434 reviews for:

Hippie

Paulo Coelho

3.5 AVERAGE

emotional funny hopeful slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The problem with Coelho is that he breaks the golden rule of writing - show, don't tell. All he does is tell, tell, tell, never truly showing me how he or his characters feel. Hippie greatly suffers from this problem. There are some interesting anecdotes spread throughout the narrative, but they're buried under piles and piles of "telling" me about his perspective, his experiences, the world, and his characters' emotions.

It's a quick read though, so that's good. The part where he's arrested and tortured in South America is clearly the best part. His travel through Europe falls flat, and the Turkish segment just feels forced.

I was expecting an exciting travelog from a hippie's perspective. All I got was a confused man and his slightly boring travels through Europe.

I really liked this of his too. From a viewpoint of travel and opening up to strangers and the use of drugs, it was a good story and told a lot about Paulo himself. The hopeless romantic in me didnt love the ending, but it was realistic and honest which I appreciate

3,6/5
adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

For me, the main issue with this book was that it wasn't anything like I expected it would be. Based upon the summary, I expected a fun travel story centered around Paulo and Karla, two hippoes on a bus ride from Amsterdam to Kathmandu where they fall in love along the way. Instead what I got was a book that focused heavily on spirituality, religion, God, and philosophy, with a dash of sightseeing along the way. This was by no means a bad book, but I wish I had gone in knowing what I was getting into, because I might have enjoyed it more if I had.

This is the first Paulo Coelho book I read and I love it. I loved all the characters and how he managed to give us not too much yet not too little of each of their story. It's an extremely quote worthy book because it makes you stop and think.
slow-paced