Nov 22, 2004 02:23 PM
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(Updated Nov 23, 2004 12:58 AM)
All coins have two faces. And so do all the humans. We all have a good and an evil face. We all have God and the Devil in us. God is most powerful.
The aforesaid could be the gist of the book written by Nobel laureate Paulo Coelho. Unlike his earlier books (such as The Alchemist), The Devil? lacks that soul touching appeal. Low on emotions, this book is a simple description of the conflict between good and evil in a small village which is dying.
This is like watching a bollywood movie. A sleepy village wakes up to a stranger from the city, a real mysterious character. This man ensures that everyone in the village knows about his riches and is left wondering about his intentions for visiting the village. The man put forward a proposal, which is unholy and evil, but which would ensure that the village can preserve its heritage.
The fun starts.
The residents of the village, from the Priest to the Mayor, the sole Bar-Owner to the sole Businessman, everyone is trying to think of ways to extract the most out of this proposal, without having to loose the face in front of God.
The novel symbolically shows how various sections in the society turn away from truth, kill their own consciousness and then even think of excuses for doing all this. The story of-course ends happily and the bad guys get punished.
The Devil And Miss Prym? has been written in the year 2000, and is a pretty new book as against The Alchemist or Veronika? (From the same author) This could be one reason why the author chose to write about the society and the eternal war between good and evil.
The book is very simple but it is also interesting at the same time. Worth a try!
