Love & Be Loved !!. Review on By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept - Paulo Coelho

A Paulo Coelho book is always a joy to read. It inevitably touches a chord somewhere in your heart.

By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept is one such book.

Pilar, the central character of this story is a self made independent woman, who has her future chalked out in front of her. She has total control of her life. In walks her childhood friend (who is referred to as ‘Him’ or ‘He’, in the entire novel), who proclaims his love for her. He is a man, thirsting for knowledge & wanderlust.

They grew up in a small town in Soria & followed their dreams in their adult lives, which lead them on different paths. After many years he returns to Pilar & proclaims his love for her. He is a spiritual teacher & believes in the ‘Immaculate Conception’ which when quoted from the book of Genesis means: ‘And god created man & woman’, that is, God’s image is a simulacrum of: man & woman.

This book is an amalgamation of religion & love. Pilar, who has lost her faith somewhere down her hectic & mechanical life, discovers her faith renewed after meeting her childhood friend. There is a continuous struggle within her to escape her mundane existence & embrace a life of spirituality.

Once Pilar regained her faith, her happiness knew no bounds. A dam burst within her & flooded her heart with Love & Happiness. Quoting from the novel when Pilar regains her faith: ‘ Joy flooded my heart-a joy that overpowered my fears & was stronger than my attempts to control every second of my life. ‘

Another line which made me sit up & think:

’ If one person really wants us, everyone does. But if we’re alone, we become even more alone. Life is strange’

Previously, she was scared that her childhood friend had given up the luxuries of life & turned to a simple & thus a difficult life as a refuge from his inner conflicts. But now, when her friend wanted to give up all that to live a normal life with the woman he always loved (Pilar), she could not accept it.

Thus by The River Piedra, in a small village in the French Pyreness, they found a way to discuss many of life’s big questions & also re-evaluate their own special relationship.

Read it, you wont regret it !!

PS: If u have time,plz rate my revu. Thanx !!