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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
To be rated/reviewed after this month's book club meeting
I previously read and loved [b:The Alchemist|865|The Alchemist|Paulo Coelho|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1287827991s/865.jpg|4835472], so I was looking forward to reading this one when our book club chose it as one of our reads. I liked the idea of the book, thought the translation was well-done, and liked the way the story was told...I just didn't like the story very much. The main plot line focuses on a woman named Athena whose search for identity is the central theme for the tale. This sounded like great potential discussion fodder for a book club, or for self-reflection, both of which I find appealing in a book. Athena's persona and identity are revealed through chapters that are presented as interviews with key people from her life following her untimely death. I never connected to any of the characters and found that as they shared their thoughts about and experiences with Athena that she was too self-absorbed for my taste. Towards the end, I really didn't care to know who the true Athena was unfortunately. Even after finishing the book, I still don't think I have a good idea about who she truly was, which left me feeling let down and that there was no payoff. But maybe that was part of the point of the book -- can we really truly know another person? Several weeks after finishing this and after having discussed it with another book club member yesterday, I'm still a bit let down by this one. While I admire the concept and big questions, this book wasn't a good fit for me at the time I read it.
I previously read and loved [b:The Alchemist|865|The Alchemist|Paulo Coelho|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1287827991s/865.jpg|4835472], so I was looking forward to reading this one when our book club chose it as one of our reads. I liked the idea of the book, thought the translation was well-done, and liked the way the story was told...I just didn't like the story very much. The main plot line focuses on a woman named Athena whose search for identity is the central theme for the tale. This sounded like great potential discussion fodder for a book club, or for self-reflection, both of which I find appealing in a book. Athena's persona and identity are revealed through chapters that are presented as interviews with key people from her life following her untimely death. I never connected to any of the characters and found that as they shared their thoughts about and experiences with Athena that she was too self-absorbed for my taste. Towards the end, I really didn't care to know who the true Athena was unfortunately. Even after finishing the book, I still don't think I have a good idea about who she truly was, which left me feeling let down and that there was no payoff. But maybe that was part of the point of the book -- can we really truly know another person? Several weeks after finishing this and after having discussed it with another book club member yesterday, I'm still a bit let down by this one. While I admire the concept and big questions, this book wasn't a good fit for me at the time I read it.
Nicely written, different story. It starts with the heroine being dead and follows with different descriptions of her and her life from different people who knew her. Really nice.
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My feelings are mixed with this one for sure. While I liked the way the story is brought together by these interviews, the style these different people were written were near identical. At times it was difficult to follow who was saying what as the author seems to dislike describing who’s talking in very long swatches of dialogue.
Athena herself felt unlikable. While spirituality and the female awakening are interesting, I kept on wondering if this story would’ve benefitted from a female author. At times this almost voyeristic view into femininity is glaringly obvious.
Athena herself felt unlikable. While spirituality and the female awakening are interesting, I kept on wondering if this story would’ve benefitted from a female author. At times this almost voyeristic view into femininity is glaringly obvious.
(Pseudo-spoiler: information revealed in first few pages)
What makes Coelho's writing so engaging is his construction of simple truths into poetry. This latest effort blends the folksy witness of The Alchemist (Plus) and The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation, but with the novelistic ambition of The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.). In The Witch of Portobello, Coelho molds his protagonist through the eyes of those who knew her. But rather than a distant retrospective, Athena's life is vividly and honestly portrayed in such a way that we forget her actual absence from the book.
This particular novel has a layer of complexity that I did not find in The Zahir, for example. While Coelho does unapologetically preach the gospel of a neo-pagan open spirituality, he does not martyr his main character. Instead, we learn that every passion must be tempered in order to reveal itself as love.
What makes Coelho's writing so engaging is his construction of simple truths into poetry. This latest effort blends the folksy witness of The Alchemist (Plus) and The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation, but with the novelistic ambition of The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession (P.S.). In The Witch of Portobello, Coelho molds his protagonist through the eyes of those who knew her. But rather than a distant retrospective, Athena's life is vividly and honestly portrayed in such a way that we forget her actual absence from the book.
This particular novel has a layer of complexity that I did not find in The Zahir, for example. While Coelho does unapologetically preach the gospel of a neo-pagan open spirituality, he does not martyr his main character. Instead, we learn that every passion must be tempered in order to reveal itself as love.
Haven’t gotten to finishing yet but I like it
a fascinating book you need to read many times to really breath in the essence of it.