Book Review 6: Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

Eleven Minutes
Author: Paulo Coelho



This is the story of Maria, a girl from the interior of Brazil who had a twisted perspective of love. For Maria, love was physical beauty and she manipulated men with it.

 

After meeting a stranger in Rio de Janeiro, Maria's life was turned inside out. Arriving in Europe as an exotic dancer, she pursued her dream to become a fashion model. However, as usual, life had other plans. In desperation for money, she became a prostitute.

She is highly intelligent, read during the day and worked in red light district at night. During this time, she found that it only took eleven minutes for a man and woman to achieve climax. Hence the title of the book.

And during one of her walks in the day, she met a painter whom she was secretly attracted. Here, an unlikely romance unfolds.

I personally liked how the story is told. We dwell deeper into Maria's life through her diary. I would have preferred if the entire story was told from the perspective of her diary. At some points, the narrator's perspective was just repeating the thoughts of Maria from her diary. It was just redundant. 

Eleven Minutes is definitely different for Paulo Coelho. He gave the book's background story in the first few pages and the reason he felt compelled to write it. In true essence, this is another girl meets boy story.