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A review by boezaaah
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho, Alan R. Clarke
4.0
“And we came to understand the cycle of creation, because our bodies repeat the rhythm of the moon.”
Paulo Coehlo truly captured the idea of lost love, being found once again. This story follows two characters (one of which, we are NEVER told the name of) who begin to fall in love for a second time after going their separate ways. Pilar is a character of lost faith who was content living just a satisfactory life, whereas her counterpart who remained unnamed throughout the entirety of the novel, was in search for something more than himself. This story was beautifully written and was full of incredible quotes. I think everyone can get something out of this read.
One thing I struggled with, was that this book was almost completely centered around love, and religion. Firstly, I am not a romance type of person, but considering I rated this 4 stars, I think it was done pretty well. But I really do struggle with the topic of religion, and not because I am against religion, but because I have no background knowledge about Christianity or the Bible, which this book features heavily. I had a hard time grasping what the characters felt about their faith, and I sometimes fell out of the story whilst reading this due to lack of understanding. This by no means made this a non-enjoyable book for me, I loved it, but just due to the fact that I've never been religious made it difficult to stay interested in certain important aspects of Coehlo's novel.
I'll definitely be reading more of Coehlo's works, I think he's incredibly talented and his books present something different to every reader. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, short read featuring strong emotion and the question of: 'Is there more out there for me?'
Paulo Coehlo truly captured the idea of lost love, being found once again. This story follows two characters (one of which, we are NEVER told the name of) who begin to fall in love for a second time after going their separate ways. Pilar is a character of lost faith who was content living just a satisfactory life, whereas her counterpart who remained unnamed throughout the entirety of the novel, was in search for something more than himself. This story was beautifully written and was full of incredible quotes. I think everyone can get something out of this read.
One thing I struggled with, was that this book was almost completely centered around love, and religion. Firstly, I am not a romance type of person, but considering I rated this 4 stars, I think it was done pretty well. But I really do struggle with the topic of religion, and not because I am against religion, but because I have no background knowledge about Christianity or the Bible, which this book features heavily. I had a hard time grasping what the characters felt about their faith, and I sometimes fell out of the story whilst reading this due to lack of understanding. This by no means made this a non-enjoyable book for me, I loved it, but just due to the fact that I've never been religious made it difficult to stay interested in certain important aspects of Coehlo's novel.
I'll definitely be reading more of Coehlo's works, I think he's incredibly talented and his books present something different to every reader. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, short read featuring strong emotion and the question of: 'Is there more out there for me?'