I Can't Get You Out of My Head But I Must Move On.....Somehow!
Written: Jun 04 '07 (Updated Jun 05 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Mysterious yet spiritual novel about an open marriage gone wrong.
Cons: Affairs and open marriages are treated without judgement but positively spinned.
The Bottom Line: Taking place in France, the book covers elements of spiritual and philosophical themes that can make you wonder if you are living life to the fullest. Deals with infidelity.
garethusa's Full Review: Paulo Coelho - El Zahir/ the Zahir
It takes a special book for me to read halfway. I don't like to read but sometimes if I take the time to pick out something, I will more often than not enjoy it and then will actually read the whole book. It is also very special when I review a book on epinions because then it must have made an impression on me that I would like to encourage other people to read the book I am reviewing.
With complete joy, I finished reading 'The Zahir', a novel that people who have loved with all their heart someone else and for a long time have been in a relationship, but for whatever reason the relationship must end - will easily relate to. Sometimes, some relationships end without a real reason but can leave a lasting, longing desire to know why - and it can go on forever. 'The Zahir' shares the story of one man's quest to find out why his wife left him without any warning - or was he warned? And in the process of trying to move on with his life, a life that has been forever changed by his amazing wife or ex-wife, he must come to terms in discovering the 'whys' which are answered by examining his own life.
****
I chose this as my second Paulo Coelho book because I did read 'The Alchemist' quite a long time ago. It was magical and enlightening and just recently going through a rough relationship patch, I discovered his book on "obsession", which on some level called out to me.
I wanted to see what he had to write about when your life is consumed by one particular thing or person. We all have been there or will be at one point or another.
In the first half of the book in 'The Zahir', I am a bit conflicted with the acceptance of having open relationships or at least the understanding and the chosing to ignore/not ask about your partner's other affairs. Yes, we have two very interesting characters at the beginning, the person telling the story and the woman he loves. They got married and had been together for ten years. They basically understood each other well and they had an amazing relationship.
Yet, the wife, whose name is Esther, just one day disappears. She's gone. The person telling the story, who happens to be a writer of spirituality books, is baffled. How is it possible that the woman he loves would leave without a single word? After all, she had everything she wanted. Or did she?
The author is released from prison and no longer is a prime suspect. However, the remainder of the story isn't so much about law enforcement trying to solve a case, so much as a toremented husband who is left with so many questions and no real answers.
Yes, he has thought about Esther leaving him for another man but would she?
He knew she slept around. And she knew that he slept around. But they were so secure in their marriage that both understood that they would always be together. Or at least, so the author thought.
What did happen to Esther?
And for me, I want to know. I want to know why she left her husband. I want to understand what she needed as much as the author does, despite him moving on with his life and trying to fill the void of her leaving by meeting another woman named Marie.
Marie is also a complex female character who prior to meeting the author, was pining for a next door neighbor who was supposedly happily married. Marie is an actress and works everywhere and she is quite independent except for the real fear she has inside her heart of wanting to be with the author now. Her real fear though is that the author is still very much haunted by the disappearance of his ex-wife but more so for the deep true love that he still has for her.
For Marie, it is truly important that the author seek Esther out so that she herself, Marie, can be at peace knowing that she will be with the author or if she will have her heart torn out!
To complicate matters, or to spice up the story, we meet Mikhail. A translator who helped Esther cover war stories - Esther was a journalist. She met Mikhail and at one point, would talk about him non-stop to her husband, only for the author to put aside Esther's longing or enthusiasm for life and love for the author's own selfish interests.
It was thought that Mikhail had taken Esther to a terrorist or at least had something to do with her disappearance.
On one magical evening, as the author was doing a book signing appearance to celebrate his new novel about finding his true love and discovering how amazing it is to love someone so much even after they leave your life, he comes face to face with Mikhail and both the author's and Marie's life change.
What will become of the author's and Marie's relationship?
Does Mikhail know where Esther is? Was he the real reason she left the author?
Does the author ever get reunited with Esther? And if so, what happens?
What will happen to all of them, once the complete circle of answers to the author's forever haunting questions of Esther's disappearance are answered?
In the second half of the novel, the author, who you never really get a name for, and who we seem to perhaps accept as being Paulo on some level, begins to search for other answers inside himself in order for him to align with the universe, or the energy of love, and to wait for the right time to find Esther. But he won't be able to do it without the help of Mikhail and Marie.
What happens next or how it ends, will be up to you to decide if you should want to read this novel.
******
I really enjoyed reading 'The Zahir'. It does have highly philosophical and spiritual messages intertwined. As I mentioned before, I don't really feel comfortable that the book seems to be shedding a positive light on open marriages/relationships. That is a bit too much for me to be comfortable with. This particular idea permeates through the first half while on the second half, you get to see the path traveled by the author to once and for all get all his questions answered.
*****
This book originally was written in Portuguese and first published in 2005 in Brazil as O Zahir by Editora Rocco. The first US hardcover edition was published in 2005 by Harper Collins.
I have special edition trade paperback that includes:
Interviews with the author and why he wrote the book.
The novel is 298 pages and can be a quick read for some. For me it took about 12 days.
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