Esther, a war correspondent and wife of a famous writer, disappears without a trace. Marriage has been moving away after the famous writer hiciese gradually concern of the journalist grows to the point that no one returns from their perilous journeys. The writer is aware that probably you have not experienced anything bad to his wife, alleged to have decided to change his life and has left him without the slightest departure. As time passes, the writer tries to rebuild her life, but the memory of Esther whenever occupies more space in your mind to become an obsession.
The last book I read by Coelho did not leave me too much good taste ("The Witch of Portobello", commented in this blog), so "The Zahir" remained on the shelf waiting to be read during months. He was reading "The Aleph" Borges (also discussed in this blog) which reawakened my interest in addressing reading this book. In the story of the same name Borges explained that a zahir is an object, place or person that may seem trivial but is slowly occupying more space in the mind of a person until he covers all his thoughts, is a kind of obsession that prevents the subject focus on anything other than "the zahir".
in Coelho's book, "the zahir" is his wife, which was a disappointment for me: in the Borges story implied that usually an irrelevant startup object for the life of the sufferer. From this point view Borges Coelho and perverts the idea that the obsession with a missing wife is a common reaction completely understandable.
The first part of the book seemed slow, very lack of pace. He gave me the impression that reading a set of autobiographical texts where the author presents an aspect of his view of life. The similarities between the life of the writer protagonist Coelho and beyond his profession: youth of success as a songwriter, later stage of lawlessness and loss of direction, mystical journey to Santiago de Compostela and start as a writer narrating their experiences in his pilgrimage ...
in Coelho's book, "the zahir" is his wife, which was a disappointment for me: in the Borges story implied that usually an irrelevant startup object for the life of the sufferer. From this point view Borges Coelho and perverts the idea that the obsession with a missing wife is a common reaction completely understandable.
The first part of the book seemed slow, very lack of pace. He gave me the impression that reading a set of autobiographical texts where the author presents an aspect of his view of life. The similarities between the life of the writer protagonist Coelho and beyond his profession: youth of success as a songwriter, later stage of lawlessness and loss of direction, mystical journey to Santiago de Compostela and start as a writer narrating their experiences in his pilgrimage ...
As I said in my review of "The Witch Portobello, Coelho wrote his books around a central idea repeated over and over again like a mantra, sometimes the stories seem a mere excuse to spread the message. In this work, the message is a reflection on love in family : love relationships, after a phase of initial passion stabilize, are accommodated to the extent that the couple united by continuous simple inertia or because it is the easiest way.
I must admit that in the first part, the book I bored enough. In the second, the narrative is encouraging and ends with good (and even funny) final chapters.
What I liked was a secondary message (because in the main, love, do not share the views of the author): the cynical view of the writer on the success, awards, social gatherings, interviews where questions and answers are always the same.
My rating: interesting.
I must admit that in the first part, the book I bored enough. In the second, the narrative is encouraging and ends with good (and even funny) final chapters.
What I liked was a secondary message (because in the main, love, do not share the views of the author): the cynical view of the writer on the success, awards, social gatherings, interviews where questions and answers are always the same.
My rating: interesting.
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