Posted by The Zahir (Rating 3 from 5)
The Zahir is another book by Paulo Coelho as the book title says,”From the much loved author of the Alchemist”. I’ve read “The Alchemist” and will conclude that this is just another book by our much loved author. Well, reading “The Zahir” got me back to the same repeated concepts used by Paulo in his various books. I am not against them but it generally goes beyond the logical concepts of humanity or social life.
My take on the book: In search of love, the story confuses the whole concept of love and all together “the Zahir”.
Synopses of the Story line:
The book features story of a married couple (an author and his wife) and how the author (not Coelho) tries to realize his true love for his wife, when she leaves him.
Detailed Analysis:
The book talks about the ups and downs, good and bad in life at various staged and then it just goes vague. At places the story gets boring. Basically the book has been written with an author’s perspective so to comment on an individual choice is not a good idea. The storyline goes away from reality and reflects the same Coelho writing style of fantasy for adults. Some may like this unrealistic world and feel touched by that however I did not like it in this book.
This is the thing that I have often encountered with writers, as they think themselves to be from a different world all together, though the reality is that they exist in the same world.
I took a quick note of a few paragraphs which have either paraphrased concepts from Coelho’s own books or use the same logic he has been using in all his books. One key thing I noted in all his books reflect here as well that all the rituals are completed with a dance, this to my judgment makes no real sense, though this may be a personal liking for Coelho.
As a reader’s delight the book takes you to some interesting parts of Khazakstan. Coelho fails to distinguish between love and its prime objective. He tries to be rational but end up being irrational. He seems to be confused about love. The writing seems to be a bit scattered when considered with its prime objective as the title suggests “The Zahir”.
The stereotype of “The Zahir”, is a bit different from reality. So if you want to take another flight of fantasy with Coelho; this book is recommended. I also felt that the emotions of the characters were not expressed with intensity; they just come and go without leaving good or bad impacts. However, it is finally the reader’s judgment how s/he takes it.
The novel has good pauses which are very interesting; it has certain parts which will make you laugh or smile. The combination of words to reach a conclusion is excellent. This technique is really admirable.
I will recommend this book for reading. Though there is nothing very positive or negative about the book. I give it 3 stars for being an average reading material.