A Prophet or a Charlatan?
Although Paolo Coelho is considered one of the most fruitful writers of the 21st century and a guru whose words are supposed to enlighten those who have been lost in the depth of sin and misery, lots of critics consider him not worthy the fane which he has obtained, the phenomenon of this writer is that, although being loved by hundreds of people all over the world, he is subjected to strong critics and the accusations of feeding people with the stories which are good only for little children.
Whether it is true or not is the issue of the given essay.
As some of those who have read the novels by Coelho state, the writer claims to be the one who discovers the simple truth of life and presents it to the people with all delicacy possible.
In spite of the fact that Coelho has been accusing of several times for the unrefined simplicity of his works, he still goes on presenting the grateful audience with the stories which can be classified as tales for adults.
The legends which Coelho tells are practically the dream novels which have very slight relation to the world as it is.
The mystery within his texts is supposed to have a philosophical background, yet it is possible to a day that Coelho simply plays with the ordinary statements which have nothing to do with the greatness of the Universe which he pretends to explore.
Since the modern world and the modern literature is preoccupied with the searches for something certain and understood, there is positively a danger of Coelho’s works being taken as the source of the world wisdom and the truth which embraces the whole universe.
The question is whether the author is what he is trying to be, a prophet to come, or a writer who has decided that he is supposed to reveal something unknown to the world to get some profit from the bestsellers of his. A St. Louis says,
The best-selling Brazilian author Paolo Coelho, whose dozen titles have sold over 40 million books worldwide, is Latin America’s second-most read novelist (after Gabriel Garcia Marquez).
Coelho’s more recent efforts, such as Veronica decides to die, about a writer committed to a mental hospital after a suicide attempt, and The Fifth Mountain, a fictionalized tale about prophet Elijah, are more sophisticated than the new-age spiritual fables with which he sprang to fame in the mid-1990s, such as the Alchemist and the Pilgrimage. (Draffen 58)
It is clear now that the fame of Coelho is based on the dramatism of his works which is intertwined with the philosophical context, and thus the impression it makes on the reader is like the one of a sacred text told like a novel.
What makes the very essence of Coelho’s stories is that he converts them into the shape of an everyday story which can occur to everyone, not only to some particular people.
What he is trying to convey is that everyone can be the chosen one, and it does not depend either on the origin of the person, or his or her beliefs, or race, or whatever.
Coelho shares the magic knowledge with everyone who cares to find out about the world something new and intriguing, and he does it willingly, with a grin of an enlightened one.
Like Buddha, he reveals to his fans the essence of the world and the secrets that have been kept close enough yet hidden so that the rest of the people could see it.
The phenomenon of his popularity has some other explanations which prove logical and convincing enough:
Two cases in point in recent years have been the phenomena of J. K. Rowling and Paulo Coelho. Nothing critics can (or do) will alter the fact that the readers want to read the books these writers have written. Their writings seem to exist on a plane that is immune to anything anyone says. (Gunnars 12)
In spite, if the numerous arguments given by the critics who were straight against the new stars that shone upon the audience, the worshippers of Coelho remained just as devoted to the guru as they had been. Nothing has changed, and maybe this is due to the charming simplicity of Coelho’s novels.
Speaking of the background of the writer, one cannot say anything special about the way he came into this world. Nothing marked the appearance of a great guru who was going to open the door to the universal truth for the rest of mankind.
Rankin says that Coelho has acquired his specific knowledge of the philosophical and religious issues during his travels:
Mr. Coelho is from Brazil and is a well-traveled individual but admits that when he wants to write, he retreats to South West France. He will not say too much more about his location because he does not wish to be found and disturbed. (35)
The Elements of the Destiny
Although Coelho is trying to convey his ideas with the most simple words for the reader not to get lost in the mess of terms and specific philosophical concepts, there is an idea that what Coelho does is a mere wordplay of his, which leads nowhere.
The exploration of the ideas which have been presented either in the Bible, or other sacred literature, proves an empty read for the audience, and the result of getting acquainted with the novels of the guru proves to be useless.
However, it cannot be doubted that Coelho manages to convey some moral rules to the audience, which may serve them as a kind of a guiding light on their way full of misconception and peril.
The moralizing stories of his can be distinguished by a specific air of a fable which has been told for the audience to have an important lesson which has to be learned.
The books of Coelho, among them the famous Alchemist are the interpretations of the universal wisdom twisted so that the ordinary public could swallow the story without digging too deeply in the world of philosophical issues and problems which demand serious work on the sources and considering the primary materials, such as the Bible, the Torah or the Koran.
Instead of getting too deep in the problems of religion and morals, Coelho suggests an easier way to settle the score with the evil that lives deep within each of us. He wants people to see the light which he has already seen and wants them to do it reading his revelations.
The opinions concerning Coelho’s influence on the people and their lives is not the thing that can be proved completely.
The numerous thankful public who claim that the books of his have turned their life into a complete delight and approaching the holy truth is the evidence that speaks in favor of Coelho’s works.
However, as the most attentive readers go deeper in their search for the Grail of truth in Coelho’s books they notice that there is something lacking in the books to reach the stage at which they are worth calling the literature for the enlightened.
Perhaps, this is due to the unpretentious size of the novels which Coelho writes, for it is truly impossible to make such a small book of one hundred pages to behold the keys to the universe in a due manner.
A reader of Paulo Coelho is depressed by reading the same stuff of answers that was the result of questions asked by a journalist.
But one thing that both Paulo and the reader should understand that – it is Paulo who knows the Journalist is asking the same question to him again and again. (Kalwar 64)
However, maybe it is not the Writer’s fault that the Reader and the Journalist demand the same thing from him again and again.
Tracing the development of the writer’s personality from what he used to be to what he is now, as well as the changes which his works have undergone as a result of such change, it can be claimed that Coelho has become involved more deeply into the questions of the universe which he has been solving all his writers’ life long.
The works of his have acquired a certain shade of meaningfulness and turned into more sophisticated read than his first fables were. His stories attracted the attention of the crowd and the critics, the latter claiming it worthless, the former crying with delight:
While disdained by serious critics and reviewers as a “familiar theme in a New Age package”, Coelho’s fable of a boy on an exotic journey in search of his destiny, drawing on myth and legend and unabashedly modeling itself on other inspirations works of the Jonathan Livingston Seagull genre, was on Brazilian best-seller lists for years after its publication in 1988. (Graham 88)
With all regard to the great works of Coelho and his attempts to help people to find a common language with themselves and with the rest of the world, it cannot be doubted that the means which Coelho chooses are far from being original.
In Search for the Truth
In spite of the multiple attacks of critics and the bios interpretation of his books, Coelho remains the voice of the truth and the man who can see something that escapes the eye of an ordinary man.
He remains the prophet that can calm down the troubled and to help the people to find theirs on a path in the world.
The books of his serve the audience as a kind of a remedy which heals their numerous complexes and helps them to understand that there is a way out, an escape from reality. What Coelho suggests is the solution to the moral problems, which people cling to so fast as if it was their life buoy.
In fact, it is, and the novels that explore the depth of a man’s soul and reflect on the multiple psychological and spiritual issues are the means which can help the people to shift from the rough reality into the world were things are fair, and where people can love each other the way it was told in the Bible.
As has been mentioned, the great guru tries to search for the answers to his questions while he travels to other countries.
Looking for the answers to his question, he has encountered a lot of people and facts which he manages to put into his books, wrapping the facts and the characters into the legend which will attract millions of people.
Giving the characters the precise features which he has learned about in his travels around the world, Coelho draws the public’s attention with the specific details of his characters and, however, paradox, that might sound, with their being so close to the image of an ordinary person with his or he ordinary thoughts. As Alexis put it,
Crowley traveled to the ends of the earth to communicate with demons. Paolo Coelho followed a similar path, changing those spirit entities angels or “members of the tradition.” (Alexis 440)
However hard it is to acknowledge, the spiritual food which Coelho suggests is not enough for complete spiritual development. What they can give is a mere push in the necessary direction, being a flashlight with the help of which people can find their way home.
In the search for the Promised Land where their dreams and hopes for the future are stored, people read Coelho’s books and see that the solution to their problems is closer than they had expected it to be.
Owing to this fact, Coelho has taken leadership over the world literature, and this has been keeping him in this position for so many years.
Even nowadays, when people seem to be fed up with the telltales who are fed to them every day, they still eagerly indulge in the dreamy land of Coelho’s imagination.
The universe where everything is just and people can find a common language cannot exist – at least, not in our lifetime – and this is what makes Coelho’s stories so dear and sweet to the people.
Works Cited
Alexis, Jonas E. Christianity’s Dangerous Era: How the Christian Principle and Spirit Offer the Best Explanation for Life & Why Other Alternatives Fail. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Author House, 2010. Print.
Graham, Richard. Machado de Assis: Reflections on a Brazilian Master Writer. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1999. Print.
Gunnars, Kristijana. Stranger at the Door: Writers and the Act of Writing. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press., 2004. Print.
Rankin, David. The Things I Wish They’d Told Me: As I Was Growing Up. New York, NY: David Rankin, 2009. Print.
Kalwar, Santos. Nature God. Lulu.com, 2008. Print.
St. Louis, Regis, Andrew Draffen. Brazil. Lonely Planet, 2005. Print.