Hello everyone

If anyone here has read and enjoyed the work of Paulo Coelho, I'd really like to hear from you.

I've bagged an interview for my magazine. He's one of the biggest-selling authors on the planet and I'm bouncing with glee. But I'd really like to emphasise how widely this man's influence spreads. So where better than EF to ask for input?

So my plan is to accompany his words with a tribute page. If anyone here is an enthusiast, would you be so kind as to post a sentence (or two) about why/how his books affect you? Plus your first name and origin.

Your words will be published in the free magazine, Words with JAM, December's issue. Here's an example from June.

Thanks in advance

Jill

I have read lots of Paolo Coelho books and I like them very much. Paolo Coelho is better than all them other writers who don't know what they are talking about like Jonathan Swift and Voltaire and all them other ones because he talks about the real philosopy that is real to real life. He has wrote a very good book about sex and it was all in Geneva which was really good because it was in Switzerland and I live in Switzerland and it was very exiting to read about Switzerland in a book. It was called eleven minutes I think. And then there was a long book about a boy who went on a very long journey and found him self and I some times joke to my friends that he found him self down the back of the settee but that is just a little joke because Paolo Coelho is a very good writer and it was a very good book about philosophy and that. He has also wrote a book about a writer which was a bit self referencial called the saphire or some thing like that which wasn't very good or at least not as good as his other book like the one I just talked about. And then there is the book about the witch in portabello which I haven't read yet but I heard is is very good because it is about a witch and stuff. I am very inspiered by Paolho Coelho to be a better person because he writes about the philosphy and how to be a better person and the personal jouney through life and how to find your self and this is very interesting for me because I want to be a better person and find my self and that. I heard he is a alchemist but I don't know if that is true. I hope not because I like him as a writer and it would not be a good thing if he stopped being a writer to be a alchemist even if he does find gold in lead like what they do. In conclusion Paolo Coelho is a very good writer who writes about very interesting subject and every body should read his books so they can be the very better persons and help them in there jouney through life and to be more philopshical when they find them selfs.

Dougal, Glarus.

P S can I write for your magasine I am a very good writer and all ways wanted to be a writer in a magasine. thank you.

OOh, and did you read the one about the chick that tries to kill herself but she doesn't, but the the doctor pulls this big practical joke on her but she gets the last laugh. That'll learn him. And the Warrior one is the best. Strange stories but short enough to read on the bog. 2 thumbs up.
i r deborah

I've read 5 of his books and to be honest I find them shallow, "fluffeh", "over egged" and repetitive.

• The Alchemist & By the River Petra were by far the best of the lot.
• The Witch of Portobello was unreadable and I gave it away. The fact that I respect books is the only thing that saved me from throwing it away.
• The Valkyries was a joke even though he says it really happened to him. Yes, the "beast" really came to visit him. I think it was the drugs.
• The one about the prostitute in Geneva was trite, full of stereotypes. and annoying. I struggled to finish it and can't even remember how it ended.

Having said that I've heard him being interviewed a couple times and he's quite interesting. I enjoyed listening to him speak MUCH more than the trite books he churns out.

I can understand why he is popular around the world, particularly in South America. He does provide access to a bit of philosophy and "meaning of life" reflections to people who have not had access to much education or been exposed to more complex works. They are easy to read and the message is "in your face" which makes it easy for people to connect to the message.

__________________