In Veronika Decides to Die (1998), twenty-something Veronika takes a few packets of sleeping pills while reading an article about Paulo Coelho. But what makes Coelho’s version so insufferable is that it has evolved into mere brand management.Ĭoelho-as-protagonist began tentatively. Plenty of fictional writers include versions of themselves in their work-Philip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut, Charlie Kaufman, etcetera. A structure that might do what the best bildungsromans do-chronicle growth, enlightenment, expansion, discovery-becomes a narrow celebration of the author. But if you read more than one Coelho, it quickly becomes clear that he is not interested in the nuances of various spiritual awakenings he’s really only interested in his own. In The Alchemist it’s a shepherd boy, in The Witch of Portobelloan orphan, in Bridaan apprentice witch. What is it in Coelho’s writing that has convinced so many millions of readers of his sagacity? In part, it is the universality of his central theme: A young person sets out on a spiritual quest, discovers that his elders are no wiser than he is, and ultimately realizes the power for change comes from within. It’s a strikingly callous denial of reality, hedged in cuddly fairy tales. All of these factors can be subsumed by focus and drive and single-mindedness. No credence is given to luck-good or bad-to geography or family background, to the substantial difficulties of economic and social mobility. At the heart of Coelho’s ostensibly encouraging philosophy is a brutal logic: If you’ve made it, your success is thanks to the mystical powers of positive thinking if you haven’t, it’s your own fault for not trying hard enough. One hundred and forty million people have bought his books.īut the vapidity of Coelho is not his greatest sin. He puts his writing forward as profound meditation on the meaning of life, death, and God. Every paperback edition of his sixteen books has a three-page ‘‘Author Biography’’ printed at the end, a hagiographic summary that informs us that the author has always been a ‘‘seeker of the new.’’ In case you missed the point, the bio concludes that Paulo has ‘‘touched the hearts of people everywhere.’’ This is hardly PR overreach it’s how Coelho himself talks of his life and his work. But it’s not the only ingredient in his myth-making enterprise. The celebrity endorsement is a crucial part of Coelho, Inc. Acolytes range from Will Smith to Madonna, and, more recently, Joe Jonas, who said of Coelho’s most famous book, The Alchemist ‘‘ is a story about the endless search of finding out who you truly are … it brought some stability into our wild ride of a life." In his ‘‘Author’s Note’’ to The Alchemist, Coelho mentions that Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts are also fans. Do you like Paulo Coelho? You’re in good company.
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