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O Mago (2000)

by Fernando Morais(Favorite Author)
3.94 of 5 Votes: 3
ISBN
8576653605 (ISBN13: 9788576653608)
languge
English
publisher
Planeta
review 1: As a major fan of the Alchemist, I was completely blind-sided by this book. I assume I am actually rating the content and my change of opinion regarding Paulo Coelho than the actual work of the author. It isn't easy to read, but this is at least partly related to my own bias of just realizing what a true jerk Coelho actually was and maybe is?I'm making a face trying to decide if it is worth reading or not... I guess I would say no - just assume what you will from the Alchemist and never look deeper.
review 2: Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[1] He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an Engineer. He's a logical, reasonable man with a
... more very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a writer?"[1] After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer "always wears glasses and never combs his hair" and has a "duty and an obligation never to be understood by his own generation," amongst other things.[1] At 17, Coelho's introversion and opposition to following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a mental institution from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20.[2][3] Coelho later remarked that "It wasn't that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn't know what to do... They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me."[4]At his parents' wishes, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of becoming a writer. One year later, he dropped out and lived life as a hippie, traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and becoming immersed in the drug culture of the 1960s.[5][6] Upon his return to Brazil, Coelho worked as a songwriter, composing lyrics for Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Brazilian icon Raul Seixas. Composing with Raul led to Paulo being associated with satanism and occultism, due to the content of some songs.[7] In 1974, Coelho was arrested and tortured for "subversive" activities by the ruling military government, who had taken power ten years earlier and viewed his lyrics as left-wing and dangerous.[4] Coelho also worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director before pursuing his writing career.[7]In 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life.[5][8] On the path, Coelho had a spiritual awakening, which he described autobiographically in The Pilgrimage.[9] In an interview, Coelho stated "[In 1986], I was very happy in the things I was doing. I was doing something that gave me food and water -- to use the metaphor in "The Alchemist", I was working, I had a person who I loved, I had money, but I was not fulfilling my dream. My dream was, and still is, to be a writer."[10] Coelho would leave his lucrative career as a songwriter and pursue writing full-time. less
Reviews (see all)
blazed49
One of the most intriguing biographies I ever read and brilliantly written
modupe
I don't like Biography. I prefer Autobiography
debu
Should be titled Paul Coelho: A Weird Life
3061549
Inspiring. Honest.
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