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The Devil and Miss Prym (En el séptimo día #2)

by Paulo Coelho (Goodreads Author), Nick Caistor (Translator), Amanda Hopkinson (Translator)

3.52 · rating details · 11,622 ratings · 878 reviews

A stranger arrives at the remote village of Viscos, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their li

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Paperback, 205 pages

Published April 1st 2007 by Harper Perennial (first published 2000)

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Dec 30, 2008

Beth F. rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Agnostics

Shelves: 1001-books, fairy-tales-and-fables, 2008, tnbbc-winter-2008

This is one of those books where “this book was about ___,” is not nearly as important as “this book made me think about ___.” And because of the book’s popularity, you probably already know what it’s about anyway. If not, here’s a refresher: it’s about the battle between good and evil. There are angels and devils, a rogue wolf, an arms dealer, a bar wench and it all takes place in a rural community, purportedly in Brazil.

I’ve read some critiques of this book and one of the comp...moreThis is one of those books where “this book was about ___,” is not nearly as important as “this book made me think about ___.” And because of the book’s popularity, you probably already know what it’s about anyway. If not, here’s a refresher: it’s about the battle between good and evil. There are angels and devils, a rogue wolf, an arms dealer, a bar wench and it all takes place in a rural community, purportedly in Brazil.

I’ve read some critiques of this book and one of the complaints I keep seeing over and over again are people complaining about how cliché it is to write a book about good and evil. “Give me a break, it’s all been done before, gag me with a spoon, Christian guilt…, boring, stupid, bla-bla-bla…”

My reaction to those responses is difficult to put into words. Because on one hand, I agree. I’m sick of hearing about it and feeling like it’s being jammed down my throat in ways that are insulting, naïve, dull, etc. But on the other hand, I feel like I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that the concept of an otherworldly battle between good and evil really rings my bell.

I’ve been thinking about this book almost non-stop for the past couple days (hence the five star review). Yesterday afternoon in the food court—I was thinking about angels and devils. Last night when we took a tour through a house that’s for sale—I was thinking about good vs. evil. This morning on the bus—are humans inherently good or inherently evil? Or are we simply tempted by one or the other? Do we have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other whispering into our ears? Where did evil come from? How did it get here? It’s all very interesting and it will make your head spin if you let it. I did.

The book is also relatively short so even though I’m back to work after a Christmas break that was jam-packed with reading, so don’t have nearly as much time to read for pleasure, I still read this book in about two days. Not bad. (less)

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Jan 26, 2008

Anne rated it

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The Devil and Miss Prym was published in 2000, but it reads like a morality play from the 16th century. The basic premise is that a stranger comes to a small town. He speaks to Miss Prym, the local barmaid and tells her his plan. He wishes to offer the villagers enough gold to improve their lot for generations. All they have to do is murder one of their own. How the villagers choose will answer for the stranger whether people are basically good or basically evil. Miss Prym struggles with whether...more

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Mar 13, 2008

Jelantik rated it

· review of another edition

To be honest I got lost when reading this book. I don't understand what is the essence of the story.

But this book is better than the 'by the riviere piedra i sat down and cry'. After reading this book of him (the 4th book that I read), I decided to stop buying his book. He created a master piece, the alchemist, but that's it. The other books are not even close to it. So rather than keep dissappointing and spending money for nothing, I better read other writers' books.

Au r...more

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Oct 07, 2008

miaaa rated it

Recommends it for: Spamiola hehe

Recommended to miaaa by: Spamiola

Shelves: fictions-others

If I haven't promised someone who really wants this book I might not read it now, especially since Coelho noted that this is the third book of And on the Seventh Day trilogy! The good news is I can then read them in reverse order. It may provide a different perspective, or the opposite, I'll end up in a miserable confusion. Either way is acceptable.

The idea of revealing human nature is not something that really new, however Coelho is able to remind us about it without any suggestion...moreIf I haven't promised someone who really wants this book I might not read it now, especially since Coelho noted that this is the third book of And on the Seventh Day trilogy! The good news is I can then read them in reverse order. It may provide a different perspective, or the opposite, I'll end up in a miserable confusion. Either way is acceptable.

The idea of revealing human nature is not something that really new, however Coelho is able to remind us about it without any suggestion of lecturing. We've seen it, we knew it and presumably we've done it -compromising our values to conduct sins for something what we thing is a right thing to do. And sometimes just like the inhabitants of Viscos, we think we have to do it for the sake of our children or those who we love most. And we chose someone who will be less longed, less remembered as a sacrificial lamb. Someone like Berta.

Personally I think temptation, especially in conducting mischief, always disguise itself in the most gullible looks. Basically the story confirms the theory that all this time playing hide-and-seek in my mind, that each human possess both Evil and Good within them. The main issue is, which one you feed most?!

"It isn't the desire to abide by the law that makes everyone behave as society requires, but the fear of punishment. Each one of us carries a gallows inside us."

***

Setelah baca catatan penulisnya bahwa buku ini adalah seri ketiga dari Trilogy And on the Seventh Day, sebenarnya ingin menunda membaca buku ini dulu. Namun demi seorang teman yang sangat mendambakan buku ini, dilanjutkan sajalah. Setelah dipikir-pikir baca trilogy dengan urutan terbalik sepertinya seru juga, kalo tidak dapat perspektif berbeda mungkin menderita kebingungan akut. Dua pilihan itu sama menariknya.

Ide pengungkapan sifat alami manusia itu menurut aku sih tidak begitu baru, tapi namanya juga Coelho. Dia dengan caranya sendiri mengingatkan kita tanpa harus menjadi pengkotbah. Pasti kita pernah melihat, mengetahui dan bahkan mungkin melakukannya sendiri. Berkompromi dengan nilai-nilai yang kita anut, melakukan sebuah dosa atas dasar kepercayaan bahwa apa yang kita lakukan adalah hal yang benar.

Dan terkadang layaknya para penduduk desa Viscos, kita berusaha keras meyakinkan diri kita sendiri bahwa kita harus melakukan hal tersebut demi anak-anak dan orang-orang yang paling kita sayangi. Lalu memilih seseorang yang tidak akan begitu dirindukan, yang tidak akan begitu diingat, sebagai domba persembahan. Seseorang seperti Berta.

Menurutku semua godaan, terutama untuk melakukan hal-hal yang salah, selalu menyamarkan dirinya dalam bentuk paling tidak berbahaya. Kisah ini memperkuat teori yang selama ini bermain petak umpet dalam pikiranku, bahwa setiap manusia memiliki Kejahatan dan Kebaikan dalam diri mereka. Masalahnya hanya sisi mana yang paling banyak kita beri makan!

"Bukanlah keinginan untuk patuh pada peraturan yang membuat setiap orang menjaga tingkah lakunya seperti yang diharuskan masyarakat, namun rasa takut atas hukuman yang mungkin dia dapatkan. Setiap orang membawa tiang gantungan di dalam dirinya masing-masing."(less)

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Nov 06, 2008

Krenzel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1001

*WARNING FOR SPOILERS*

Are human beings inherently good or evil? "The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation," by famed author Paulo Coelho, is intended to be an exploration of this theme, with various legends introduced into the conversation throughout the book. One of these legends involves a man traveling with his horse and dog when he is struck by lightning and killed. Not realizing he is dead, the man continues his walk, but eventually the group becomes thirsty....more*WARNING FOR SPOILERS*

Are human beings inherently good or evil? "The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation," by famed author Paulo Coelho, is intended to be an exploration of this theme, with various legends introduced into the conversation throughout the book. One of these legends involves a man traveling with his horse and dog when he is struck by lightning and killed. Not realizing he is dead, the man continues his walk, but eventually the group becomes thirsty. They come across a gateway which leads to a fountain overflowing with water. The guard at the gate tells the man this place is Heaven and he is allowed in, but only if he comes alone. The man, not wanting to abandon his animals, instead continues on walking and comes to another gateway, where everyone is allowed to drink from the nearby spring. The man asks this guard where he is, and the guard replies, "Heaven." The place with the fountain was actually Hell, prompting the man to exclaim that it is wrong for them to be trying to trick people into entering their gate under false pretenses. The guard replies, "On the contrary, they do us a favor, because the ones who stay there are those who have proved themselves capable of abandoning their dearest friends." To me, this story served as a warning, as I wondered, what would I have done? Dying of thirst, would I have proved to be selfish and unknowingly entered through the gates of Hell? Even though I consider myself to be a good person, could I have made one bad choice that would have forever changed my fate? For those of us looking for assurance about our own goodness, though, "The Devil and Miss Prym" does not provide any conclusions. Through his exploration of the origins of the town of Viscos and its later struggle between Good and Evil, ultimately Coelho tells us there is no answer about whether humans are good or bad, but rather it is all a matter of individual choice.

First, Coelho makes it clear through his discussion of the town of Viscos that nobody is strictly Good or Evil but instead these forces struggle within each of us. Viscos began as a town inhabited by the dregs of society, including bandits, smugglers, prostitutes, and murderers, and the "wickedest" of them all, an Arab named Ahab. One day, St. Savin comes to Ahab’s house and asks if he can spend the night. Ahab laughs and decides that he will kill the man that night, sharpening his knife over the sleeping St. Savin. But the next morning, when St. Savin awakens, Ahab is in tears and tells him, "For the first time ever, someone spent a night by my side trusting that I could be a good man . . . Because you believed I was capable of behaving decently, I did." Later, we learn that Ahab’s transformation had really come earlier when he asked St. Savin a series of hypothetical questions. For example, if St. Savin was tempted by a beautiful prostitute, would he see her as ugly? What would he do if he was offered gold? Or could he love two brothers equally if he knew one hated him? In each case, St. Savin acknowledged he would be tempted by Evil but that he would try to control himself. Ahab then realized St. Savin wasn’t so different from him – they both struggled with Good and Evil – just as everyone does: "It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less." Ahab then transforms Viscos into a peaceful trading post. But that doesn’t mean the people of Viscos are, by nature, good people. Good and Evil still struggles within each of them. Some realize they can't abide by the new rules and leave town, while others decide to stay. It is their individual choice about which path they chose.

While most of the “good” people decide to stay in Viscos, leaving it as a peaceful place, its inhabitants are eventually tested many years later when a stranger comes to town and offers them gold if they will murder a fellow citizen over the course of the next week. The stranger tells Chantal Prym, the local bartender, that he used to be a good person, but since his family was murdered by a group of terrorists, he has been tortured with questions about why the terorists did it and whether it is proof that all people are Evil. Viscos will be his testing ground for Good and Evil. If someone in the town is murdered, that will prove his theory that humans are inherently Evil. In fact, this town of honest and decent people initially succumbs to temptation, agreeing to murder one of its elderly citizens, forcing her to take a drug to sedate her, and dragging her across town, where the townspeople plan to shoot her. Before the shooting actually takes place, though, Chantal speaks up, telling them the exchange of the stranger’s gold for actual currency is going to be messy and asking whether they can really trust the other townspeople not to divulge how they got the gold to the bank. In the end, the townspeople agree they cannot trust one another, and they return to their lives without accepting the stranger’s deal. Chantal, who has made a separate deal with the stranger, receives the gold instead for her willingness to go along with the stranger’s game. Seemingly, then, there is no resolution the original question posed: Are humans good or bad? In making his original proposal, the stranger had told Chantal, "If you steal the one gold bar but the village resists temptation, or vice versa, I will conclude that there are good people and evil people – which would put me in a difficult position because it would mean that there’s a spiritual struggle going on that could be won by either side." So the final answer then is that there is no answer: there is Good and Evil struggling in everyone, and it is our own choice about what we do. The terrorists who killed the stranger’s family chose Evil, but the people of Viscos chose Good. Our ultimate path is not pre-destined. It is up to us and the choices we make whether we choose a path of Good or Evil.

Through his exploration of the origins of the town of Viscos and its later one-week struggle between Good and Evil, author Paulo Coelho tells us there is no answer about whether humans are good or bad, but instead it is a matter of individual choice. In terms of conclusions about Good and Evil, then, everything is left to the reader. When Chantal is thinking about stealing the gold, the stranger asks, her, "If you had to write a book about your experiences, how do you think most of your readers would react – given all the difficulties they have to face, the injustices dealt to them by life and other people, the struggle they have in order to pay for their children’s schooling and to put food on the table – don’t you think that those people would be urging you to take the gold and run?" When Chantal tells the stranger she doesn’t know what readers will think, the stranger answers, "Nor do I. But that’s the answer I’m looking for." The fact that ultimately no answer is given by the author is disappointing, but as readers we can in fact answer this question for ourselves. Were we, in fact, hoping Chantal would steal the gold? Or, drawing from the earlier example, would we have stopped at the Gates of Hell to selfishly get our own water and abandon our friends? Does that say something about our own struggle between Good and Evil? While Coelho may come up short in providing answers about the struggles between Good and Evil that are happening all over the world, in reality, he is still providing a service by asking the question in the first place. Books are meant to spark discussion, and that is exactly what "The Devil and Miss Prym" does by asking readers to question where they stand in their own struggle between Good and Evil.
(less)

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Oct 15, 2007

Serge Sky rated it

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A simple and complex tale about temptation and human greed. It depicts how humans struggle with life, fear and evil. A small "dying" community was offered a new lease in life by a strange man who was searching for answers to his life questions. He offered them a possibility and a challenge to realize individual dreams on the condition that they kill one among themselves as sacrifice. It was unthinkable to anyone of them, yet the offer gripped them slowly. They acted as one, with d...more

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Jan 19, 2009

Lamski Kikita rated it

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Are humans naturally good or bad? We all struggle with the same question every single day in our daily dealings with people. Between angels and demons, people who help us and those who hurt us, we still cannot find the answer.

Chantal Prym is stuck in one man's struggle to justify his loss and his wager with the devil. It all falls on her shoulders to not only save her village, prevent her people from committing a crime they have deemed justifiable, but to bring back the light of ange...more

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Feb 17, 2009

Ginia rated it

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Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 25, 2009

Cheryl rated it

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Billed as a novel of temptation, it is about a small town and a man who has lost everything (a la Job) who offers the villagers money to murder someone in an attempt to answer the question once and for all, are humans inherently evil or good? about half way through, i stopped to inform the author that no matter what he wrote, i still believed that people were inherently good, and that the majority of us would not commit murder for money.
the struggle was realistic; there are all sorts of r...more

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Jan 02, 2012

Alison Sigalow rated it

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The Devil and Miss Prym is an allegory disguised as a novel that deals with whether or not people are good or evil. The story is based around a stranger, a man in his 50's, who travels to the small town of Viscos with eleven bars of gold, ten of which he will use to tempt the people of Viscos to commit a crime, specifically, to coerce the people into murdering one of their own. Enter Chantal Prym, a young woman in Viscos who agrees to act as a messenger for the stranger, for a price. Thus sets t...moreThe Devil and Miss Prym is an allegory disguised as a novel that deals with whether or not people are good or evil. The story is based around a stranger, a man in his 50's, who travels to the small town of Viscos with eleven bars of gold, ten of which he will use to tempt the people of Viscos to commit a crime, specifically, to coerce the people into murdering one of their own. Enter Chantal Prym, a young woman in Viscos who agrees to act as a messenger for the stranger, for a price. Thus sets the stage for the moral conflict in the village that will soon set things into action.

"The man opened the window of his room, hoping that the cold would silence the voice of his devil for a few moments." (Coelho 83). I think that this quote sheds to light many of the central themes in this book. It talks about the mans devil, implying that every person has their own set of angels and demons, and that it us up to that singular person to decide which of the two to listen to. That is the core of the novel, that it is the stranger who is being lead by his devil in order to make the choice that he wanted to prove that mankind was evil, and therefore put the people of Viscos is a difficult place, to determine whether killing thier own is worth the ten gold bars that will forever grant them free of financial woes.

Coelho's purpose was to determine whether human beigs were good or evil, and he set up the dilema in a way that would seem as though the people would give into the pressure and kill one of the townspeople out if greed. But, without giving anything away, Coelho cheats both himself and his readers at the end, leaving me very unsatisfied by the end of the "novel" and I believe that he could have ended it much better than he had. The theme was obviously about good vs. evil and the temptation of money and other worldly things.

All in all, I was not very happy with this book. The charcters were all horrible and one-dementional, and I could barley connect with any of them on a moral level. I was also mad at the writing style, which constantly flipped between characters with no real direction, making parts very confusing and hard to follow. As stated previously, I didn't like the ending, feeling it was to abrupt and picture-perfect in an otherwise gritty book. Honestly, if it wasn't for the ending, I could have forgivin any other faults. It was a decent, though heavy, read that deals with serious moral questions that made me think about whether evil for a cause, is still evil. Do the ends really justify the means? 2/5 stars for effort. I wouldn't recomend this book for anyone under the age of 30.(less)

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Jan 02, 2012

Abigail Whitaker added it · review of another edition

This story is about a stranger coming to a small town and giving the townspeople an ultimate test. He offers to give the town ten gold bars that would keep them rich for the rest of their lives if they were willing to commit an unthinkable sin. The unthinkable sin is the commit murder of one of their own. Will the townspeople take the riches or keep their "town family"?

“People want to change everything and, at the same time, want it all to remain the same.” This was my fav...more

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Dec 12, 2011

Rachael Goldenberg rated it

· review of another edition

Those who have not read this book, overall it is about a stranger that comes to this ostracized backwards town in a nonspecific loacation. This stranger hides eleven gold bars and is willing to give ten gold bars to the entire town if the entire town can agree to kill one person from their village. The stranger tells this information to one specific person, who has the choice to tell the town or keep the information to themselves to save their town.
"They all live in fear of God."...more

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Nov 25, 2011

Judy Croome rated it

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A thought provoking book on the concept of Good vs Evil in the human soul. Coehlo writes a simple but powerful message in an easily accessible style and provides the readers with a glimpse of the human paradox that is the capacity to contain both dark & light in the same soul. Coehlo extends this exploration into the similarities between the collective & individual soul, and the need for the individual to rise above the evil of the collective.

The story is translated so one is never su...more

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Aug 10, 2011

Jeff Lawlor rated it

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As with all of Paulo's books "The Devil and Miss Prym" is an excessively easy read. This observation is no criticism. I like Paulo Coelho's stuff. "The devil and Miss Prym" is just as it is advertised. It is a book about temptation and about the ongoing struggle for humanity and for our immortal souls.

There is a war being waged and this war is waged by angels and devils in an invisible world which is intertwined within and without our own. We are affected and influenced whil...more

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Jul 28, 2011

Nikki added it · review of another edition

A thought provoking read about humans and temptation. A story that reminds us that even the best of us can sometimes fall and the 'littlest' of us can make a difference.

Not too heavy on the philosophy - choices that are put to us simply and clearly - the final reality is that we are constantly confronted with 2 choices - it is up to us to decide which choice we want to make and what kind of control we can exercise over ourselves. There will always be an angel and a devil hovering over our should...more

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Jun 25, 2011

Chai Hao rated it

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I personally feel that this story's plot was very well written and it could be complicated, however at the same time also can be exhilarating for us readers. This story is mainly about how a stranger whose family had been murdered searched for answers to his main question: Are we humans in the essence of good or evil? This story also shows how a simple yet evil plan can change the lives of the villagers in Viscos, a place where no children or true happiness is found. Miss Prym was a normal waitr...more

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Sep 14, 2010

Eileen rated it

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I'm going to be honest...I didn't like this book one bit! I don't know if it's just that I dislike Coelho's writing style in general, the translation (Spanish), or if it's just the particular books that I have chosen to read from this author (The Alchemist).

When i read the short summary in the back of the book and also some general reviews I thought I was in for a treat about a struggle between good and evil tied in with some suspense or some drama. It had the morality struggle but ...more

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Jul 04, 2010

Book Lover Ahmed rated it

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الشيطان و الانسة بريم تجسيد للطبيعة الانسانية و بيان للصرائع الدائم بين الخير و الشر

اعجبتني هذه المقتطفات من الرواية :
(التحدي لا ينتظر اطلاقا،و الحياة لا تلتفت للوراء ، أسبوع واحد هو فاصل من الزمن أكثر من كافٍ لتعرف...)ج

(إذا أردت أن تنجح في عمل ما فدع عينيك مفتوحتين و ركز تفكيرك لكي تدرك تماما ما الذي تريده ، فلا أحد يصيب هدفه و هو مغمض )ر

هناك نوعان من الحمقى :أولائك الذين يعدلون عن فعل شيء لأنهم تلقوا تهديدا ، و أولائك الذين يعتقدون أنهم سيفعلون شيئا ل...more

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Apr 20, 2010

Rizma rated it

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Hal yang paling Ma tangkap dari buku ini adalah kita ga boleh melakukan pembenaran atas kesalahan atau perbuatan buruk kita, yang udah dilakukan atau baru diniatin.

Sebenernya inti dari cerita ini pertanyaan satu orang asing: Apakah manusia itu Baik atau Jahat?

Terus ceritanya lanjut ke arah ‘tawaran bisnis’, mau ga membunuh satu orang, siapa aja, demi ngedapetin 10 batang emas yang dijamin bisa ngebikin masyarakat di kota itu ga perlu kerja cape cape lagi seumur hidupnya. ...more

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Apr 13, 2009

1morechapter rated it

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Rating: 4.5/5

Most people either love Paulo Coelho’s writing or absolutely hate it. I haven’t seen many who have straddled the fence on this author. I’m in the former category, though I know quite a few people who don’t care for him at all. While some believe his writing is too simplistic, I, on the other hand, sometimes crave simplicity! I do quite a bit of heavy reading (though not recently), and it’s nice sometimes to curl up with one of Coelho’s books and know that I will prob...more

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Apr 13, 2009

Elketw rated it

· review of another edition

Category: Books
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Author: Paulo Coelho

A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past. A young woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose a path. Will they choose good or evil?

In the remote village of Viscos -- a village too small to be on any map, a place where time seems to stand still -- a str...more

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Mar 09, 2009

Cassandra rated it

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This book is a very thoughtful treatise on the Nature of Man, Good, and Evil. Beautifully written and thought-provoking. Coelho does a very good job of describing how the battle between God and The Devil, Good and Evil, rages and resolves in one individual. He also does a wonderful job of breaking down the conflict between the good of many versus the good of one. I fell in love with conflicted, far-from-perfect Chantal. I admired wise and lonely Berta, and I even liked the tortured and "evi...more

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Sep 01, 2011

Lisa James rated it

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Shelves: 1001-books-list

This does well as a stand alone book even though I understand it's actually the third book. It's a simple tale of Good vs Evil, set in a small town, I presume somewhere in South America, in a town called Viscos. A stranger comes into town, meets Chantal Prym, an orphaned girl who works in the town's only hotel, & dreams of a better life. They talk in the forest outside the town, where he shows her a bag of gold bars, & tells her the tale of his past, the loss of his wife & daughters. he is s...more

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Dec 19, 2010

Aleksandra rated it

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Shelves: read-in-2010

I finished a book after almost two weeks of reading, since I was very busy lately and had zero time for my favourite hobby. I generally liked the book, especially book's theme, the battle between good and bad human natue and the main character miss Prym. Somehow I always find a way to relate with heroines and Chantal made a strong impression on me. She's that type of a girl who is prisoned in a small village and is looking for a way out. She has big dreams, wishes, she wants to go to the city, s...more

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Nov 19, 2011

Πέτρος rated it

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Paulo Coelho’s stories are adored by millions of people, not for his ability to present serious issues in a realistic matter, but in the contrary, to present them in a semi-silly style that is both easy to grasp and not too harsh to disgust you into dropping it. In a way he is a magician who uses smokes and mirrors in order to make the simplest disappearing act to feel amazing. Down to it though, all his style is based on illusions.

Such is the case with The Devil and Miss Prym. The ...morePaulo Coelho’s stories are adored by millions of people, not for his ability to present serious issues in a realistic matter, but in the contrary, to present them in a semi-silly style that is both easy to grasp and not too harsh to disgust you into dropping it. In a way he is a magician who uses smokes and mirrors in order to make the simplest disappearing act to feel amazing. Down to it though, all his style is based on illusions.

Such is the case with The Devil and Miss Prym. The premise is very interesting; it is about a woman living in a small village of today in the middle of nowhere, with not much to look forward. One day a man arrives and tells her where a big bar of gold is hidden and that she has the choice to either kill him, steal it, and leave for a better life, or inform everyone about it. The gold is more than enough to revitalize life on the village but the man will not give it to them if they do not kill one of them as a tribute to get it. And he even gives them the option to kill him if they like.

As weird as it sounds, the man is doing all that out of despair and he is not playing a silly game of some spoiled rich guy who wants to have fun with poor people. He is not really a one-dimensional devil. In the same way none of the other major characters are like that either. They are all shown to be petty, selfish, pretending to be moral and good. Although the basic story is about how low is someone willing to go for money (and a better future) it soon turns to how each one of us is both good and bad. Basically it is a morality struggle and an attempt to present the world in a constant struggle between morally good and amoral profit. And it works on a superficial level.

Unfortunately, like all of Coelho’s works this is also a story that in the end chooses a very cheap way to bring an end to the main moral conflict. The solution doesn’t really have to do with how moral or not you are but it more has to do with the state of the world TODAY. Meaning, if the story was taking place a few centuries ago, the outsome would be completely different. Thus the struggle doesn’t have to do with personal choice but with an unseen faraway foreign factor that we never even see in the story. It is thus silly and superficial, rendering useless all the moral issues that proceeded and the reader’s thrill to see where they will all lead to.

The reader is supposed to consider it a great plot twist and an important life lesson or something. Well I didn’t, I found it stupid and a waste of my reading time. I am sure that if you don’t try to reason it as a whole it will appear to be an amazing story in overall with a wonderful bittersweet ending but the more demanding reader will definitely consider it closer to a farce than a good book.(less)

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Mar 15, 2011

Andrea rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, fiction

La sfida tra il bene e il male, raccontata attraverso le vicende di un piccolo paese e dei suoi abitanti.

Un giorno uno straniero arriva nel piccolo paese di Viscos con un compagno particolare: "l’uomo non era come lo aveva immaginato tante volte: i suoi abiti erano consunti dall’uso, aveva i capelli più lunghi del normale e avrebbe dovuto farsi la barba. Era arrivato con un compagno: il diavolo".
Lo straniero propone ad una giovane del villaggio di nome Chantal Prym un pa...more

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Sep 18, 2010

Chanel11 rated it

· review of another edition

This had a good premise and got you thinking about what is Good and what is Evil.

"Good and Evil have the same face, it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being."

Whilst the idea was great, the book never got much better than that. The story just did not flow and the characters were not believable.

The town, the stranger and Miss Prym were not likeable at all.

The stranger, what was the point really - absou...more

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Mar 28, 2008

Tony added it · review of another edition

I wound up reading this because his better known book, the Alchemist, wasn't available at my local library and I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. I'm still waiting.

Lots of parables. Very little story. A lack of beautiful writing.

I'm sure the book fills a void for people who need to be reassured there is *good* in the world and need to be told so in fables, but this book isn't a good substitute for the bible and I'm not a religious man.

like 3 likes

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Apr 15, 2011

Bayansa rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

ماتوقعت ان الرواية بتعجبني :$
بداية هذه الرواية كانت غامضة !
تبدا القصة في قرية بسكوس المنعزلة عن العالم والمعروفه ببساطة اهلها وطيبتهم ، لياأتي هاذا الغريب 'ويوطد علاقته بأهل هذه القرية باظهار كرمه ولباقته ' بالرغم من ان المدة اللتي سيمكثها معهم لن تتجاوز الأسبوع
الشيء اللذي يسعى هاذا الغريب لاكتشافه هو طبيعة النفس البشرية ؟
هل البشر بطبيعتهم اخيار ام اشرار ؟
اذا ماخير الانسان بين الخير والشر مع وجود المنفعة العائدة عليه فيما اذا انحاز للشر وانعدامها فيما لو انحاز للخير...more

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Aug 02, 2009

Istop4books rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: book-ring

"About the human nature of human beings, I discovered that confronted with temptation, we will always fall. Given the right circumstances, every human being on earth would be willing to commit evil."

Summed up - this is the premise of this book. Would basically good people commit an act of extreme evil given the right circumstances? Why or why not? What would impede them? Are people good through and through, or intrinsically evil?

This is a fable, it reminde...more

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About Paulo Coelho

The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1986, PAULO COELHO did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. In the following year, COELHO published The Alchemist. Slow in...moreThe Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature, he worked as theatre director and actor, lyricist and journalist. In 1986, PAULO COELHO did the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. In the following year, COELHO published The Alchemist. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. Other titles include Brida (1990), The Valkyries (1992), By the river Piedra I sat Down and Wept (1994), the collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo entitle Maktub (1994), the compilation of texts Phrases (1995), The Fifth Mountain (1996), Manual of a Warrior of Light (1997), Veronika decides to die (1998), The Devil and Miss Prym (2000), the compilation of traditional tales in Stories for parents, children and grandchildren (2001), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005), The Witch of Portobello (2006) and Winner Stands Alone (to be released in 2009). During the months of March, April, May and June 2006, Paulo Coelho traveled to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostella in 1986. He also held surprise book signings - announced one day in advance - in some cities along the way, to have a chance to meet his readers. In ninety days of pilgrimage the author traveled around the globe and took the famous Transiberrian train that took him to Vladivostok. During this experience Paulo Coelho launched his blog Walking the Path - The Pilgrimage in order to share with his readers his impressions. Since this first blog Paulo Coelho has expanded his presence in the internet with his daily blogs in Wordpress, Myspace & Facebook. He is equally present in media sharing sites such as Youtube and Flickr, offering on a regular basis not only texts but also videos and pictures to his readers. From this intensive interest and use of the Internet sprang his bold new project: The Experimental Witch where he invites his readers to adapt to the screen his book The Witch of Portobello. Indeed Paulo Coelho is a firm believer of Internet as a new media and is the first Best-selling author to actively support online free distribution of his work. (less)

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“Anyone who loves in the expectation of being loved in return is wasting their time.” — 505 people liked it

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” — 402 people liked it

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