"The Witch of Portobello" by Paulo Coelho

The title of the book was very catchy and aroused my curiosity in wanting to read the book.
And that's probably why I had recommended reading it for bookleaves in the frist place. Also, the fact that the 2 books I've read of him was pretty good, I did expect it to be interesting. My final feeling on the book is I guess somewhat disappointing.

The first book that I've read by Paulo Coelho was the well known bestseller "The Alchemist". It was a very good story, a very good teaching and philosophy to be learned from the book. But something that people, or at least I, already knew of. The story was well told but there wasn't any surprise that really sparked my attention. It pretty much ended in how I thought the story would end. However, I do like this way of storytelling. That, I admire a lot and am very jealous of it.

The second book was "11 Minutes". This was very different from the first. It was a little less philosophical than the first and it felt more like reading fiction. (The first felt more like reading a story from the Bible, but that's just me) It was fascinating how he had set up the storyline and the character.

The third, which was "The Witch of Portobello" was much like the first, very philosophical and spiritual. A woman trying to find herself. A very mysterious woman by the name of Athena trying very hard to find the higher being.. Maybe even the purpose of life and being? I did like it overall, but it really irritated me at some point and I can't really pin point the reason of why it made me feel so. Perhaps it's because it didn't really give me a direct answer in what she, the heroine of the book, or me the reader was searching for. Or perhaps it was because it made me think more and question more. I did like the narrative style. The way he used different people to tell the story of the protagonist. It held my interest...

I do like his books (though there may be some disappointing aspects) and I don't think that I've ruled him out of my reading list yet. There still are couple of books that I do want to read by him, "The Zahir" and "Veronika Decides to Die" to be exact.
Though I don't think it will be soon... I know I will read it but not just yet...