A question to answers. Review on Zahir, The - Paulo Coelho

Critics are extremely insecure, they are democrats when it comes to politics, but fascists when it comes to culture. They believe that people are perfectly capable of choosing who governs them, but have no idea when it comes to films, book, music.

The author has actually got a point here. The critic is as much of a human being as any of the readers. His ideas and his theories could be flawed too. So I decided not to review this book from a critic’s point of view. I would rather take some excerpts from the book, give my take on it and leave the forum open for you people. See what the author has to say and then see if you can in some way associate yourself with it. The association one feel with a book and the learning one get are the two things which makes a book worth reading, otherwise it is pure semantics, merely thread of words interwoven artistically.

The Plot:Esther, a renowned war correspondent is happily (?) married to a world famous author. She is married to a person whom she loves and who in turn loves her (or so it seems). She is passionate about her work. She has all the worldly possessions a person can crave for. Still one fateful day she leaves everything behind without saying goodbye, without giving any explanation to her husband. Now its for the clueless husband to find what, where and when went wrong and in the process of finding answers to these questions he end up finding his true self.

A soldier somewhere in the world asked her before he died to remove his shirt, then cut it into tiny pieces and distribute those pieces to anyone capable of understanding the message of is death, do you have a piece?

No he didn’t have the piece. Why was it that his wife gave that piece to some nomads, a doctor and even a beggar but not to her husband, her soulmate? What was it that they all understood and the person whom she share her life with, couldn’t understand it?

No one should ask themselves that: Why am I unhappy?

Well at one time or another, this question haunts everyone of us. It sure is one of the most dreaded questions ever. You ask someone the same question and the answer we usually get is: I have a beautiful wife/smart husband, a nice home, a car, lovely kids why should I be unhappy? C’mon all you needed to say was that I am happy, but you rather went on listing stuff to avoid the direct answer. In author’s words Ii what makes us happy is different from what we have now, then we must either change for once and for all or stay as we are, feeling more unhappy.

The Acomodador or giving up point: There is always an event in our life that is responsible for us failing to progress.

How many of us ever started learning something e.g. a musical instrument and then gave up after putting a certain amount of efforts? Almost everybody might have gone through such situation time and again. As per the author it’s the Acomodador which lay down the rules at such moments and stops us from pursuing our dreams. It is for us to identify that moment, the Acomodador and go beyond it to pursue our dreams.

The Zahir

The Zahir, which means something along the lines of obsession and madness is Paulo Coelho’s attempt at going through the neglected but important things in our lives. This book like many of his other works follows his basic philosophies:

When one decides to follow one’s dreams, the entire universe conspire with him to fulfill his destiny.

The universe speaks its own language, the language of signs scattered all around us. We all have the power to read these signs if we look with an open eye and a clear conscience.

There is no point in comparing The Zahir with Alchemist or By the river Piedra I sat down and wept. The Zahir in its own way raises many questions which one must ask himself. It essentially doesn’t answer these questions, infact no book can ever do. The answers are different for all of us and we have to find them ourselves. What is important here is to find the right questions to ask oneself.

Peace

~Jai