Eleven Minutes

"...at the beginning of creation, men and women were not as they are now; there was just one being, who was rather short, with a body and a neck, but his head had two faces, looking in different directions. It was as if two creatures had been glued back to back, with two sets of sex organs, four legs and four arms. The Greek gods, however, were jealous, because this creature with four arms...more

"...at the beginning of creation, men and women were not as they are now; there was just one being, who was rather short, with a body and a neck, but his head had two faces, looking in different directions. It was as if two creatures had been glued back to back, with two sets of sex organs, four legs and four arms. The Greek gods, however, were jealous, because this creature with four arms could work harder; with its two faces, it was always vigilant and could not be taken by surprise; and its four legs meant that it could stand or walk for long periods at a time without tiring. Even more dangerous was the fact that the creature had two different sets of sex organs and so needed no one else in order to continue reproducing. Zeus, the supreme lord of Olympus, said: 'I have a plan to make these mortals lose some of their strength.' And he cut the creature in two with a lightning bolt, thus creating man and woman. ...now they had to search for their lost half and embrace it...That embrace in which the two bodies re-fuse to become one again is what we call sex." GREAT BOOK....I simply LOVED IT!!!!   hide

A below-average book by a below-average author. Coelho attempts to write with profound insights into the souls of humans but fails miserably. It is clear that he comes from a country that lacks a substantial literary tradition. He should read more.

I read the Alchemist and wasn’t all that impressed so when this book was recommended to me, I wasn’t eager to read it - but I’m glad I did. Like his other novels, Coelho wastes no time getting to the point of the story. Maria, a young girl that the world would likely dismiss as uneducated and insignificant surprises me with her acute assessment of people and behaviours. ...more

I read the Alchemist and wasn’t all that impressed so when this book was recommended to me, I wasn’t eager to read it - but I’m glad I did. Like his other novels, Coelho wastes no time getting to the point of the story. Maria, a young girl that the world would likely dismiss as uneducated and insignificant surprises me with her acute assessment of people and behaviours. She quickly learns to see things for what they are and is a realist secretly hoping for romance. Coelho uses Maria’s experiences to discuss sex in all its forms. A psychological study of something that everyone is interested in and yet is too afraid to talk about…. “Eleven Minutes.” Favourite line: “Desire was an entirely free sensation, loose in the air, vibrating, filling life with the will to have something – and that was enough, that will carried all before it, moved mountains”    hide

A young brazilian girl convinced from an early age that she will never find true love. A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, but the gilttering life she hoped for was a fantasy. the reality, selling herself to survive is a dehumanising grind that pushes her further away from real love, towards a fascination with pure physical pleasure. But when her emotional barriers are tested by a...more

A young brazilian girl convinced from an early age that she will never find true love. A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, but the gilttering life she hoped for was a fantasy. the reality, selling herself to survive is a dehumanising grind that pushes her further away from real love, towards a fascination with pure physical pleasure. But when her emotional barriers are tested by a handsome young painter, she must choose between the dark path she is on and risking everything to find her "inner light".Can she move beyond the meeting of bodies to ameeting of minds or even souls to aplace where sex itself is sacred?   hide