Eleven Minutes
Coelho notes, in a short afterword, a 1970's book concerning censorship by Irving Wallace, called The Seven Minutes. He then goes on to relate how he originally intended to use the story of a prostitute from Zurich, known as Sonia, whose story he had discovered through an unsolicited manuscript. Finally, Coelho reveals the true inspiration for the story, which is a woman actually named Maria, who lives in Lausanne with her husband and two daughters.
Coelho, for this novel, changes his writing style slightly, reverting from direct, extremely coherent, chronological narrative, to a slightly more disjointed, progressive approach. By most literary standards, this is not particularly progressive but it is by Coelho's own standards.
The new bestselling novel, now in paperback, from international literary phenomenon Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist. A chance meeting in Rio takes Maria to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune, yet ends up working the streets as a prostitute. In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love while at the same time developing a fascination with sex. Eventually, Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness, 'sexual pleasure for its own sake', or risking everything to find her own 'inner light' and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
In this gripping and daring new novel, Paulo Coelho sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love and invites us to confront our own prejudices and demons and embrace our own "inner light."
Coelho, for this novel, changes his writing style slightly, reverting from direct, extremely coherent, chronological narrative, to a slightly more disjointed, progressive approach. By most literary standards, this is not particularly progressive but it is by Coelho's own standards.
The new bestselling novel, now in paperback, from international literary phenomenon Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist. A chance meeting in Rio takes Maria to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune, yet ends up working the streets as a prostitute. In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love while at the same time developing a fascination with sex. Eventually, Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness, 'sexual pleasure for its own sake', or risking everything to find her own 'inner light' and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
In this gripping and daring new novel, Paulo Coelho sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love and invites us to confront our own prejudices and demons and embrace our own "inner light."
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Review
Eleven Minutes
A new, international bestseller by the author of The Alchemist tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that "Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer . . ." A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and fortune. Instead, she ends up working as a prostitute.
In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love as she develops a fascination with sex. Eventually, Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness, sexual pleasure for its own sake, or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love as she develops a fascination with sex. Eventually, Maria's despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In this odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness, sexual pleasure for its own sake, or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.
