The Witch Of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

This is the third book of Paulo Coelho that I've read thus far. The previous books were The AlChemist and Like The Flowing River. It took me four days to finish it.


The story revolves around Sherine R. Khalil (whom changed her name to Athena later on), a Romanian girl who was adopted by a wealthy Lebanese couples and brought up like their own daughter.


When she was still a little girl, she claimed that she saw an angel wearing white clothes. She became rebellious. Later on, she abandoned her studies in engineering and got married to another engineering student. Have a son, divorced and went to live on her own working as a clerk at one of the bank. The manager is her father's friend.


She then learned some music from her landlord and with that music she danced in pursuit to search for the Vertex. What is Vertex? Go and grab the book. She succeeded in finding The Vertex and managed to increased the productivity of the bank. How she did this? You know the answer.


Afterthat, she went to Dubai and learned calligraphy from a Muslim Bedouin who taught her how to fill in the "blank spaces" in between words. Then she searched for her biological mother in Transylvania. Over there, she got to know Edda who taught her to get contact with Mother.


Some love her, many hated her...and when people called her The Witch of Portobello, trouble ensued.


I found that the introduction of this book is very interesting. Each chapter started with persons who personally got involved with Athena, The Witch of Portobello. Her mother, her ex-husband, her friends - the journalist and the artist, her landlord, Edda, her biological mother, etc.


After a couple of chapters, I loose track and puzzled over where this story is leading me. Then later on, I understood the plot though to my personal opinion most of the gist of the books is absolutely contradict with my faith as Muslims. One should tread carefully when reading this. To me this book is only a reminder of a few points that I've already noted in his previous books especially from LIKE THE FLOWING RIVER. I still remember the same line taken from the previous book that I've read here. For example, when Athena decided to abandoned her studies, she mentioned about a lady whom proud to have a child who has a degree but later on stuck with the job that she didn't enjoy. I've read the same line in LIKE THE FLOWING RIVER. Though, it is put in a slightly different way here.


This book is written in such a way that I am convinced this is from true story. I am not sure. You got to read it to know it.


There is one part of the scene from this story that troubles me. When Athena turned into Haga Sofia and her friend asked her why "haga sofia"? Athena answered it was a mosque's name! Why? I wonder.


Banyak cerita kufur dan tahayul serta mistik dalam buku ini. Berhati-hatilah membacanya.


There are two most profound lines for me though:


"Anyone who believes they have failed will always fail."


"Anyone who has decided that they cannot behave any differently will be destroyed by routine."


"...when we dare to see things differently, life open up to our eyes."


The second line if I am not mistaken has been narrated in the most beautiful way in LIKE THE FLOWING RIVER.


My take is that, if you believe in ONE GOD then it is easier for you to understand the search of Light for Athena. Setiap manusia mendambakan "absolute power" to hang upon to. Alhamdulillah, saya dilahirkan dan dibesarkan dengan kepercayaan kepada Tuhan YanG Satu, Allah 'Azzawajalla. Membacanya menambahkan keimanan sebenarnya bahawa tiada tempat lain untuk kita bergantung selain Allah Yang Maha Besar.


Anyway, this book is not to be belittled. Lots of issues are thrown in the book if you able to extract them from the stories. What happened to Athena when Rev. Ian Buck made a report to the police and protested about "the Satanic cult at the heart of England"?


You know the answer.