Paulo Coelho is kind of a household name because of the immense popularity of his novel ‘The Alchemist’ and particularly the line ‘When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it’ – which is not just a Shah Rukh Khan dialogue, by the way. It was a fantastic novel, addictive and motivating enough to make even someone like me believe. But ’11 minutes’ is nothing like Coelho’s most popular book and yet it talks about the most commercialized taboo subject in the world, something people think about for the majority of their adult lives yet refrain from speaking out loud in public – sex!
’11 minutes’ is a story of a Brazilian girl – Maria, who becomes a prostitute a) for money and b) because she can! Even though it starts out in a village in Brazil, following the childhood, teenage and early twenties of Maria – an ordinary girl who discovers, loses and shuns love from her life, most of the book is set in Switzerland. The story is not merely about sex right from the beginning, it is mainly about the circumstances that lead a girl into pursuing a career in the world’s oldest profession. I doubt if anyone can trace the vast change in emotions of a woman so perfectly like Paulo Coelho does, especially regarding the wide variety of opinions that the protagonist forms along the way about her job which is looked down upon by many. The story goes in a different direction when the character of Ralf, the famous painter who sees ‘the light’ in Maria is introduced and the possibility of discovering love appears. Although I rooted for another ‘special client’ of Maria’s – Terence, to occupy more number of pages, maybe the purpose of such a character in letting the readers into the not-so-glossy world of sadomasochism and its history (this is nothing like Fifty Shades of Grey, trust me) was served enough to let him fade into oblivion. The book also introduces one to the history of prostitution – two versions of it which makes us question a lot of existent practices in religion, our daily lives and the general scientific outlook towards the female genitalia. The librarian’s character is a very important one to look out for in the story because even though her part can be brushed aside when you look at the entirety of Coelho’s writing, it is a vital aspect of its telling that lets one wonder about the women around us and their needs – mostly physical, much like a man’s can be.
In the preface, Coelho wonders what people would think about this book because it is nothing like ‘The Alchemist’ and may not cause a shift in one’s perception towards the journey of life although it speaks of a universal subject that made life on Earth possible. By the time you finish reading this love-story – yes, that is the premise of the book and it speaks of quite an unusual relationship with a (spoiler alert!) happy ending that makes you think and when you reach the acknowledgement section where the details of the author’s endeavor in creating this book is revealed, you will be awed. So, just for the enormity of the efforts that must have gone into writing this book, I will say that it is an essential read penned by the amazing – Paulo Coelho!
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