2005-03-07 Another `Alchemist' it's not.

Paulo Coelho writes beautifully, and it's very easy to get swept up in his prose, but I felt that this time there was something rushed in his storytelling.

More overtly religious and less poetic than his other books I've read (The Alchemist, Veronica Decides to Die, Eleven Minutes), and although the usual faith-hope-justice theme was present here too, the story here was less meandering, the twists and turns here were more abrupt, and his hero's efforts seemed to me to be to a large extent futile.

Having said that, I read this book in almost a single sitting and definitely enjoyed reading it, but it didn't make me feel inspired or elated like some of his previous works.
(I'd rate it three-and-a-half stars if I could.)