Book Review | ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ – Paulo Coelho

Tags

1001 book list, Alchemist, book review, paulo coelho, the alchemist, the devil and miss prym, the valkyries, Valkyrie, Witch of Portobello

One day, high above the mountains the small, rustic village of Viscos is visited by the devil. The devil comes with a question of morality: is humanity ultimately good, or evil? This question soon becomes a terrible test that will try the people of the village. The devil himself however is riddled with his own demons, as the very person he chooses to carry out his deadly bribe begins to question not only his motives, but manages to sow seeds of doubt into his heart. In the space of a week, an entire community makes the terrifying choice between life, death and power.

“A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear.
A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past.
A young woman searching for happiness.

In one eventful week, each will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose a path.
Will they choose good or evil?”

The first thing I should say about this novel is that although it’s an international bestseller and has a place in the 1001 book list, Coelho‘s earlier novels notably ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘The Valkyries’ are far better than ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’. I really shouldn’t be making comparisons, because the subject Coelho chooses to handle here, namely the age-old battle between good and evil, is not a topic that he focusses on in his other novels. The whole ‘good and evil’ theme is a difficult one. There are so many angles to consider, so many avenues to explore, because  life often tests us in a myriad diferent ways. I’m sure Coelho was fully aware of this when writing.

I have also noticed that in recent years Coelho’s style, his way of writing has also moved on. ‘Brida’ and ‘The Witch of Portobello’ are indicators that he has disctanced himself from the mysterious suffusion of oriental Islam and Latin-American Christianity. Instead Coelho’s gaze has moved towards more European climes, and this is only natural since his pilgrimages are taking him further towards Russia and the Balkan states. With ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ I found the village itself hard to place. Geographically it wants to be in South America and I did feel some Andean undertones, yet I was also quite surprised to find that Coelho might also be placing Viscos somewhere in Ireland. In other words, the village itself was neither here nor there and this made the plot feel slightly out of place. I never knew geography was so important to me, but seriously, it did seem to matter in this situation.

Coelho also likes to strip things down to their bare essentials and tell the story, not the people. I enjoy his uncluttered way of guiding his reader through events, of stopping to examine the same details for just the right length of time too. Coelho is a born story-teller, but I can say the ‘The Devil and Miss Prym’ does have a strange ending, it did not satisfy me enough. The most intriguing characters were the old lady who could see devils, the foreigner and the devil who comes to the village with the bribe. I honestly believe Coelho could have done more with this plot. It seems like he rushed it a bit. More planning and a tighter ending could have made this a far better story.

I give it 2/5 stars. Poor for a Coelho novel, but a must-read for die-hard fans like myself.

Related articles

• quote du jour ~coelho – rarely do we… (pathwriter.wordpress.com)
• Book review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (thestudentreview.co.uk)
• Paulo Coelho (amaeguerrero.wordpress.com)
• I AM – Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho (soulfulreviews.wordpress.com)

Book Review | ‘Veronika Decides To Die’ – Paulo Coelho

Tags

Alchemist, book review, Ljubljana, paulo coelho, Psychiatric hospital, suicide, the alchemist, veronika decides to die

Veronika is twenty-four. She has beauty, a good job, a lover, a family… but there is something missing. The void inside her grows until she makes the ultimate decision some of us have secretly whispered to ourselves then dismissed out of sheer terror. Veronika decides to die. She settles down with her bottle of pills and concentrates on savouring the delicious moments between intention and action as she swallows one pill at a time. Then comes the darkness, every so slowly, then… nothing.

“In order to appreciate life, one must taste death…”

Veronika does decide to die, but it doesn’t mean she succeeds. Somehow she wakes up to find herself inside a mental institution and the knowledge that she has damaged her heart so badly that she only has a few days left to live. Veronika is now faced with the prospect of ‘waiting’ for death; a much different approach to the whole thing, but nevertheless she still gets her initial wish. However, as the days shorten and her resolve wans, Veronika starts seeing life in a different light. Existence begins to bother her, the beauty of nature shines through the grey Ljubljana mornings, when suddenly one day Veronika wakes up and realises with horror that things are changing inside her… that in the face of death, her survival instincts have begun to take hold.

This was the first Coelho book I ever read, and like all his books it is simple to read. Coelho doesn’t overcloud or embellish his words unnecessarily. Instead, the focus of the book is firmly upon Veronika and her feelings, which in this case, are actually quite complex. To begin a story with a suicide attempt is a sure-fire way of gaining your readers attention, as Coelho well knows. But it is Veronika’s progress as a lost young woman trying to find her niche in the world that drew my attention. Coelho’s efforts to document these psychological transitions are admirable. I often found myself thinking that if I were in her place, that’s exactly how I would feel/ think/ act.

‘Veronika Decides To Die‘ is not such a long book. It weighs in at about 200 pages, but it does make one feel grateful to be alive. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who has ever thought of suicide. I believe it has the power to draw many people away from that dark thought. Existence is a gift. Whether one thinks it is holy or not is entirely up to them, but life really is a blessing, a miracle, a cosmic phenomenon. Coelho points out in his novel that a change in perspective, no matter how slight or dramatic, can often tie a falling person tighter to the thread of life.

I give it 4.5/5 stars (because ‘The Alchemist‘ deserves the full 5!)

Related articles

• Veronika Decides to Die (brandsandfilms.com)
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (amybradneygeorge.wordpress.com)
• 5 Things I Learned From Paulo Coelho (urbangallivant.wordpress.com)
• Read. Paulo Coelho (findsomeinspiration.wordpress.com)
• Modern Day Existentialism (paulocoelhoblog.com)

Hymn to Isis | (3rd-4th Century)

Tags

eleven minutes, hymn to isis, paulo coelho, the alchemist, the valkyries, veronika decides to die

This passage was first discovered in Nag Hammadi in the third or fourth century BC and claims to be a hymn to the Egyptian goddess Isis. I wanted to share it, as I first read it in a book called ‘Eleven Minutes’ by Paulo Coelho, who also happens to be one of my favourite authors. If you are interested in any of his books I would recommend reading ‘The Alchemist’ first, then move onto ‘Veronika Decides to Die’ followed by ‘The Valkyries’.

As to why I’m posting this here, I think it is a wonderful tribute to the strength and beauty of women. Not just the inner beauty, but also the power of creation that they hold within themselves. The power of healing. The power of humility. The power of forgiveness and the power of love. I can’t remember a single time when I didn’t find comfort in my mother’s arms when the world was all going wrong. A single word of comfort from them could be enough to lift the weight off the shoulders of the most troubled person.

When I read this it reminds me just how important we are as women.

HYMN TO ISIS

 

For I am the first and the last

I am the venerated and the despised

I am the prostitute and the saint

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter

I am the arms of my mother

I am barren and my children are many

I am the married woman and the spinster

I am the woman who gives birth and she who never procreated

I am the consolation for the pain of birth

I am the wife and the husband

And it was my man who created me

I am the mother of my father

I am the sister of my husband

And he is my rejected son

Always respect me

For I am the shameful and the magnificent one.