Ujval's Lounge

Hi,

Sometimes it’s very difficult to write anything about book or content of book. Right now I am on same situation. I am talking about Eleven Minutes written by Paulo Coelho. Initially I thought not to write about book because sex related topic is always considered as bad topic but then I thought I have to write about book (anyway it depends on individual’s perception and depends on how individual’s interpret it) . The book deals with issues surrounding sex and sexuality, such as prostitution, and sacred sex in the context of love. Because of its graphic descriptions, the novel has been described as “erotic”.

Eleven Minutes tells the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heart-broken. At a tender age, she becomes convinced that she will never find true love, instead believing that “Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer…“ A chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, where she dreams of finding fame and futures yet ends up working as a prostitute.

In Geneva, Maria drifts further and future away from love while at the same time developing a fascination with Sex. Eventually Maria’s despairing view of love is put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter. In his odyssey of self-discovery, Maria has to choose between pursuing a path of darkness, sexual pleasure for its own sake, or risking everything to find her own inner light and the possibility of sacred sex, sex in the context of love.

In this gripping and daring new novel, Paulo Coelho sensitively explores the sacred nature of sex and love and invites us to confront our own prejudices and demons and embrace our own “inner light”.

Now you must be thinking about title. Right? Eleven Minutes is all about Paulo’s book then why “Seven Minutes” in title? “The title of Eleven Minutes is inspired by Irving Wallace‘s novel The Seven Minutes, which is about banned  book – banned because of close look at sex in particular the seven-minute duration of the average sexual encounter. So Paulo imagined its content and determined to write it. While Coelho abandoned his original idea, The Seven Minutes remains the inspiration for the title.

I am giving 3/5 to this book.

Book Detail:

Eleven Minutes

Book Name: Eleven Minutes

Author: Paulo Coelho (blog)

Language: English

Genre: Novel

Buy: Amazon, Shoppers Stop, Harper Collins

Reference links:

Paulo’s Interview on Eleven Minutes

Paulo’s Essay on Eleven Minutes

!!! Enjoy Reading !!!