We met this past Saturday to discuss The Witch of Portobello, by Paulo Coelho. Despite a couple of notable absences (feel better, Judi!), we had a very nice turnout, including a new face to the group. The coffee was delicious, the pastries were divine, the sandwiches were enormous, and the book discussion was... well... short. Most folks didn't finish the book, and it wasn't entirely due to busy schedules. Books have to earn our attention, and justify our time spent with them, don't they? This one clearly didn't.
To begin with, there are the proclamations on the cover. Anytime a book is too impressed with its own contents, I tend to be suspicious. This book claims to "transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice." It's interesting that joy is one of the things I'm supposed to see differently, because it is one thing I found completely lacking from this book. One word that came up repeatedly in our discussion on Saturday was "pretentious." Intentionally or not, the book suffers from a pervasively condescending tone. I choose to give Mr. Coelho the benefit of the doubt to some degree, and blame some of the book's problems on the translation. You have to really look to find the name of the translator, and somehow that makes me suspicious of her qualifications. Maybe it was a rush job so the book could be released around the world at one time? I don't know; it's just a guess.
I hope others will share their thoughts and reactions below. If you didn't finish (or begin) this book, do you intend to now? Have you read other books by the same author, and did you enjoy them? Were you drawn to Athena, the main character, the way all the other characters in the book were? (Did you even like her?)
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