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Lesley's Reviews > Eleven Minutes
Eleven Minutes
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by
** spoiler alert **
I'm giving this book five stars because I definitely thought it was amazing. BUT ... like every other Coelho book I've read, it let me down in the end.
How can he articulate so many nuggets of wisdom, often through characters the writing of which expresses the irony and profundity of their insights, and yet packaged in stories with such cliche outcomes?!?! So many of his books explore the ephermerality of love, the moment, the permanence of change, the fleetingness of forever... and yet, his characters always seem to end up living "happily ever after."
This one was about my favorite topic(s): sex, pain and suffering, pleasure, enthrallment, identity; the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves ("trust me, I'm telling you stories"), the rationalization of emotion and spiritualization of the mundane--Hey: the mystery of life.
Maria--a prostitute--is exposed to an evening of sado-masochistic role play with a "special client" and finds freedom from herself and her desires during orgasm, tied up and whipped. Then another lover (another "special client") convinces her to not to go down that path, that freedom can be found testing the limits of desire, not the limits of pain. They have their own little role play--their relationship is based as much on fantasy as the other. After a night of bliss, she leaves him to go back to Brazil, cherishing the memory that can be spoiled by "real life."
But, then he intercepts her in Paris with roses (it was their destiny! ick) and they live happily ever after.
So, to sum up (as E just pointed out): The dirty parts I liked. The ending, not so much.
That's my review. Happy reading.
How can he articulate so many nuggets of wisdom, often through characters the writing of which expresses the irony and profundity of their insights, and yet packaged in stories with such cliche outcomes?!?! So many of his books explore the ephermerality of love, the moment, the permanence of change, the fleetingness of forever... and yet, his characters always seem to end up living "happily ever after."
This one was about my favorite topic(s): sex, pain and suffering, pleasure, enthrallment, identity; the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves ("trust me, I'm telling you stories"), the rationalization of emotion and spiritualization of the mundane--Hey: the mystery of life.
Maria--a prostitute--is exposed to an evening of sado-masochistic role play with a "special client" and finds freedom from herself and her desires during orgasm, tied up and whipped. Then another lover (another "special client") convinces her to not to go down that path, that freedom can be found testing the limits of desire, not the limits of pain. They have their own little role play--their relationship is based as much on fantasy as the other. After a night of bliss, she leaves him to go back to Brazil, cherishing the memory that can be spoiled by "real life."
But, then he intercepts her in Paris with roses (it was their destiny! ick) and they live happily ever after.
So, to sum up (as E just pointed out): The dirty parts I liked. The ending, not so much.
That's my review. Happy reading.
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Eleven Minutes.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 1, 2007
–
Finished Reading
August 25, 2007
– Shelved
February 26, 2008
– Shelved as:
love-sex-obsession
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
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jhramsey1947
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 12:18PM)
(new)
Sep 04, 2007 05:34AM
Perhaps the author is himself not yet ready to face the ultimate "reality" of love's impermanence....who of us is? So he gets a good start on the process within his story, but then is unable (unwilling?) to finish in truth. Savor the story, and write off the ending as one borne out of fairytales.
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Lesley I agree with you, another thing that I couldnt understand was how Maria got these insights and "truths" she writes in a diary...to me it seems that they do not always relate to what is happening in her life...surely there should be a logical train of thought/events that lead up to this...
I really think Maria was one of the most thread-bare characters Coelho has ever written. She was not that interesting or deep and yet somehow he gives her lines which do not "feel" like they could possibly be coming out of her mouth. I sometimes wonder if Coelho should have just written a philosophy book on sex rather than write this book because the characters bored me.
Thanks for the review Lesley.I somehow agree with your Comment Britta. I think the background of Maria and her character was inconsistent with what she wrote in that diaries.
I just disagree about the characters being uninteresting.
I agree, the words of wisdom and insight didn't seem natural to the character of Maria and the cheesy ending didn't match the tone of the book at all.
You're spot on. Thank you!
Oh it was terrible. I wish Maria would have gone back to her life in Brazil without Ralf. Truth is most men wouldn't go that far, let alone get there before her, book a flight in a day, and decide to go with her to Brazil. She had her adventure and now needs to be alone. I would've died happy not reading the last 2 pages
