thebooktrail88 's review for:

Hippie by Paulo Coelho

2.0

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Travel the world like a hippie


I'm not sure what to make of this. It's a fascinating travel guide on the one hand and we get to see and experience some wonderful places but as a memoir I got a bit lost as it reads like a gap year diary going from one thought to another with little direction.

I suppose people who experienced the hippie stage of life might get more from this but Paulo tells you what happened fact after fact without really delving into the whys and wherefors. It's the hippie way of life I guess - travelling and smoking, drinking and free love 'just because'. There are some interesting views of places we now think of as adventurous and iconic with backpackers such as Macchu Picchu and the Death Train of Bolivia which I enjoyed but these read as snippets, vignettes of a travel diary rather than an essay on enlightenment.

I won't see Dam Square in Amsterdam in the same light again that's for sure! The travel aspect of this book was what appealed and on that level, it was interesting to see some of the travel experiences that formed this writer. It was quite fascinating to see how he lived and was before he became the writer we know today. I've not really read flashbacks on a writer's life before - and there were many to delve into.

Again on a travelogue note - it's pretty amazing to be a traveller like he was. Makes me want to find a campervan and head off again into the distance.

The covers are perfect and it's the kind of book you have to create a playlist to enjoy on another level.