A modern fable of sex and love. Eleven Minutes tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heart-broken. 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 yet ends up working as a prostitute. In Geneva, Maria drifts further and further away from love while at the same ...
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A modern fable of sex and love. Eleven Minutes tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heart-broken. 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 yet ends up working 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 novel, Paulo Coelho sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love and invites us to confront our prejudices and demons and embrace our own 'inner light'. Paulo Coelho was born in Brazil and has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. Renowned for his best-loved work, the Alchemist, he has sold more than 50 million books worldwide and has been translated into 56 languages.
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Here is a piece from the book and my thoughts: http://freeheartsandminds.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-kitchen-table.html
bonzo
Jun 28, 2007
insight in darkness
Coelho, a writer of mystical and grand perportions, with sparkling fairy tales suitable for anyone's spiritual journey. This piece, as he says himself, is not of the sort. He tackles a topic of great importance and taboo. Prostitution, the oldest profession in the world, is not commonly looked at through Coelho's traditional story telling lens. Nor is explicit sexuality. Despite the negative connotations that can be put on both these subjects, they are an integral and imperative part of humanity and the human journey. Animal journey. Spiritual journey. Our walk is not all sunshine and roses. And there can be beauty in the grotesque. Coelho does a magnificent job iluminating the importance of the darkest parts of our existance, creating the sublime.
Josephina
Jun 17, 2007
Better than the Alchemist
In high school, I read the Alchemist, and loved it. Then, I tried to find other books by Paulo Coelho, but the blurbs on the back never got me too excited. To be honest, this one didn't either, but I gave it a shot. I loved it. I probably wouldn't have liked it as much in high school as I do now, but it was fantastic. It's a great story about a woman coming to terms with her sexuality and what she wants out of life.
