September 1, 2018
Prolific Brazilian author Coelho is back with another novel, loosely based on his experiences growing up (a problematic phrase) in the psychedelic 1960s and '70s.The novel reads rather like a series of impressions clustered around a trip (no pun intended) through Europe and toward Kathmandu. While the narrative is written in the third person, it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to identify some aspects of a character named "Paulo" (also referred to as "the Brazilian") with the author. This character has linked up with Karla in Amsterdam in September 1970. They meet, appropriately enough, in Dam Square, perhaps the hippie center of the cosmos. Karla is Dutch and a Protestant, and she yearns to see the world from a wider perspective. She's at peace with solitude, and her dream involves "traveling to Nepal...to find a cave and remain there alone until her teeth fell out, [and] her hair became white." Meeting Paulo complicates both of their lives, however, for she would like him to be her travel companion on a bus trip from Amsterdam to Kathmandu, through Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and beyond. There are 20 people on the bus, including a Frenchman and his daughter (occasionally mistaken for man and wife) as well as Rayan, a charismatic Irishman, and his stunning girlfriend, Mirthe. They all tend to behave as we imagine hippies are supposed to behave--they take drugs, skinny dip in a river, and show an interest in ecstatic experiences. When they arrive for an extended stay in Istanbul, Karla and Paulo's relationship becomes even more complicated, as she feels drawn to him in a way he can't reciprocate.A nostalgic immersion in the mind-blowing 1960s.
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October 1, 2018
Drawing on his own past experiences, Coelho (The Alchemist) tells the story of a young man named Paulo exploring love, spirituality, and the world during the 1960s in this uninspired novel. Paulo, an aspiring writer born in Brazil, hitchhikes his way through Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina before deciding to head for Amsterdam, where he has heard of a new movement of love and sexual liberation. There Paulo meets Karla, and they begin the first tentative steps toward the lasting love that Karla desperately seeks. Karla, meanwhile, is planning a trip to Nepal to pursue her own spiritual liberation. After Paulo agrees to go with her, they set out on a bus with like-minded travelers and meet a variety of personalities—all of whom have a story to tell and life lessons to impart—leading to long tangents about life, love, and the spiritual motivations that inspired his years of traveling. Coelho never quite brings the reader in to the main characters’ experiences and lives, but some of the narrative side trips are worth taking. The author’s most ardent fans will enjoy this, but readers looking for an immersive tale with fully formed characters will be disappointed.
September 1, 2018
It is September 1970. A twentysomething aspiring Brazilian writer named Paulo finds himself in one of the two acknowledged hippie cultural centers of the world, Amsterdam's Dam Square. He has already survived a harrowing stint in a Bolivian prison, led astray by his lover, a woman 11 years older but not necessarily wiser. Karla, a beautiful young Dutch woman, also finds herself in Dam Square, searching for a man willing and worthy enough to accompany her on a Magic Bus trip to Nepal. With nothing more than their mutual quest for enlightenment to bind them, Karla and Paulo begin their trek across Europe, each dubious border crossing bringing them closer to their goal and, potentially, to each other. Less an homage to the sex-drugs-and-rock ?n' roll mantra of the time and more a celebration of the spiritual longing that inspired a generation to abandon norms and pursue an unconventional path to the truth, this metafiction by the revered Coelho (The Spy?, 2016) lyrically fuses authenticity and illusion, art and fact. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The global appeal of this megaselling storyteller remains extraordinary, and his latest autobiographically inspired novel will bring in the fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)