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What are readers saying about The Devil and Miss Prym A Novel of Temptation?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-22 08:58:40.
(Language: English)
 
another Paulo favorite! A book on temptation... does Good override evil? that is the question. with a bit of mystery and some profound quotes that may be applied to life. Really enjoyed this book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-17 10:34:24.
(Language: English)
A look at temptation in all its forms, and gives you food for thought. We all face temptations in everyday life, not as extreme as the example in this novel, but we do. Just sit back and think about it. I always wonder what I'm going to say about his books and end up with far more than I ever imagined!
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Wan-Shoo posted a review at 2009-07-09 05:34:36.
(Language: English)
 
It is my second favourite after the alchemist from Paulo Coelho. He did not include too much religious saying in this book, just simply bring out the nature of human being in a small village, showing the self-conflict of Miss Prym and how the evil accentuate the need of God. Definitely worth reading to remind us of how we behave under the evil's wager.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-28 06:01:07.
(Language: English)
This book, like other Coelho books (though I've never read any other ones and am going on hearsay) is a fable. This one specifically is a fable about temptation. A stranger walks into a small tiny town and gives them an offer. He has 10 bars of gold he's willing to give to the whole town IF they will murder one, anyone, of their own. Will the villagers do evil for the sake of a greater good, he wonders. Will evil prevail, as he believes, since we are all inherently evil. This tale, full of little parables, is about the eternal battle between good and evil. The good and evil within ourselves and about the temptations we all face everyday. The only difference, perhaps, between good and evil people is how they react to the temptations. It's a bit trite, but there were many moments in this book where I felt I could relate with many of the things being said. It's pretty deep shit, in the end, and battling angels and devils not withstanding, not as trite as so-called hippy, dippy self help books. This ain't no Eckhart Tolle, thankfully.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-01 03:52:08.
(Language: English)
Simply the best book I have ever read!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-01 07:28:45.
(Language: English)
Such a nice work from Paulo, where he analyzes the eternal battle between Good and Evil, through the two characters, Ms.Prym and the Stranger. All of us know that man is neither essentially good or bad and how he reacts to a particular challenge and how he makes a choice at a particular juncture are what make him good or bad. And all of us know that there is always a battle going on between good and evil in our own minds. As usual, Paulo mesmerizes us with his words in this splendid novel. What is becoming a little sore point about reading Paulo's novels is his fetish about the feminine aspect of goddess and his wisdom about alchemy, not to leave out the essential aspect of witchcraft. Come on Paulo, you bore us sometimes with repeated references to these things, that at times makes us feel that you are drawing from the same well to drink always as well as quench the thirst of those around!!!
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Anoushka posted a review at 2009-10-08 01:04:45.
(Language: English)
I read this book after reading all the rave reviews, but cant get what all the fuss is over. Perhaps some of the genius of the book was lost in its translation to English, but I was really disappointed. The book was boring, story unbelievable and the book in general a bit weird. Fortunately the book is short and can be read in one sitting. I read this book after having read a few good reviews of Paulo Coelho, so thought Id give it a try. Didnt enjoy it at all - flowery, boring and almost a lecture on how to live life. Currently being used to prop up a wonky table lol..ok, ok, its not that bad..but I think its more for the "in-crowd" reader.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-23 12:50:35.
(Language: English)
la verdad me gusto gusto mucho: al igual que otros libros del mismo autor, es muy sugestivo y te mantiene el interes para que sigas leyendo. Lo que si es cierto es que al igual que los otros libros de paulo coelho, no es solo una novela para entretener sino para refleccionar. En este caso reflexionar no solo del mundo que te rodea sino de ti mismo, del bien y el mal que yacen en ti ya que es el mismo que habita tambien en mi y en todos los seres humanos y es mas que seguro que terminaras haciendote muchas de las preguntas que se hicieron los caracteres principales...hacerca del bien y el mal del ser humano, y hasta posible que despues de terminar de leer, veas tu realidad desde un punto de vista diferente, mas positivo y mas alegre. Pero mis palabras no son suficientes para realmente explicar el libro y mucho menos para explicar lo que sentiran y pensaran al leerlo, esto tendrian que experimentarlo por ustedes mismos.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-23 09:40:49.
(Language: English)
simply brilliant!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-28 09:09:25.
(Language: English)
“The Devil and Miss Prym†by Paulo Coelho revolves around the idea as to whether or not humans are bad by nature. The novel is short, the vocabulary is easy and the narration is simple, however it has philosophical views which make the reader think and which can be complex to some point. Through his novel Coelho does not clearly state whether or not humans are essentially bad or good. The novel ends but the reader is left to think and decide for himself and even that does not give a straight-forward answer. The question on whose answer the novel is based or revolves around is asked by a stranger who comes to a remote village. He offers to give the people in that village 10 gold bars if they are capable of committing a murder during his stay. He chooses Miss Prym to deliver his message and offer to her village. This stranger is accompanied by the devil, hence the title, which can also refer to the choices Miss Prym faces, and relate to how she weighs and considers things. I would personally rate this novel 3.5 stars. It is neither a must-not-read book nor a waste of time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-26 07:35:33.
(Language: English)
After reading this book I was mad as hopping hell. Not because there was anything outrageous or controversial in the book itself. No, the reason I was mad as hopping hell was because I had wasted time reading this book in the belief that the author would have at least something clever to say. He didn't. It is the sort of book that frightfully tedious people are prone to see as "clever" or "deep". The sort of people who derive 90% of their "world wisdom" from magazines and in 10 minute slices of animals humping each other on Discovery Channel. If that's the sort of intellectual diet you are on, then of course Coelho's books appeal to you -- his main demographic is the tabloid-fed Hausfrau-demographic. Utter shit.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-12 01:38:43.
(Language: English)
An old woman who converses with her deceased husband's spirit sees the devil walk up with a stranger to her quaint little village one day. A rich businessman's family are killed leaving him questioning justice, good and evil in the world. The fate of a quaint little village rests in the hands of a young barmaid. A tempting offer to sway a village - can fortune to last a lifetime tempt even one to commit murder? Intelligene, logic, conscience, morals, virtue, temptation, greed and avarice battle their wits against each other in a tale that seems almost like a forgotten legend in telling. Of course, as always, the loose ends are finally tied up at the end; leaving the question, however, to be answered by the reader's conscience - would you??
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-11-13 10:29:06.
(Language: English)
HAve you ever read a book by candle light? Well, I recently had the pleasure to do so. Thanks to the heavy rains in Mumbai and no electricity at home and no mobile phone network to kill time, I decided to pick up a book that I had bought a week ago but hadn’t yet started reading. The book happened to be yet another one of Paulo Coelho’s. I have two more books by him to read and I think I must’ve read all his works. As all his works this one too deals with the moral and spiritual factors that guide our life. The Devil and Miss Prym is the story of two individuals who are confronted by the good and evil in them and have to make a choice. Right in the beginning of the book, the author talks about how good and evil are both sons of God. Twins at that. And how one cannot exist without the other. Men were made and they were born with both these sides to their personality. The story however is about the fact that it is however our choice to be good or to be evil. Miss Prym too is offered this choice and she has a week to choose her own path. The stranger in the form of the devil has his own reasons for putting Miss Prym in the difficult situation. He is looking for the answer to the question that are all men evil? The story like all other Paulo Coelho stories is an easy read, it has a lot of insight and is gripping. I finished the book in one night. It is just about 200 pages. There are a few characters thrown in the story which are interesting too. The old lady who after having lost her husband yet in her subconscious mind has managed to connect with him and has conversations with him. The Preist who probably could be a reflection on most preachers who seek power who manipulates the people. There are a few lines in the book which are hard to forget: Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny. THose who make promises they don’t keep end up powerless and frustrated, and exactly the same fate awaits those who believe those promises. People want to change everything, and at the same time, want it all to remain the same. If even God has a hell, which is his love for mankind, then any man has his hell within easy reach, and that’s his love for his family. I am a man who walks the earth with a devil at his side, in order to drive him away or to accept him once and for all. Is the devil in you which is stronger? Well put yourself in a similar situation and see what you decide to do ?
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-10 10:40:36.
(Language: English)
The story, even though it has primary and secondary characters, is not about any one specific character, but more about the people of the village of Viscos, an imaginary small town with only one young person and no children. The story opens with Berta watching a stranger come into town. Berta is an old widow who is deemed a witch by the townspeople but is probably a psychic sage. Encouraged by the devil, the stranger is a wealthy man who suffered a tragedy and is out to find out the answer to the pessimistic philosophical questions that torment him. Miss Chantal Prym, a barmaid and a dreamer for better things, is the only young person in town whom the stranger wants to use in inciting the villagers to commit a murder so their town could take possession of the gold bars he has hidden in the woods. Miss Prym, almost an angelic figure, believes in the good inside people although she herself is not immune to not give in to the devil. After a town meeting is held and the villagers plan to sacrifice Berta for the gold, the story wraps up for the better, salvaging the integrity of being human.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-20 08:38:04.
(Language: English)
Are humans naturally good or bad? We all struggle with the same question every single day in our daily dealings with people. Between angels and demons, people who help us and those who hurt us, we still cannot find the answer. Chantal Prym is stuck in one man's struggle to justify his loss and his wager with the devil. It all falls on her shoulders to not only save her village, prevent her people from committing a crime they have deemed justifiable, but to bring back the light of angels and defeat all of the proud devils to win one more battle for good's sake. Another one of Coelho's masterpieces, but very different from the alchemist, on the river piedra, the Valkyries, and the more spiritual-quest kind of stories. This story is about temptation, and what we go through everyday and rarely stop to think about. Afterall, it's not about whether we are good or bad; it's about how hard can we fight temptation.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-09 11:12:50.
(Language: English)
I loved Coelho's first book, the Alchemist. I then read By the River Piedra and found it cheesy, for lack of a better word and time to develop the reasons for this. The Devil was less cheesy but the writing is so juvenile, it really reads like a child's parable and though the message is clear I like a little more food for thought, rather than having the whole idea handed to me on a platter. I will probably read more Coelho anyway, just because he doesn't require a lot of concentration on my commute to work or late at night before sleeping.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-20 03:39:18.
(Language: English)
Paulo coelho has been reading gabriel garcia's books >.<
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-23 10:02:56.
(Language: English)
I read "The Alchemist" after hearing some good things about it... and I was disappointed. Instead of judging him on the one book, I chose to read this book as well. Well, I was equally disappointed. I can see the "psychology" behind the writing, but I really don't think it was necessary to base the story on such a simplistic plot. The message is obvious enough... I was hoping for a little bit "more" to cushion the ideas he had, instead of leaving them out in the open for the readers to interpret. A little bit of interpretation is usually key for good writing, but he just left it so open that I was really bored. I agree with the other poster about "The Lottery". The same concept was addressed with a much better approach.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-16 03:55:00.
(Language: English)
A new view to discuss good and evil. Coelho provided a new angle to observe human reaction towards evil and how a human brain can invent different justifications to reason his evil actions. As all know good will win at last but here coelho gave a twist to the success of good. Desire and greed are so strong especially when the devil is supporting it. Temptations do move people but our angels always try to put us back to the track. If the light in you fades someday then the light in others will support yours and will strengthen it. Paulo Coelho touched the souls of his readers diffrently every time.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-24 08:01:19.
(Language: English)
Temptation is a serious bitch that leads you down a road of insecurities!
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Ramkrishnan posted a review at 2010-11-17 12:25:53.
(Language: English)
Interesting Flow of events leading to a tussle between the Goodness and Evil... Enlightening Experience..
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-11 04:21:32.
(Language: English)
It makes you think about what is Good, and what is Evil. Outstanding ending!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-20 09:46:50.
(Language: English)
Just finished reading the novel and as always Paolo Coelho left me with such a high-spirit of enlightened hope for the human race wherein we all belong. I always take Coelho's writings in the literary level, such as the Bible itself. Never that religious, I am a non-practicing Catholic, but I believe in the Good and the Evil and that in the end the Good always prevails. Coelho's focal point in most, if not all of his novels is the drama of the human life. The struggle within, to become good and to make a difference. Of the 'seven-day trilogy', "The Devil..." is my favorite, followed by "Veronika..." and then last is the "By the River Piedra...."!
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-06-16 09:59:33.
(Language: English)
all about GOOD Vs EVIL Some parts were outstanding other could have been much better. A little bit disappointed. Ending is good though
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-02-03 02:19:13.
(Language: English)
Not as good as the Alchemist but still a decent read. Coelho's books are so quick to read it's never a waste of time. This one was a little frustrating given the unlikability of the characters and the need for good and evil to be so black and white.
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