|
| The Witch of Portobello: A Novel (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Paulo Coelho
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $1.54
You Save: $12.41 (89%)
New (57) Used (66) Collectible (1) from $1.54
Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 6750
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 312
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0061338818
Dewey Decimal Number: 869.342
EAN: 9780061338816
ASIN: 0061338818
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: paperback
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are? That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that will transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 A haunting read of a young woman's spiritual journey May 26, 2007
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
I have read quite a lot of Paolo Coelho's works, my favorites being The Alchemist and By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. This is another compelling work by Coelho. As in most of his works, there is an enigmatic main character, in this instance a woman who is dead at the beginning of the book - the rest of the book deals with piecing her life through a series of first-person accounts. Born of Gypsy origins, she is adopted by a Lebanese couple and later calls herself Athena. She also seems blessed with spiritual powers and is filled with a certain restlessness that leads her on an amazing if unfocussed personal journey finally finding a mentor in a woman called Edda who helps her deal with her spiritual powers. The story moves along and we get to read of Athena's rise and inevitably, her demise, made compelling mostly through Coelho's consummate narrative skills. As always, Coelho's stories are about spirituality & the search for inner truth/self & will apppeal to those who are interested in the subject matter.
Witch captivates May 20, 2007
24 out of 28 found this review helpful
Paulo Coelho of international fame for his book The Alchemist has here in The Witch of Portobello has woven a very unique and compelling tale. Part of what draws the reader in is the story itself and part is the very unique way it is written. Rather than a straight forward narrative, or a dialogue or even a series of letters this is a unique narrative technique. It is written as a series of first person accounts of individuals interactions with our unusual heroine Athena aka the Witch of Portobello.
These stories, taped interviews and letters have been compiled by a narrator we do not know until the end of the story. He has decided to let Athena's story be told as other's tell it, through their own words, and with all of their emotions, anger, support, respect or disgust. What we learn from these accounts is not only is Athena a bit of an enigma, from these accounts we could almost assume that almost every person encountered a different Athena, an Athena of the making in their own mind. The way the 'biography' is written it allows us to draw our own conclusions, rather than a traditionally researched biography that is colored by the lenses that cloud the vision of the biographer. Much as each of us look at the world through a series of lenses of our experiences, and cultural biases.
Athena is a young woman who tries to fill the spaces, the silences in her life. The more she tries to fill them the more dissatisfied she becomes. Until she learns that it is the silences between the notes that make the music so powerful. When she learns to embrace the silence, the spaces, she finds a power an energy. She becomes a spiritual leader, some see her as a saint and some see her as a sinner. She is both revered and feared. A saint and a demon. The compiled documents help us to see Athena for who she was.
So join our unknown biographer as we trace the life of a murdered young woman and journey around the world and into an unseen spiritual world. This book is better than some of Coelho's more recent offerings, and the narrative tool will draw you in and keep you turning the pages.
A warning though the book deals with earth religions and has some new age ceremonies in it, therefore it will not be for all readers.
(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-18 in the 'Book Review Column.)
 New Age-y Mush January 24, 2008
21 out of 24 found this review helpful
I read and enjoyed The Alchemist a few years ago, and my wife wanted me to
try this one, but it sure didn't do it for me. While I'm intrigued by the
story-told-by-many-viewpoints technique, there is very little story to tell for most of the book, just the vague spiritual quest of a little-characterized but seemingly very self-involved girl trying to understand why she Feels Different. She falls under the tutelage of a Pagan priestess, comes to understand she Is Different, develops a relationship with the Mother Goddess, takes on the mission to Spread the Love, flirts with martyrdom, etc. etc.
I'm sincerely open to alternative religious exploration, but the belief system described here is nothing but the sort of hazy, hippy sentiment you'd hear in any freshman dorm room through a cloud of incense and dope smoke. (Dance to commune with the goddess; Take your clothes off to Really Communicate with each other; Give up your Gender Hangups to achieve Sexual Freedom... None of this is made up, by the way).
The characters are never real enough for the book to be a commentary on how religion works in the real world, and the Spiritualism described is certainly not concrete enough for this to be considered a serious religious exploration, so we're left with a meandering story that's supposed to be Profound simply because the characters tell us it is.
I didn't buy it.
 Very odd book April 6, 2008
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
Told through a series of interviews, THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO is the story of Sherine Khalil. Sherine uses the moniker of Athena and is on a spiritual quest. Her search sends her on a journey, from finding her birth mother to her joy in dancing. Just how did Athena's journey lead to her death? Open the pages as her spiritual quest unfolds....
The interview format is well done as the various characters interviewed do come across as very distinct personalities. This format really helped develop Athena's character as she is seen through the various perspectives. In fact, it was this interesting twist that kept me reading long past when I knew the overall book was just not appealing to me at all.
I think the biggest obstacle for me connecting with this book centered on Athena herself. She didn't come across as very goddess like (which I think was the intention) but rather seemed just as fanatical as the church she ended up in battle with. I also never connected with the multiple names (she later uses the name Hafia Sofia). The dancing into a trance for a meditation aspect also seemed a bit bizarre to me as it was never explained; instead, it was assumed the reader should just comprehend this unusual ritual. THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO was just a very odd book.
It's hard to capture just what THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO is about as it is rather weak in plot. Those looking for some sort of mystical insight may find a benefit to this one, but clearly it was not something for me.
COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES
The Magic Within. May 30, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
It always occurs to me that rarely do readers review Coelho's books. One of the world's best loved storytellers.
Then when I think of it it is really hard to review his books. They are literary conceptual extraveganzas that stay with you and you should keep a copy of it until you reach 70 and above.
In his latest riveting novel set in London, Athena, or Sherine ( the name she was baptised with ) tells her life through a series of recorded interviews with those people who knew her well or hardly at all. Brilliant. Her parents, colleagues, teachers, friends, acquaintances, and her ex-husband.
Athena is a mysterious woman, she was an orphanage in Romania, had a childhood in Beirut, then she moved with her adoptive family to London after teh war broke out. Then everything in her life changes.
Athena, who has been dubbed 'the Witch of Portobello' for her seeming powers of prophecy, disappears dramatically, leaving those who knew her to solve the mystery of her life and abrupt departure ...
If you are a Coelho fan then the rest is a challenging ride with love, spirituality, relationships, destiny, and freedom. Coelho trademarks.
Again, if you are a Coelho fan, you will find this review helpful since there is no easy and firm discribtion neither of his plot nor writings. He is more of an beautiful incident that just a writer.
I you sadly haven't read Coelho yet, go give yourself a kick start with The Alchemist and come back later to this review.
Hope I was useful. It's such an honor being allowed to comment on such a writer's magical work.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
