167th out of 479 books
—
1,594 voters
The Witch Of Portobello
by
Paulo Coelho (Goodreads Author)
How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are?
That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobe...more
That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobe...more
320 pages
Published
(first published January 1st 1386)
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I always wished that Paulo Coehlo was my uncle so that I could call him ‘Papa Coelho’ and sit at his knee while he smoked his pipe. I think that he would be delightfully eccentric, and given to saying things like ‘Suffering, if confronted without fear, is the great passport to freedom.’ So, true, Papa Coelho. So true.
If he was my uncle, though, I might not tell him that I thought The Alchemist was tripe, and that most of his books carry too much philosophizing and not enough narrative...more
If he was my uncle, though, I might not tell him that I thought The Alchemist was tripe, and that most of his books carry too much philosophizing and not enough narrative...more
This book *really* made me think about who I am and where I am going, and who I want to be as a woman, a wife, a soon-to-be-mother, a daughter, and a human.
I didn't always like Paulo Coehlo's work. I tried to read The Alchemist in college and the novel just didn't do it for me. But a friend recommended Veronika Decides to Die to me while a loved one was in the hospital for depression and I was struggling to understand what might be happening in there, and ever since, Coehlo has been ...more
I didn't always like Paulo Coehlo's work. I tried to read The Alchemist in college and the novel just didn't do it for me. But a friend recommended Veronika Decides to Die to me while a loved one was in the hospital for depression and I was struggling to understand what might be happening in there, and ever since, Coehlo has been ...more
Mykle
rated it
Recommends it for:
Mega-church enthusiasts.
Recommended to Mykle by:
Portland International Airport
Shelves:
feeding-to-a-giant-squid
Trapped for hours in an airport with nothing to read, my wife was further victimized by this remarkably bad book, one of five books available for sale in Portland International Airport at 2am.
You can turn to any page and find a really hackneyed phrase. Kahil Gibrain's psuedo-religious drivel was at least poetic and brief by comparison The story is supposed to be the voices of different people, but the catholic priest, the lebanese mother, the 65-year old restaurant owner, are all...more
You can turn to any page and find a really hackneyed phrase. Kahil Gibrain's psuedo-religious drivel was at least poetic and brief by comparison The story is supposed to be the voices of different people, but the catholic priest, the lebanese mother, the 65-year old restaurant owner, are all...more
Amang Suramang
rated it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those who seek the truth
Shelves:
world-literature
I need a whole month to finish this amazing story about a Lebanese woman named herself Athena -- a name that she found better than her early name Sherine Khalil. The more time give me more time to understand about the New Ageism, the paganism, the spiritual movements in 1960 till 1970 just as a background knowledge to help me understand this novel.
Surely I agree with Athena (or Paulo Coelho himself), that in order to understand ourself, we should follow our own path. The path that is...more
Surely I agree with Athena (or Paulo Coelho himself), that in order to understand ourself, we should follow our own path. The path that is...more
I really, really wanted to like this book. I've heard wonderful things about Coelho and was excited to try him out, I love topics that deal with witchcraft and things fantastical, and I'm a sucker for redheaded heroines.
But ...
I found this novel and its ideas on the nature of spirituality really preachy, pedantic and overblown. I was so annoyed by the middle of the book that I nearly it down, but the cover art convinced me to keep trying. Surely the artist must have ...more
But ...
I found this novel and its ideas on the nature of spirituality really preachy, pedantic and overblown. I was so annoyed by the middle of the book that I nearly it down, but the cover art convinced me to keep trying. Surely the artist must have ...more
#2011-13#
Perempuan mandiri dan anak lelaki, apa yang di pikiranmu? Seorang perempuan yang mudah ditaklukan? Bukan. Ia lebih tegar, lebih berani untuk menantang kehidupan. Dan ia berkata, ini bukan untuk dirinya, ini untuk anakku.
Perempuan yang menari untuk memberikan jiwa pada kehidupan yang kosong. Karena di dalam dirinya sendiri ada yang hilang, dan ia butuh pengisi di dalamnya. Maka ia berkelana, mengeluarkan energinya, berbagi pada yang lain, memberikan kebahagiaan y...more
Perempuan mandiri dan anak lelaki, apa yang di pikiranmu? Seorang perempuan yang mudah ditaklukan? Bukan. Ia lebih tegar, lebih berani untuk menantang kehidupan. Dan ia berkata, ini bukan untuk dirinya, ini untuk anakku.
Perempuan yang menari untuk memberikan jiwa pada kehidupan yang kosong. Karena di dalam dirinya sendiri ada yang hilang, dan ia butuh pengisi di dalamnya. Maka ia berkelana, mengeluarkan energinya, berbagi pada yang lain, memberikan kebahagiaan y...more
Preachy new age-y bullshit, with a distinct undertone of "I'm idealizing feminine qualities, so I can't possibly be sexist" sexism. Seriously, one of his characters lists four female archetypes that women supposedly follow, and although he calls them the witch, the virgin, the martyr and the saint, it's just that quote about how all roles for actresses are hookers, victims or doormats, with "bitch" thrown in for variety. The use of various narrators is one of my favorite na...more
I bought this book in Cabo for a few pesos and later found it was being given away FREE, so my expectations were somewhat tempered and let me just say Coelho does not disappoint. Ahem.
On a positive note, Paulo Coelho has one of the great names in contemporary fiction, one that exudes a sort of exotic erudition, so one might say that only an author as magnificent as Coelho can draw the reader in and convince that reader he is purposefully fooling the reader into believing that this book...more
On a positive note, Paulo Coelho has one of the great names in contemporary fiction, one that exudes a sort of exotic erudition, so one might say that only an author as magnificent as Coelho can draw the reader in and convince that reader he is purposefully fooling the reader into believing that this book...more
spiritual, mystical, and will absolutely take over your soul!
while reading this book, i felt inhibited by every feeling and gesture, and was possessed by Athena, the woman who is everything each and everyone of us want to be, but is afraid of becoming. The book certainly questions organized religions and brings back the idea of mother earth as the ultimate goddess. I have to, no, i MUST, type up this quote:
" We women, when we are searching for a meaning to our lives or for...more
while reading this book, i felt inhibited by every feeling and gesture, and was possessed by Athena, the woman who is everything each and everyone of us want to be, but is afraid of becoming. The book certainly questions organized religions and brings back the idea of mother earth as the ultimate goddess. I have to, no, i MUST, type up this quote:
" We women, when we are searching for a meaning to our lives or for...more
This is not a novel -- it's a treatise. There is a character, Athena, that I never come to care about, and there is no plot. What IS there, you ask? Well, there's an explication of a belief system. That's it. That's what this is.
Most of the book is taken up in various people talking to each other in the kind of philosophical conversations that normal people almost never have. Whenever you see a chat starting, buckle up.
I couldn't have been more disappointed, as I li...more
Most of the book is taken up in various people talking to each other in the kind of philosophical conversations that normal people almost never have. Whenever you see a chat starting, buckle up.
I couldn't have been more disappointed, as I li...more
miaaa
rated it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to miaaa by:
Spamiola
Shelves:
ophelia-s-library,
fictions-others
This is the first Coelho book I've read since the translated-to-Indonesian version of The Fifth Mountain. I couldn't face another disappointment but a good friend of mine has taken all the effort to send me the English version of this which I then called 'the Witch book'.
Another friend once told me, don't judge the book by the cover but by the first line in the opening paragraph ... "Before these statements left my desk and followed the fate I eventually choose for them, I cons...more
Another friend once told me, don't judge the book by the cover but by the first line in the opening paragraph ... "Before these statements left my desk and followed the fate I eventually choose for them, I cons...more
Not what I thought it was going to be at all. To be honest, I thought the book was borderline creepy. Just that so many people could pledge themselves to a charismatic stranger, I find unnerving. I guess this work just addresses the quest that every human being makes during his or her lifetime to come in contact with spirituality; just in a weird, non-relatable way for me. All the characters just seemed so gullible. It's as though they were just all so spiritually lost, that they were grasp...more
I literally could not put this book down. While I'm a book lover and devour many books, I consider this one to be a very special treat.
ni bukunya Paulo Coelho yang kedua yang gw baca..setelah The Alchemist..n menurut gw sih..gw lebih suka buku yang ini..lebih gampang dicerna n pada dasarnya menurut gw ceritanya juga lebih bagus..
bukunya bercerita tentang Sherine Khalil..atau dikenal dengan nama Athena..anak yang diadopsi orang tuanya dari Rumania ni mengalami kehidupan masa kecilnya di Lebanon..namun, karena terjadi perang, mereka sekeluarga pindah ke London..
Athena menikah muda pada usia 19 tahun dan me...more
bukunya bercerita tentang Sherine Khalil..atau dikenal dengan nama Athena..anak yang diadopsi orang tuanya dari Rumania ni mengalami kehidupan masa kecilnya di Lebanon..namun, karena terjadi perang, mereka sekeluarga pindah ke London..
Athena menikah muda pada usia 19 tahun dan me...more
Izlinda
rated it
I didn't finish this book... I feel kind of bad about that, especially as this was a gift, but the writing style and topic got on my nerves. It's about Athena and...well, it goes through people's interviews/written memoirs about her after her death. So we never know anything from the "primary source," if you will. The "voices" of a variety of characters sound all the same - a father, her ex-husband, her teacher, a journalist, her student, a man who taught her calligraphy, her...more
Andrea
rated it
Recommends it for:
Those who are looking for the inner flower
Recommended to Andrea by:
No one
This book was a little "much." I was first introduced to Paulo Coelho with his acclaimed novel The Alchemist. I loved The Alchemist. It's clear the author is a "spiritualist" and takes pleasure in teaching lessons through simplicity and beauty. I found the Alchemist inspiring and well-written. The Witch of Portobello I found cultish and flowery. There was nothing natural about it - rather - almost something "forced" in trying to convey the story of a young woman fin...more
--update after finish--
My problem when reading Coelho's is, except for The Pilgrimage (the first Coelho's I read) and The Alchemist, I always got a strong impression that the author was trying hard to convey some wisdom. As if the author knew - too much - that the readers had expected to learn something from his books, and that he tried to fulfill this expectation.
Even in this book, although I like very much the way different people told their perspectives about Athena. But how come...more
My problem when reading Coelho's is, except for The Pilgrimage (the first Coelho's I read) and The Alchemist, I always got a strong impression that the author was trying hard to convey some wisdom. As if the author knew - too much - that the readers had expected to learn something from his books, and that he tried to fulfill this expectation.
Even in this book, although I like very much the way different people told their perspectives about Athena. But how come...more
pada awalnya aku pikir ini buku tentang penyihir sebagaimana judul buku ini sendiri "Sang Penyihir dari Portobello" namun aku salah.
pada bab-bab awal aku pikir ini buku tentang perjalanan Athena mencari kebenaran dengan jalan yang tidak biasa dan sulit, namun aku salah.
pada pertengahan cerita aku pikir ini buku tentang perjuangan akan kehausan manusia mencari jati dirinya, namun aku salah.
pada ujung kisah aku pikir ini buku tentang Sang Ibu yang ten...more
pada bab-bab awal aku pikir ini buku tentang perjalanan Athena mencari kebenaran dengan jalan yang tidak biasa dan sulit, namun aku salah.
pada pertengahan cerita aku pikir ini buku tentang perjuangan akan kehausan manusia mencari jati dirinya, namun aku salah.
pada ujung kisah aku pikir ini buku tentang Sang Ibu yang ten...more
Major disappointment. I've enjoyed Paulo Coelho's work before, but this is a very weak novel. I admit that I am easily creeped out by the kind of leaky spirituality that this book revolves around, but beyond that, the writing for female characters is god-awful and the mystic quest that the protagonist is on is laughable. The mystery of the compiler of all the separate accounts, once revealed, escaped being predictable by being stupid. A phoned-in, whimper of a book.
I decided to read this as part of a string of Paolo Coelho novels in a sort of marathon. This is the fourth in a row, and I must say the worst, by far.
Not only is it absolutely pointless and riddled with repeated themes and preachy tones, but it is also extremely boring. I'm amazed that I made it to page 192 before I decided to just skip pages to get to a more tangible part of what resembles a plot, which this book lacks in the worst possible way.
Never once did I sympat...more
Not only is it absolutely pointless and riddled with repeated themes and preachy tones, but it is also extremely boring. I'm amazed that I made it to page 192 before I decided to just skip pages to get to a more tangible part of what resembles a plot, which this book lacks in the worst possible way.
Never once did I sympat...more
Segala sesuatu bergerak dan semuanya bergerak mengikuti sebuah irama. Setiap orang mempunyai kebiasaan atau kecenderungan dalam melakukan sesuatu, dan ketika satu saat tubuh kita dipaksa untuk melawan kebiasaan dan kecenderungan tersebut, maka tubuh akan bergerak melawannya sementara jiwa kita tetap melaksanakan kebiasaan itu, dan yang terjadi kemudian adalah pemisahan antara jiwa dan tubuh atau "ekstasi" atau "berdiri di luar tubuh". Pada saat itu kita kehilangan identitas d...more
sorry to say, tp Paulo Coelho bagiku tidak terlalu berkesan.
beberapa bagian dari buku ini aku cukup paham dan sepakat, beberapa bagian yg lain terlalu rumit untuk otak sederhanaku, dan beberapa bagian sisanya i totally disagree. pada intinya buku ini bercerita tentang seorang perempuan bernama Athena dan segala kegelisahannya dalam proses pencarian makna hidup. awalnya pemikiran itu cukup bisa dipahami, pertanyaan2 filosofis mendasar yg mungkin juga dialami oleh setiap manusia meskip...more
beberapa bagian dari buku ini aku cukup paham dan sepakat, beberapa bagian yg lain terlalu rumit untuk otak sederhanaku, dan beberapa bagian sisanya i totally disagree. pada intinya buku ini bercerita tentang seorang perempuan bernama Athena dan segala kegelisahannya dalam proses pencarian makna hidup. awalnya pemikiran itu cukup bisa dipahami, pertanyaan2 filosofis mendasar yg mungkin juga dialami oleh setiap manusia meskip...more
I will put this into a category of fictionalized essay, if asked, where things are demonstrated through characters. The characters are all right, because deepened by the narrative method. If it had only been the journalist or Athena then I'd agree with those who place it in the preaching or treatise zone. I think I will again agree with the average of all the comments I skimmed on Goodreads. That it had me thinking about several things I had touched on in my thinking and considering them in new ...more
So different, and yet the same: this book appealed to me in the way of The Secret History, A Shadow of the Wind and a handful of others. Which is to say, I stayed up late reading it, I woke up early. I took actual lunch breaks and ate while reading while scribbling in my book, dog-earing pages and thinking of all the people I needed to give my copy to once I finished. Of course, I can't--it might make me blush for anyone to see the underlined passages in a fiction book, even if it is touching...more
Picked up this book at SFO before boarding my plane to Hawaii. Seemed like a total accident, given I had never heard of it and wasn't planning to buy it. But having read it, I acknowledge this as an example of the belief "there are no accidents."
From early childhood, I have been keenly aware of an accessible spiritual world, but lacked the encourgement or guidance to foster my ability to contact that world.
While the underlying message of this book is exploring t...more
From early childhood, I have been keenly aware of an accessible spiritual world, but lacked the encourgement or guidance to foster my ability to contact that world.
While the underlying message of this book is exploring t...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Themes of supernatural witches have circulated since humans developed the ability of story telling. Paulo Coehlo’s recent novel ‘The Witch of Portobello’ carries on the tradition of a female entity in a modern story revolving around the character Sherine or Athena Khalil.
This Athena, the name she chose for herself after a saint, comes from mysterious origins, and traveled widely. One wealthy Lebanese married couple, who are unable to produce their own children, went to Transylvania in or...more
This Athena, the name she chose for herself after a saint, comes from mysterious origins, and traveled widely. One wealthy Lebanese married couple, who are unable to produce their own children, went to Transylvania in or...more
I'm not really sure how to review this book. It's so completely different to anything I've ever read. I'm therefore not going to try to analyse it, because there are some fantastic reviews for this book, and I know mine will not be of the same standard. So I'm basically just going to write down my thoughts, and how the book made me feel.
The main character, Athena, discovers that there could be more to life after going to her neighbour's flat to complain about the loud music. What she...more
The main character, Athena, discovers that there could be more to life after going to her neighbour's flat to complain about the loud music. What she...more
Paulo Coelho
The Witch of Portobello
2007, HarperCollins
268 pages
This would be the fifth book by Coelho that I’ve read over the past two, three years. There has been The Alchemist, naturally. Two books of his I’ve also enjoyed are Veronika Decides to Die and The Zahir. The Devil and Miss Prym was a unique novel.
And now, his latest novel. Through various first-person accounts, the ‘biography’ of an influential young woman begins to unravel. Born a gypsy, but rais...more
The Witch of Portobello
2007, HarperCollins
268 pages
This would be the fifth book by Coelho that I’ve read over the past two, three years. There has been The Alchemist, naturally. Two books of his I’ve also enjoyed are Veronika Decides to Die and The Zahir. The Devil and Miss Prym was a unique novel.
And now, his latest novel. Through various first-person accounts, the ‘biography’ of an influential young woman begins to unravel. Born a gypsy, but rais...more
کوئلیو به اندازه کافی شناخته شده هست که احتیاجی به توضیح نداشته باشه...
... کتاب ساحره پورتوبلو رو در سال ۲۰۰۶ نوشته...من بیش از ۱۰ تا کتاب تاحالا از کتابهای کوئلیو رو خوندم... بعد از کتاب زهیر انتظار بیشتری رو نسبت به نوشته های کوئلیو داشتم... این کتابش به نظر من هیچ حرف جدیدتری رو نسبت به کارهای قبلیش نداشت... تاکید اصلی بر قسمت مادینه وجود و طبیعت و خدا بود... فقط چیزی که در کتاب به نظر من خوب بود سبک روایی داستان بود که از زبان آدمهای مختلف نقل میشد... که خوب البته در ادبیات چیز جدیدی ...more
... کتاب ساحره پورتوبلو رو در سال ۲۰۰۶ نوشته...من بیش از ۱۰ تا کتاب تاحالا از کتابهای کوئلیو رو خوندم... بعد از کتاب زهیر انتظار بیشتری رو نسبت به نوشته های کوئلیو داشتم... این کتابش به نظر من هیچ حرف جدیدتری رو نسبت به کارهای قبلیش نداشت... تاکید اصلی بر قسمت مادینه وجود و طبیعت و خدا بود... فقط چیزی که در کتاب به نظر من خوب بود سبک روایی داستان بود که از زبان آدمهای مختلف نقل میشد... که خوب البته در ادبیات چیز جدیدی ...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Divine Madness: May 2009 - The Witch of Portobello | 110 | 7 | Jan 12, 2011 07:30am | |
| Witch of Portobello - GoodReviews writing contest in March | 1 | 63 | Feb 28, 2008 08:02pm | |
| The Witch of Portobello (complete and free!) | 1 | 72 | Feb 19, 2008 06:08pm | |
| The Witch of Portobello (complete and free!) | 1 | 9 | Feb 19, 2008 06:08pm | |
| The Witch of Portobello (complete and free!) | 1 | 11 | Feb 19, 2008 06:08pm | |
| The Witch of Portobello (complete and free!) | 1 | 3 | Feb 19, 2008 06:07pm | |
| The Witch of Portobello (complete and free!) | 1 | 44 | Feb 19, 2008 06:07pm |
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...more
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