Helpful Score: 3
This is truly an uncommon love story. If you enjoy Paulo Coelho...you'll enjoy this book!
Helpful Score: 3
This is an awesome book. I have read it at least three times. When you are reading this, you actually feel like you are there. I highly recommend it to everyone.
Helpful Score: 2
With some interesting characters, topics and viewpoints. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 1
Author of the international bestseller The Alchemist. A story of Maria, a youngh girl from Brazil who ends up in Geneva where her life changes in ways that she never thought possible.
Helpful Score: 1
I was a little apprehensive reading a book about a prostitute. I just normally don't read books about that particular subject; however, I love this author and this book isn't about prostitution. It's about a woman who happens to be a prostitute. Maria, the protangonist, is a delighful, inquisitive young woman who feels trapped by life and unable, or unwilling, to love. The book is about understanding true love even when it hurts, and the author does an amazaing job conveying what real love and true happiness are. Like all Paulo Coelho books, this book is wonderful and uplifting. Mr. Coelho gets into the head of the protagonist. The book is about thoughts not the actions of Maria. There is one mild sado-masacistic sex scene with not much description but that leads to a beautiful scene about pain and suffering. I thought the brief scene was necessary so the subsequent scenes would carry more weight. I would recommend this book to Coelho fans or people looking for a new author. It is wonderful and heatwarming.
A fascinating departure from the usual by this great author.
Very interesting read.
I was reading along in this book, and I encountered a section where Coelho referred to his previous novel "The Alchemist." It seemed so egotistical, that I was jaded for the rest of the book. And why is it that when this woman does "make love," the man is still in the dominating position? The chauvinistic voice of the author ekeed through there. And finally, I just didn't get how this woman's soul was opened up by some guy she didn't really know, who she could barely communicate with since she'd been speaking French for only a few months.
Not as good as The Alchemist but definitely a great read and once again, the author has done a great job in creating a story while telling us about life, love and sexuality.
Very good, but not my favorite of Coelho's.
Love this book!
I have really enjoyed reading all of Paulo Coelho's books but this one is at the top of my list. It does have a sexual theme to it so not a good book for kids or teans but one I would read over and over. I love his writing style which makes me feel like I am actually there witnessing someones life story.
This author never fails to impress me with his insight and skillful use of prose. This book takes a personal look at the non-choices we make in order to avoid some of the important choices we should make. The author also explores why we make or don't make difficult choices that change the course of our lives. Well worth the read.
Paulo Coelho's title refers to what his protagonist Maria discovers about the sexual act: it takes only eleven minutes on average to complete and yet people are obsessed with it. The novel begins in Brazil, where young Maria suffers her first unrequited loves and determines that she will never bare her heart again. When an accidental meeting on a Rio beach offers Maria an Swiss adventure, she leaves her Brazilian life behind. Once in Geneva, she becomes a prostitute by night and a consumer of books and facts by day. What Maria learns as she explores both the darkest and the most mundane recesses of desire seems to confirm what she has believed all along, that eleven minutes of pleasure is hardly worth the effort. However, when she meets two extraordinarily different gentlemen who take her to unexpected places within herself, the truth of these eleven minutes is challenged.
The novel begins like a fairy tale - "Once upon a time, there was a prostitute named Maria" - and this opening sentence unfortunately sets a cold, impersonal tone that takes Coelho several chapters to overcome. Although the language retains this removed simplicity throughout, Maria's predicament gradually engages the reader as Maria takes a more active and personal role in the story. Maria, it is clear, is not an "average" prostitute - if there can be such a person - and her unique perspective forms the soul of ELEVEN MINUTES. Her ambition and curiosity distinguish her from not only her colleagues but from everyone else in Geneva.
At times the intellectual discussions of desire and love can get tedious, as Coelho is at his best in the midst of scenes and description, but overall this novel is a lively "fairy tale" with a prostitute as its unlikely heroine.
The novel begins like a fairy tale - "Once upon a time, there was a prostitute named Maria" - and this opening sentence unfortunately sets a cold, impersonal tone that takes Coelho several chapters to overcome. Although the language retains this removed simplicity throughout, Maria's predicament gradually engages the reader as Maria takes a more active and personal role in the story. Maria, it is clear, is not an "average" prostitute - if there can be such a person - and her unique perspective forms the soul of ELEVEN MINUTES. Her ambition and curiosity distinguish her from not only her colleagues but from everyone else in Geneva.
At times the intellectual discussions of desire and love can get tedious, as Coelho is at his best in the midst of scenes and description, but overall this novel is a lively "fairy tale" with a prostitute as its unlikely heroine.
This has been my favorite Coelho book so far. It deals with adult material, but at the same time is very thought provoking. I just loved this one!
Excellent book - have read it twice. Will read again too.
