I have never been very fond of Paulo Coelho. But last week I was traveling and was stuck with this one. Earlier I had read ?The Alchemist? and ?Veronika Decides to die? and did not like them. They were ok I guess but the mystical style adopted by him does not fit me. I know he is very famous because of this style but I feel they are a bit misleading and give a false sense of ?feel good?.

Eleven Minutes is very different from his other books yet very similar. In 11 minutes he deals with the topic of sex. Until this book, all the books totally avoided the topic. This was a stunner for me, as I was not expecting this at all. It is similar to all his earlier books in style. He writes in the same dreamy, unrealistic surreal manner that has become the hallmark of his books.

The lead character of the book, Maria is a young woman in Brazil who is very ambitious and very unlucky in love. She is disappointed by her various trysts with men, and was getting disillusioned. She began believing that she would not find true love and worse true love does not exist. She is tricked into leaving by a European man. She is taken to Switzerland, where she becomes a dancer. Soon she becomes a prostitute.

But she is one with a difference. She is intelligent and reads a lot. She is a philosophical one and questions herself deeply. She is alone and does not have a friend. This goes on for a while when she meets 2 men. Both successful and are her clients. She also learns a lot from them. The philosophies of both men are explained in detail in the book. She falls in love with one of them.

This is mainly a story of self-actualization of the woman. Her story is narrated from her childhood. Her sexual experiences are also describes and what she thinks of them and how it affects her. Her later fascination of the subject and then disdain and rediscovery( coupled with love) is the whole objective of the book.

The book is written in typical Coelho style, with the usual surrealism and mysticism. The whole feel of the nightclub where she works and Switzerland lack the realness that I feel should have had been there to portray the condition of her mind.

Overall I would suggest only Coelho fans to read this book. If you haven?t liked his earlier books you most probably will not like this.

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Somewhat revealed
Purchase Price (INR):	300
Purchased From:	Book Store