By the
River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
by Paulo Coelho
Paperback, 208 pages
Published on: May 23rd 1994
Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 0061122092
Rarely does
adolescent love reach its full potential, but what happens when two young
lovers reunite after eleven years? Time has transformed Pilar into a strong and
independent woman, while her devoted childhood friend has grown into a handsome
and charismatic spiritual leader. She has learned well how to bury her feelings
. . . and he has turned to religion as a refuge from his raging inner
conflicts.
Now they are
together once again, embarking on a journey fraught with difficulties, as
long-buried demons of blame and resentment resurface after more than a decade.
But in a small village in the French Pyrenees, by the waters of the River Piedra,
a most special relationship will be reexamined in the dazzling light of some of
life's biggest questions.
The love story with all the pains and sorrows that surround it and all the inspirations that the book brings is what makes By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept one of the best books of Paulo Coelho.
“The moment we begin
to seek love, love begins to seek us. And to save us,” says Coelho in the book.
But is this just a
love story? And that too written by Coelho? If that’s what you’re thinking, read
on!
I love it when a book
makes you feel and think, and you just can't put it down. And when you finish
it, you don't want to let it go. This story touched me deep inside. It's not
simply about the love between Pilar and the man she loves. It is rather about
their love for God. But this book is so much more than your average
contemporary love story.
By the River Piedra I
sat Down and Wept will have you looking
into your soul. Coelho gives us the idea of the feminine side 0f God, which
you’ll hardly ever find anywhere else. According to me his stories might have
simple life lessons but he often tells it in ways that seem to touch many
people -- and I am one of those people. They are good simple lessons that come
from Coelho’s heart.
It is not that you need
to believe in the feminine side of God and everything Coelho says in the book.
Or even about the presence of God in things like water or anything of that
sort. I am a Muslim and I cannot believe this but Coelho does make you feel
from within that Faces are not the things worth looking for in the world. Life
and divinity are different from what we think of them to be.
Yet, I felt like the
book repeated itself and nothing new was introduced in the second half, nothing
dynamic happened and the climax of the story came and went without much notice.
Compared to The Alchemist or any of his other books, this seems
to be a little lazy attempt. And maybe because I do not believe in it, the
feminine side of God thing made it a little boring for me.
Can philosophy,
inspiration, spirituality and Coelho be kept apart? Never! You fill find
everything in the book that keeps you gripped to the other books by Coelho.
For the ones, who want
to try out with Coelho’s books and are romance readers, I recommend them to
read this one for a start. And yes, if possible, read it twice. You’ll get
different connotations every next time you read it. At least, that was what
happened to me.
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