding lots of money and respect and having great families, when asked to change jobs by head hunters. The reasons? Because this executive cannot talk to his colleagues as they wouldn't let them go (This is misleading. It highly depends on situation) and he can't talk to his family because the wife, who knows nothing about taking risk, wouldn't let him. HELLO?? Despite his attempt to be sophisticated and deep, this is very shallow indeed.

I wrote the review when I was about 3/4 into the story. Toward the end, her struggle between staying in Geneva or going back to Brazil is slow and painfully dotted with unnecessary pretentious and meaningless analysis of love, sex, women, men, the universe, and the rubbish. After reading the ending, I was further disappointed and decided to downgrade the rating by one more star.

The story can be interesting but it has to be done strictly as a biography, as a story-telling.

This book sorts of seals my dislike of his writings. I dislike the content, I dislike the style. I dislike his empty philosophies. I don't know what to learn from his books. Maybe that's because I don't care to interpret. But shouldn't good writings do not require people to interpret their messages but ponder on the contents? Having said that, try and read it especially if you are a fan. You may beg to differ. ...less

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Audri-Dina rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

06/24/07

Read in July, 2004

recommends it for: Soul searcing individuals, people who like to question love

Coelho Definately, knows about life!
This book is a story about Maria, a young girl who's really not settle for being just ordinary country girl. Her jouney begins when one day she went for vacation to Rio Da Janero (wow, she live in the same country as Coelho!!)and a stranger offered her fo working abroad as a dancer. Her life changed on the day she accept the offer. And from the very begining until the end of the book readers could see how life can turn out very unexpectedly. You think you ...more

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Amir rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

03/16/07

bookshelves: paulo-coelho

تعداد صفحات کتاب در حدود ۷۰ صفحه هست و موضوع کتاب به صورت خاص به روسپیگری پرداخته شده...مثل خیلی از کتابهای کوئلیو متن داستان ساده و قابل فهم نوشته شده...همراه با جمله های قشنگ و اتفاقات کوتاه ولی جالب...
هدف نویسنده از نوشتن داستان کاملا مشخص هست و حرفهایی هم که می خواسته بگه فهم...more

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Felicia rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

04/02/07

Read in August, 2006

I didn't find this nearly as good as The Alchemist. I do not know if Coelho was trying to really get in the mindset of a woman by over-analyzing sex, but I felt a real woman would be less philosophical and more emotional about her experiences. It seemed to me that she was detached from herself and no matter what shocking things would come her way, she would still never be phased by it and I just felt it was too dehumanized. Philosophical rampages on love and being the mother and friend to her...more

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Prasanna rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

09/10/07

Read in December, 2006

Purportedly written by Coelho based on interviews with a prostitute, this is a very sobering story of a woman´s quest for self discovery, that inadvertently leads to sexual self-discovery.

The ¨Eleven Minutes¨ in the title is a reference to the duration of a sexual encounter - at least as expressed by Maria, the prostitute-named-for-the-virgin who is the novel´s protagonist.

The book gets 3 stars because it never delivers the claim it makes - that of showing the spiritual side of thi...more

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Talia rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

07/27/07

Read in January, 2007

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as i thought i would. reading the back, i found myself really relating to the main character and fasinated by the journey she would take. But as i read, i didn't see that much of myself in the main character and in fact, i hated that so much of the book focused in how a woman needs a man to make her truely happy and whole. Obviously, Coahlo is an amazing writer with many interesting ideas in his books, but this one wasn't what i wanted it to be....

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Gregory rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

11/09/08

It was interesting--and sometimes confusing--reading this book at the same time as Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. They're both books about prostitutes (in a nutshell) but their attitudes about prostitution are certainly quite distinct. Where Coelho seems to, if not disdain, then at least offer some embarrassment on the part of both parties in the act of prostitution, as would certainly be the case in our society, the character of Phedre in Carey's Kushiel series not only enjoys her art but ...more

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Natasha rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

07/10/08

I don't know why i love books about whores, but I seriously do. I don't know if I'm a whore, but I definitely identified with the girl in this book. She is so innocent and thinks she knows what she's dealing with, but she has no idea. She is searching for pure, true love, and goes through so much pain in trying to find it. I recommend this book.

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Jackie rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

10/25/08

bookshelves: goodstory

Read in October, 2008

Paulo Coelho always writes very readable stories that propel you through them. However, the moral is always spoon fed, the complexity is usually minimal. This does not make his stories not worth reading, it is just something that a potential reader should keep in mind before cracking a book by him. This is not a blow-you-hair-back author, but his stories are always pleasant for me and I enjoy getting to know his characters. This is one of his darker novels, making it a good choice if you hav...more

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Emon rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

09/03/08

Maria found her true love when she gave up that she would never find it as well as she did not believe any true love in this world. She found it, when she had decided to forget and leave her love.

Since Maria was a girl, she often had dreamed about true love and happily ever after ending. She inspired too much with kind of Cinderella story. She found her first love during elementary school when she glanced to her school mate, a boy that he never knew his name. Maria felt the sex sensation w...more

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Karen rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

11/15/08

Read in January, 2005

I had read the Alchemist and loved it, so wanted to give another of Paulo Coelho’s books a try. At first I was a little surprised by the story. It is very different from his other book.
The story is very sexual and provocative.

Maria is a young girl that leaves Rio at the advice of a Swedish stranger that promises her fame and fortune. Unfortunately, Maria soon finds out that she will get neither, working as a restaurant dancer and then moving to high-class prostitute Maria is soon...more

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nanto rated it:

(review of isbn 9792234551)

10/04/08

bookshelves: nant-s-book, novel

Buku ini menceritakan persoalan sebelas menit. Sebelas menit yang karenanya bisa membuat banyak manusia kehilangan sebagian kemanusiaannya lalu mencoba mencarinya melalui transaksi komersial. Sebelas menit itu adalah rata-rata lama waktu bagi kegiatan seksual manusia.

Pencarian yang bisa membuat pelaku yang bergelut dengan persoalan sebelas menit itu sendiri masih misteri. Juga bagi Maria yang mengenal soal sebelas menit itu sejak ia kanak-kanak di Brazil hingga kemudian tercebur dalam dunia ...more Buku ini menceritakan persoalan sebelas menit. Sebelas menit yang karenanya bisa membuat banyak manusia kehilangan sebagian kemanusiaannya lalu mencoba mencarinya melalui transaksi komersial. Sebelas menit itu adalah rata-rata lama waktu bagi kegiatan seksual manusia.

Pencarian yang bisa membuat pelaku yang bergelut dengan persoalan sebelas menit itu sendiri masih misteri. Juga bagi Maria yang mengenal soal sebelas menit itu sejak ia kanak-kanak di Brazil hingga kemudian tercebur dalam dunia yang hanya berusan dengan soal sebelas menit itu. Terseret dalam dunia yang semua menista, bukan persoalan mudah. Namun bukankah manusia selalu mampu berdalih? Tepatnya menindih suara yang kerap hadir sebagai teman diskusinya. Keputusan diambil, suara Maria lain pupus.

Ketika menerjuni kegiatan sebelas menit itu, Maria hanya menilainya sebagai rutinitas yang kehilangan arti dan antusiasmenya. Robotik barangkali..., "persoalan membuka paha" sedingin itu Maria menamakan hubungan dengan konsumennya.

Berbeda ceritanya jika Maria lebih dari sekedar mitra sebelas menit. Bila ia dipandang sebagai cahaya dan totalitas. Ia di mata seorang pelukis muda adalah wujud hidup dengan cerita masa lalu dan mimpi negeri impian. Masa lalu setiap manusa pasti punya, namun buat seorang Maria negeri impian tetap ada. Dua hal mampu dilihat utuh oleh Ralf, pelukis muda itu, di diri Maria. Ralf sebagai lelaki muda dibalik segala tampilan luarnya sebenarnya juga sama dengan lelaki lain yang tidak lepas dari persoalan sebelas menit. Yang membedakannnya adalah mereka bertemu bukan di tempat Maria bekerja. Di sana mereka bisa mengenal satu sama lain untuk menembusi segala benteng pribadi, tidak diatur dalam rutinitas "pesan cocktail-dansa-kamar hotel-sampai jumpa."

Ketika pertemuan yang dirindukan itu terjadi, justru pertanyaan dasar kaum Maria kembali menguat. Maria dan kawan seprofesi datang ke dunia itu dengan tiga tujuan umum: uang, petualangan, suami. Doktrin seks komersil harus jauh dari asmara kembali diuji. Persoalannya akankan itu adalah akhir dari petualangan Maria? Semudah itukah ia melepas mimpinya akan tanah pertanian di kampungnya? Semudah itukah ia menemukan asmara yang bisa jadi pergantian pada sebuah jebakan rutinitas lain? Sudahkah Maria sebagai pekerja yang intim dengan urusan sebelas menit mengerti semua persoalan dunia sebelas menit? Bagaimana ia dihadapkan pada sebuah pertanyaan mendasar tentang puncak sebelas menit itu? Bagaimana jika ia yang rutin melakukan kegiatan sebelas menit itu sendiri ternyata bermasalah dengan puncak dari sebelas menit itu? Bagaimana jika kegiatan rutin itu ternyata dengan segala ketidaklazimannya mampu memberikan apa yang belum ia rasakan itu? Meski dengan bayaran masuk lebih dalam sebuah dalam lorong gelap demi puncak sebelas menit yang telah ia lupakan itu.

Hingga pertanyaan itu, kegiatan sebelas menit mencapai puncak paradoksalnya. Haruskah demi sebuah ekstase penderitaan dijalani? Penderitaan apa yang biasa dilakukan dengan dalih cinta dapat dibenarkan demi sebuah ekstase.

Tentunya novel ini bukan sebuah kumpulan research question, Coelho menjawabnya melalui dialog Maria dan Ralf tentang kehidupan mereka berdua. Tentang sepi yang mempertemukan mereka, tentang memberi yang merupakan ritual utama cinta, tentang sebelas menit itu sendiri. Coelho juga mengupas persoalan itu dengan studi literatur yang cukup informatif, sekaligus sedikit psikoanalisa tentang penderitaan. Termasuk pelajaran anatomi yang menjadi dasar dari kegiatan sebelas menit itu.

Sedikit catatan dari novel ini buat saya. Saya sebenarnya berharap lebih dari ulasan kegiatan sebelas menit. Coelho hanya mengupas totalitas kegiatan sebelas menit. Sedangkan saya berharap ia akan mengupasnya ada apa sebelas menit dengan 23 Jam 49 menit lain dari kehidupan Maria. Ia tidak mengkomparasikan dengan waktu yang secara nominal itu lebih banyak. Dalam perspektif komparatif demikian akan ada ulasan matematis, obyektifikasi atas sebelas menit atas kegiatan di luar itu. hehehe lebay gak seh gue...

Namun, pikiran saya sempat terseret dengan istilah duree dari Henri Bergson untuk menjawab nilai waktu sebelas menit yang banyak menyita segenap kesadaran manusia itu. Sementara menguraikan konsep Bergson di sini, semakin membuat pening kepala setelah berondongan pertanyaan penelitian salah tempat di atas, cukup beginilah mungkin pembenaran atas metoda Coelho: pendekatan kasuistik dan phenomenologis untuk mendekati kegiatan sebelas menit itu dalam sebuah totalitas melalui kacamata Maria. Itulah hasil dari dialognya dengan pelaku kegiatan sebelas menit komersil itu. (Demikian arti dari nama-nama yang menempati ucapan terimakasih layaknya narsumber cerita bagi novel ini?)

Toh saya tetap berharap, bahwa sebelas menit itu akan dibahas dalam konteks rekreasi dan prokreasi. Tentunya ditulis Coelho dalam bentuk novel, bukan laporan penelitian :D.

Catatan penting lainnya dari buku ini adalah Coelho tetap mempertahankan semangat The Alchemist. Di halaman pembuka Coelho berapologi bahwa ia harus menuliskan apa yang ada bukan semata ingin dikatakannya atau didengar orang. Namun hingga momen penting pencarian Maria, saya bisa menegaskan bahwa Coelho pun tetap berkata, "Mimpi ke negeri impian adalah milik semua orang, bahkan tetap dimiliki Maria yang sudah terpuruk sedemikian dalam." Walau dengan catatan bahwa kasus Maria adalah sedikit dari sekian banyak yang gagal menapaki jalan kembali ke negeri impian....less

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Saman rated it:

(review of isbn 0060589280)

09/17/08

bookshelves: novelette

از متن كتاب
من كشف كردم كه چرا يك مرد به خاطر زن‌ها پول مي‌پردازند: او مي‌خواهد كه شاد باشد
او هزار فرانك نمي‌پردازد كه فقط يك ارگاسم را تجربه كند. او مي‌خواهد كه شاد باشد
من هم مي‌خواهم. هر كسي مي‌خواهد. اما هيچ كس شاد نيست. من چه چيزي به دست آورده‌ام كه از دست بدهم، اگر برا...more

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