The Devil and Miss Prym
a review of 'The Devil and Miss Prym' authored by Paulo Coelho
this is a second book of Paulo Coelho that i read after the hit book-of-the-century 'The Alchemist'. i have read 'The Alchemist' long back. though i forgot the details of the plot, i remember the essence of it - a man meticulously and determinedly following his dreams against all oddities. while reading 'the devil and miss prym', i realized that Coelho's novels are based on certain themes. mostly the theme is one of human value and not any fancy cinematic imbecility. the fine print below the title 'the devil and miss prym' reads 'a novel of temptation' on the frontispiece of the book. Coelho holds the readers till the last page to decide if the main character(s) resists or yields to the temptation.
i prefer to look at this novel as both resisting and yielding to temptation. there are two main protagonists in this novel - the stranger to the village who brings the temptation to the villagers and Miss Prym, the village bar gal who fights her temptation till the very end. ultimately its also a temptation to every villager. i do not want to write Coelho's story here and spoil the pleasure of reading the book. i would rather beat around the bush and try to express my view points.
its a rare art to weave a philosophical thought process into a fine fiction that is more real life-like. Coelho is a master of this art and that's what i like most about this author and his works. the reader is compelled by his words of vedantic wisdom to stop, think, may be come to some conclusions. he also leaves a baggage of thoughts for contemplation later.
Coelho is a self-realized man, an engineer turned author. he has come across nebulous situations in life that made him question the basic belief systems of man. this has led to his exploration of many thought systems (this is the correct word, religion is not the correct word) like Buddhism, Zen and Tao from different corners of the world. this exploration in turn brought out his inquisitive mind to share it with us readers in the form of such wonderful books. i owe many thanks to him for writing a book worth my time. i respect the guy who respects my time.
'the devil and miss prym' is not as gripping for me as 'the alchemist' was. the plot was also not convincing enough to me. but its the narration and the thought process behind the scenes that makes this book what it is. Coelho stands apart here. of all the modern day authors, i admire him the most.
this is a second book of Paulo Coelho that i read after the hit book-of-the-century 'The Alchemist'. i have read 'The Alchemist' long back. though i forgot the details of the plot, i remember the essence of it - a man meticulously and determinedly following his dreams against all oddities. while reading 'the devil and miss prym', i realized that Coelho's novels are based on certain themes. mostly the theme is one of human value and not any fancy cinematic imbecility. the fine print below the title 'the devil and miss prym' reads 'a novel of temptation' on the frontispiece of the book. Coelho holds the readers till the last page to decide if the main character(s) resists or yields to the temptation.
i prefer to look at this novel as both resisting and yielding to temptation. there are two main protagonists in this novel - the stranger to the village who brings the temptation to the villagers and Miss Prym, the village bar gal who fights her temptation till the very end. ultimately its also a temptation to every villager. i do not want to write Coelho's story here and spoil the pleasure of reading the book. i would rather beat around the bush and try to express my view points.
its a rare art to weave a philosophical thought process into a fine fiction that is more real life-like. Coelho is a master of this art and that's what i like most about this author and his works. the reader is compelled by his words of vedantic wisdom to stop, think, may be come to some conclusions. he also leaves a baggage of thoughts for contemplation later.
Coelho is a self-realized man, an engineer turned author. he has come across nebulous situations in life that made him question the basic belief systems of man. this has led to his exploration of many thought systems (this is the correct word, religion is not the correct word) like Buddhism, Zen and Tao from different corners of the world. this exploration in turn brought out his inquisitive mind to share it with us readers in the form of such wonderful books. i owe many thanks to him for writing a book worth my time. i respect the guy who respects my time.
'the devil and miss prym' is not as gripping for me as 'the alchemist' was. the plot was also not convincing enough to me. but its the narration and the thought process behind the scenes that makes this book what it is. Coelho stands apart here. of all the modern day authors, i admire him the most.
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