Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, Paulo Coelho worked as a director, theater actor, songwriter and journalist before becoming one of the world's most popular authors. It is estimated that there are 165 million copies of his works in print. He has been published in 150 countries, translated in 56 languages. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most translated book,
The Alchemist. His path to success was not easy. At 17 his parents had him committed to a mental institution, from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. In the 1960's he lived for a time as a hippie, traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe, using drugs. In 1974 he was arrested by the ruling military government of Brazil, which had taken power ten years earlier and viewed his lyrics as left-wing, dangerous. I just finished
The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession, published in 2005. The title is Arabic and means "the present" or "unable to go unnoticed... something that occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else... considered a state of holiness or of madness." The object can be a person, job or objective. The main character is a successful writer, married for ten years to a renowned journalist, his fourth wife. One day she leaves, and he has no idea why. The mystery consumes him. He muses: "Everything seems to be in its place, but beneath the surface lies the unknown, the darkness, the incessant search for self." Eventually he embarks on a quest to find her. He comes into contact with an immigrant from Kazakhstan who may have been her lover. The young man leads a performance group that proposes spirituality without formal religion, "a celebration of the miracle of daily life." Its aim is "... to forget who we think we are in order to become who we really are." I'm not spiritual, so it was hard for me to relate to this new age-type thinking. And even though I went through a ten-year obsession over a woman, I found the character's unconvincing, as so many lovers come into and out of his life, including a famous French actress immediately after the departure of his wife. Eventually, the Zahir becomes society and not the woman. I related much more to the author's literary obligations, although I'm at the very bottom of the writer's totem pole and have no experience in the role of popular author. At one point he defends himself against his critics, musing: "If a book isn't self-explanatory, then the book isn't worth reading." And later: "... Why do I write? ... because I want to be loved." That was certainly my main objective at first. Now, at 67, the denial or defiance of death has entered the picture. I also related to his thoughts on the bittersweet mystery that is life. 489 readers at Amazon have rated
The Zahir, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of five. I say 3.5. I didn't have the nerve to go to three, as I don't want to come off as a complete idiot, downgrading someone who is so highly regarded. Coelho dedicated the novel to his wife. Unlike the character, he has been married to the same woman since 1980. I would be remiss not to mention that this was the smoothest translation I've ever read. Kudos to Margaret Jull Costa, a Brit who specializes in such work. The 296 pages of the large paperback edition were as easy a read as can be.
Is the floating book shop a Zahir? I'll let others decide that. Today's session tilted all the way to the madness possibility rather than the holiness - not a single sale despite an impressive array of books, great variety. Fortunately, it wasn't a total waste of time. A middle-aged Latina with bewitching eyes donated a second bag o'books that included four in Spanish. To repay her generosity, I suggested she select one of mine. She chose
A Hitch in Twilight. Is this progress? Doubt it, but at least I know she will attempt to read it. My thanks also to the retired Russian super just back from his house in the Hamptons, who donated two works of non-fiction, and to the couple who pulled up in an SUV as I was packing up. I repressed a groan when they asked if I wanted books they had planned to donate to the library, which doesn't accept such gifts anymore. Among the ten or so, an interesting blend of fiction and non, was a copy of
The Zahir. I laughed out loud.
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