Once Upon a Time, There was a prostitute

Published on by Anastasia

“No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

I am a huge fan of Coelho’s books. Coelho writes very well and he has great amount of  life philosophies to share with his readers. He also shares his advices using very simple and universal language that everyone understands.  Eleven Minutes has great be opening line. Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria… is interesting and catchy way to start a book. Maria, Brazilian prostitute is the main character of the book. I liked her, she was constantly trying to learn something new and develop herself as person. Yes, she’s a prostitute but she’s not just a prostitute. Moreover,  it’s something new & different& rare, I don’t think I have read many other books with prostitute as main character (only thing that comes to my mind are books by Belle de Jour).

I like the way Coelho mixes some fairytale into this. In theme that is far from fairytales, we have the fairytale beginning & fairytale way of telling a story. For example, Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with …. What can I say…It’s definitely interesting mix. Moreover, I also  like the concept of love in Eleven Minutes (+huge amount of very quotable lines about love.) Love is beautiful and love is horrible. Love can end very soon or it can last forever. Love is free.

“When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side. And yet if something goes wrong, there is nothing left! How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish so quickly? Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

What you might not like about the book is the level of cheesiness. Seriously, Paris? However, knowing Coelho’s style, he has a certain way to finish his books.What might also cross your mind is that Paulo Coelho enters the womans mindset. Does he know how woman thinks? Most part of his books concentrate on women.

I’d give this book 8/10

“In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

How- To Read Eleven Minutes
1. Paulo Coelho supports the ebook piracy so it’s very easy to find electronic copies of the book online. (You did not hear this from me…)
2. If you don’t consider yourself a reader, I would maybe not recommend this one for you. Nor if you didn’t enjoy reading other books by the author. Fans of Coelho…this is a must read for you!
3. It’s short book (approx.300 p.), however prepare yourself for deep philosophy of different matters.
4. Novel deals among other with prostitution, sex, sado-masochism.
5. Clichéiness..Cheesiness…but we need that right?…Right?
6. You won’t completely get Maria’s character.
7. Some same elements but not really similar to 50 Shades of Grey in case you were wondering.

“…and that, in the end, the most interesting people always leave.”
― Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

Have you read Coelho’s books? Which one is your favorite/least favorite?

                                        Buy the book: Eleven Minutes on Amazon

30 thoughts on “Once Upon a Time, There was a prostitute”

      1. No. However, when I don’t buy, it’s either a gift or a loan. Most writers (myself included) don’t make much money from their writing and the last thing we need is a best-selling writer telling people it’s OK to steal others’ work.

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  6. I don’t know why,but every time I see Coelho’s name,I instantly think of Robin Sharma.
    And I’m not a particular fan of Sharma; he just is someone who makes loads of money by preaching things you know deep down! -_-
    Have you read The Alchemist?

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    1. I think Coelho has very beautiful mind :) He’s unique in the way he writes. There was only one book of his I didn’t enjoy: Manuscript Found in Accra. Book was as if he just needed to publish something in the middle and it seemed to be full of dumb preaching. But it’s like with Stephen King, sometimes books are really good and sometimes I wonder if they just want to cash out. Yes, I have :) I think Alchemist is deepest of his books. Have you read it?

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    1. :D tell me about it. The reason why I took this book home from library the first time I read this. I think it’s very fitting to Coelho’s style to start book shockingly. Although sometimes he starts books better than carries the plot itself.

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      1. I hear ya! *nod nod* Sometimes the first few pages start good and end badly. Hopefully that wasn’t the case here. Thanks to you, I’m going to look for a copy to bring home and read myself. Probably for the holidays. I would love to “shock” some people too! ;D

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        1. I think it errr started better than it was but definitely good book still :) I know that feeling XD it’s kind of like you’re not embarrassed by what you read but it might still seem weird to others. People only think highly of classics. Let me know what you thought of it

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          1. Coelho’s books are always knee-deep in thought, and as you said, philosophical. But once we tend to get the message he wanted to convey through his stories, we could really learn a thing or two from him. :) Well, at least, that’s what I think. Haha. :D

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