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I was quite honestly excited to find out that I'd won an ARC of Paulo Coelho's latest book, Adultery. And now that I've read it, I can say that I've read both the best of Coelho, and the worst. At his best, Coelho gives us something to think about, or incredibly common sense messages that are easy to digest and easy to work into our lives.
I had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to be taking away from Adultery. The message seems to be that if you're feeling a bit down, the solution is to have an awful, tawdry affair, and then jump off a mountain (the protagonist goes paragliding in the book's closing pages).
Part of the problem -- a BIG part of the problem -- is that I actually dislike the main character intensely. This is a woman with an incredibly perfect life: she's a journalist, married to a successful man who loves her; she has children. In fact, she has everything. Now, I can understand that none of that matters when someone is depressed, and depression can strike anyone. Depression can strike anyone, no matter how perfect their life. But one of the things that bothered me greatly in the book was the attitude towards depression and its treatment. That this particular character might not find traditional medical treatment for her depression is one thing: there are no "one size fits all" solutions for depression. But the undercurrent in the book is that there is something sinister about medication/talking therapy, so much so that it's more appropriate to seek the help of a sketchy healer. I'm not sure that I really like that message, in so far as it presents a really negative view of a set of therapies that actually might be helpful for *some* with depression.
All that said, every creative person deserves to make the odd misstep, and I'm treating this one as Coelho's. It won't stop me reading him again, though I seriously hope the next book is more enjoyable.
I had a hard time figuring out what I was supposed to be taking away from Adultery. The message seems to be that if you're feeling a bit down, the solution is to have an awful, tawdry affair, and then jump off a mountain (the protagonist goes paragliding in the book's closing pages).
Part of the problem -- a BIG part of the problem -- is that I actually dislike the main character intensely. This is a woman with an incredibly perfect life: she's a journalist, married to a successful man who loves her; she has children. In fact, she has everything. Now, I can understand that none of that matters when someone is depressed, and depression can strike anyone. Depression can strike anyone, no matter how perfect their life. But one of the things that bothered me greatly in the book was the attitude towards depression and its treatment. That this particular character might not find traditional medical treatment for her depression is one thing: there are no "one size fits all" solutions for depression. But the undercurrent in the book is that there is something sinister about medication/talking therapy, so much so that it's more appropriate to seek the help of a sketchy healer. I'm not sure that I really like that message, in so far as it presents a really negative view of a set of therapies that actually might be helpful for *some* with depression.
All that said, every creative person deserves to make the odd misstep, and I'm treating this one as Coelho's. It won't stop me reading him again, though I seriously hope the next book is more enjoyable.