*The Witch of Portobello

by Paulo Coelho | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 000725184x Global Overview for this book
Registered by keithpp of Farnborough, Hampshire United Kingdom on 10/5/2007
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1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by keithpp from Farnborough, Hampshire United Kingdom on Friday, October 5, 2007
The format is similar to that used by Orhan Pamuk in My Name is Red, ie each chapter gives voice to a different character. [see BCID 5489926]

Compared with other books by Paulo Coelho, such as The Alchemist, Veronika Decides to Dies, Like the Flowing River, The Valkeries, The Witch of Portobello is something of a disappointment. The Coelho ingredients are there, love, destiny, being true to oneself, but it lacks the Coelho magic. It is worth though persevering, as past the first 50 or so pages The Witch of Portobello does start to develop into a powerful novel.

If though, you wanted just one book by Paulo Coelho representative of his work to sit on your bookshelf, it would not be The Witch of Portobello.

Journal Entry 2 by keithpp from Farnborough, Hampshire United Kingdom on Monday, October 22, 2007
After I finished reading The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho, I decided a reappraisal was in order.

Initially I did not like the dialogue, but once I got into The Witch of Portobello, I concluded I was reading a very powerful novel.

If your only experience of Paulo Coelho is The Alchemist, then you are in for a bit of a shock, as you will find The Witch of Portobello very different. Maybe that is the intention, like Athena dancing out of rhythm, to jolt us out of the complacency of our everyday existence.

I look forward to re-reading The Witch of Portobello in the not too distant future.

Also worth reading, What's So Amazing About Grace, a personal and deeply moving exploration of the meaning of grace by Philip Yancey. [see BCID 5579601]

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