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Book Summary and Reviews of Aleph by Paulo Coelho

Aleph by Paulo Coelho

Aleph

by Paulo Coelho

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  • Sep 2011, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Transform your life. Rewrite your destiny.

In his most personal novel to date, internationally best-selling author Paulo Coelho returns with a remarkable journey of self-discovery. Like the main character in his much-beloved The Alchemist, Paulo is facing a grave crisis of faith. As he seeks a path of spiritual renewal and growth, he decides to begin again: to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the landscapes around him.

Setting off to Africa, and then to Europe and Asia via the Trans-Siberian Railway, he initiates a journey to revitalize his energy and passion. Even so, he never expects to meet Hilal. A gifted young violinist, she is the woman Paulo loved five hundred years before - and the woman he betrayed in an act of cowardice so far-reaching that it prevents him from finding real happiness in this life. Together they will initiate a mystical voyage through time and space, traveling a path that teaches love, forgiveness, and the courage to overcome life's inevitable challenges. Beautiful and inspiring, Aleph invites us to consider the meaning of our own personal journeys: Are we where we want to be, doing what we want to do?

Some books are read. Aleph is lived.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"For readers who admire books filled with goofy yet endearing spiritual clichés such as, 'Death is just a door into another dimension.'" - Kirkus Reviews

"If you love mysticism Coelho-style, as many readers around the world do, chances are you will love [Aleph]." - Booklist

"Although the novel requires ample suspension of disbelief, there's no better author to serve such a work than Coelho (The Alchemist) - his main character bears the weight of the sometimes ambiguous and wandering narrative with pithy reflections." - Publishers Weekly

This information about Aleph was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

patricia

Aleph
Paulo Coelho is the only author that writes with courage. To hear reviewers say only if you enjoy mystic, goofy stuff you'll enjoy Aleph is insulting and wrong. He shares live stories others wouldn't dare, he reaches his audience in ways many will soon copy. This man is more than a novelist. Coelho teaches readers how to write their own books, he doesn't hide behind his writing like some... he is a genius. The world has never seen anything like Paulo Coelho.

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Author Information

Paulo Coelho Author Biography

Xavier Gonzales

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as a popular songwriter. In 1974, he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil.

In 1988, Coelho published The Alchemist, which has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 41 languages. He has written more than a dozen novels, including The Pilgrimage and Veronika Decides to Die, both of which are being adapted to film.

Coelho is an outspoken activist for peace and social justice, and also supports the free distribution of his work. He and his wife Christina split their ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Paulo Coelho's Website

Name Pronunciation
Paulo Coelho: POW-loo KWAY-lew

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