Customer Reviews
Interesting In A Somewhat Morose Way - By: Douglas P. Murphy, 10 Dec 2008 
As a pretty, young teenagerin Brasil, Maria, partly by accident & perhaps partly by design, gets recruited for a prostitution ringin Europe. She worksin a restaurant/bar with other prostitutes, earns some money, gains some independence but feels yearnings toward greater things. She becomes torn between someone she loves & someone who offers a strange,fascinating but dangerous area of sexuality & sensation. Ultimately she must choose. The book is based on conversations Coelho had with a woman who led such a life & the book reflects this authenticity & avoids the sensationalism of the subject for more thought-provoking ideas.
Quite honestly a terrible book - By: John M, 01 Oct 2008 
This must be a contender for the worst book I've ever read. I read 'The Alchemist' by the same author largely because it appearedin the 'BBC 100 favourite reads' poll & was described as 'life changing'. I didn't like it, but thought this may just be due to the fact that the story is a cross between a parable & a self-help book, & decided to give Coelho another go. I shouldn't have bothered!
The story here is of a naive young Brazilian girl wanting to make some money by travelling to Switzerland ostensibly as a dancer, but soon becomes involvedin prostitution. It's full of unbelievable scenarios & characters, some of which are frankly risible, mixed with a generous dose of half-baked adolescent philosophy. The heroine moves from an abortive S&M encounter to embracing it with full gustoin the blink of an eye after a brief walk along Lake Geneva, before finding her true love. The ridiculously cheesey ending had me reaching for a brown paper bag.
The writing style is very simple (translated from Portugese), & makes it easy to read, although lackingin depth. Thankfully it's short.
I'm amazed anyone could give this 5 stars!
Oh, .....did I mention I didn't like it??
Vying for top spot for my number 1 book! - By: bloo, 30 Sep 2008 
This is the first of Coelho's books I've read - & it has quite simply left a profound impression on me. Very thought provoking & grabbed me from the first words, then dragged me through the rest as I couldn't keep up with the words. I guess some books speak only to you at the right point you pick it up - & this was one of those moments for me. Bought almost a year ago it's just been sitting on my shelf. And when I picked it up to start reading, I had no idea what the book was about or what Eleven Minutes meant.
One of the negative commentsin an earlier review said you'll only enjoy this book if the Celestine Prophecy was your thing. Now much as I know the Celestine Prophecy has it's own cult following (of higher being spiritual schmaltz & all that), that book meant nothing to me & absolutely cannot be compared to Eleven Minutes at all.
I know that I will return to read this book several times & has now become a treasured possession.
Worth reading - By: Stormy, 11 Mar 2008 This is my second reading for Paulo Coelho, Such amazing wonderful reading that I was enjoying each minute of it. I liked this as much as I liked The Alchemist.
The concept of the story ( despite the job of the main character as a hooker ) it gives alot of moral & themes for personal life.
This man has a lovely style of writing that capture you with him till the end, especially with this novel from a woman side
Overall, it is a worth reading for those who would like to understand the male & female for different sides.
Another 'follow your dreams' novel - By: MaryAnne, 02 Mar 2008 
Having sworn never again to read any more Paulo Coelho, my book group chose Eleven Minutes as this months read. This is now my 4th book by the author & I am no more a fan than after the first. I find his patronising style simplistic & child-like & he repeats 'key' statements ad nauseum throughout his books. While they are often quick reads - this one took less than 24hrs - I still end up wondering why I bothered.
Maria, a naive young Brazilian girl, decides to take a week's vacationin Rio de Janiero. There she meets a talent scout on the look out for dancers to performin Geneva. Maria decides to take a chance but finds that things are not quite as she'd been led to believe. When she gets sacked for missing a day's work, things start to go down hill rapidly. She is almost broke when a man offers her a huge sum to sleep with him & from this it's not such a large step to becoming a high class prostitute, serving several men each night. Money is plentiful & Maria enjoys her status - will she continue with this life or return home with money & buy a farm??
In true Paulo Coelho style there is plenty of moralising about the subject, following on from the theme of following your dreamin 'The Alchemist'
The character of Maria is apparently based on the life story of a prostitute that PC met whilein Switzerland, but I still found her sudden expertise on sexual problems rather unbelievable.
I also thought the novel was rather sexually explicit for a book that I might find myself reading on the bus or other public place. Personally I feel that there is a fine line decreeing what is acceptablein a book for general consumption & this crossed it.
