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mg_in_md_ 's review for:
The Witch of Portobello
by Paulo Coelho
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.