This work of Paulo Coelho narrates the journey of a young Irish girl, Brida O'Fern, in her search for magic. Fascinating, at first. Who would not want to learn about magic, and probably with magic, make life easier to hurdle? However, I was not fascinated with the story; I was captivated. Having read a Coelho book earlier, I now learned that the author might be stating fact or pure fiction. I need not bother to find out because deep within those fact or fiction is a profound view of life and all that it has to offer. The readers sense in the author that he has undergone spiritual transformation, and fortunately or unfortunately, he is sharing that transformation with us. What catches my enthusiasm is the fact that Coelho converts even the most banal into the most intense. Take love, for example; a very mundane emotion, in my honest opinion. Yet he was able to take love and transform it into the most sacred thing that ever existed in the Universe. What is more surprising is that we, the common people, knew, a long time ago, that love can move mountains. The pain that came with loving, however, left us jaded. And now here comes a person who encourages us, most emphatically, to love as deeply as before. Confusedly, Paulo Coelho gives as an ending that is quite disappointing - why reject something that could end one's suffering? And yet when one analyzes the story, one understands that the journey itself provides knowledge and wisdom, not the destination.
Which is why I will not recommend this book to those who wish to engage themselves in Paulo Coelho fiction; they will be disappointed. I will, however, suggest this as a reading to those who are willing to take the plunge into the unknown, believing only that they will emerge victorious.
I have read this book; and have I learned anything? Yes, and that is, I still fear the unknown.