Thursday, December 20, 2007

'Like The Flowing River'


This was my first Paulo Coelho book, “Like The Flowing River”. Frankly speaking, I never heard his name before getting that book.

Now when I see Paulo’s name mentioned here and there with so importance, it gives me impression of ‘little fabricated marketing hype’. Anyway, back to “Like The Flowing River”, it is a collection of many short stories and thoughts of Brazilian born writer. Two best parts of that book particularly for me are: One very beautiful picture at the cover and secondly, the simplicity of his writing. It is much more like hearing local tales or chatting with similar natured friends than reading a preaching literature. This book is all about life and viewing the life or even death.

With due respect to Mr. Coelho, there is nothing new in this book for an average Indian like me. Why I am saying so is that every other Indian have that philosophical mentality or thoughts which Coelho have collected in that book. If we sit for half an hour with a poor illiterate small Indian farmer manually ploughing his fields thousands miles away from brightly illuminated metros, even he would tell us thousand such stories very enthusiastically like those written in that book, only because we are brought up in such culture and atmosphere.

But even then this book is very important. Important cause that preserved atmosphere is being polluted with today’s so called Eco-friendly globalization and that globalization is destroying our rare culture and this book can help us to keep those memories afresh. Some of the tales are only half a page long so the reader can never get tired.

I may try some of Paulo Coelho’s other books one day.






‘Detective’ was much much better novel of Arthur Hailey’s than ‘Wheels’ written in 1971, I finished last week. Arthur has his well known style of digging and reaching the hard surface depth of any subject while writing a novel. Wheels very prominently show that style one again.

‘Wheels’ is about America’s auto industry in Detroit. It is about cars, people who design cars or who manufacture cars or those who sell those cars or about every person who is connected with that city of cars. Hailey tried to reveal every shining and spitting spot of that industry.

The novel have no story neither could it bound me with reading. But I read because I had no other book to read.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

His first book I read was The Alchemist. And it became one of the best book I read. Then after that I read his other books are By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, Eleven Minutes, The Zahir and of course Like the Flowing River. And there are many other books in my to read list are The Pilgrimage, The Fifth Mountain etc. etc.

And you read the book Wheels because you didn't have anything to read!!!??? In such case you should have complete the story that you have started since long..............

Wishing here a very Happy New Year.

Praney ! said...

Thanks dear and same to you. Wish new year brings you fresh energy and old happiness.

Yeah I will try to finish that story soon.