Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho 30102007.jpg
Born August 24, 1947 (1947-08-24) (age 62)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Occupation Novelist, Lyricist
Nationality Brazilian
Genres Drama, Psychological

Paulo Coelho (IPA: [ˈpau̯lu ˈko̯eʎu]) (born August 24, 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.

Contents

Biography

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." He was 38 when he published his first book.

In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as a popular songwriter. In 1974 he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil. In 1986, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from all of Europe to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved a self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage.

Career

As part of the Brazilian rock scene, Coelho wrote song lyrics for many famous performers in Brazilian music, such as Elis Regina and Rita Lee. His most well known work was with Raul Seixas. Together they wrote such successes as "Eu nasci há dez mil anos atrás" (I was born ten thousand years ago), "Gita" and "Al Capone", amongst 60 other songs. Seixas taught Coelho the magic of communication: a complex message doesn't need to be hard to understand - the message must be as simple as possible to grasp,it is cool even though to live it is the hardest of things. As Seixas sings: "Two hands together at the same prayer" (Coisas do coração) or "The beauty of simplicity" (Eu quero mesmo).

Spirituality

His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he traveled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions and mysticism.

As he confesses in an interview to Juan Arias, during that time he was introduced to the work of controversial English mystic Aleister Crowley, which influenced his collaboration with Raul Seixas. The influence extended not only to music, but also to plans for the creation of the "Alternative Society," which was to be an anarchist community in the state of Minas Gerais based on Crowley's premise: "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the Law." The project was considered subversive by members of the Brazilian military government, which imprisoned all prospective members of the group. Coelho is reported to have been tortured during his imprisonment.

After a supernatural experience, described later in his book The Valkyries, Coelho left the society.

Later in Holland he met a person (whom he would refer to as "J" throughout The Valkyries, The Pilgrimage and his website "Warriors of Light online") who changed his life and Coelho was driven towards Christianity. He said he became member of a Catholic group called Regnus Agnus Mundi, with J as its leader. However, the existence of the group is unverified since his own works are the only source while the Latin name is unverified. In 1986 he walked along the Road of Santiago, an ancient Spanish pilgrimage and his book The Pilgrimage describes his final initiation.

The book The Alchemist has been praised by different personalities ranging from Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe to the singer Madonna, who considers it one of her favorite books. It has equally inspired many projects – such as a musical in Japan, theater plays in France, Belgium, USA, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland. It is also the theme of two symphonies (Italy and USA) and had its text illustrated by the French artist Moebius.

Personal life

He and his wife Christina live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil or in Saint Martin, Hautes-Pyrénées, France.

Paulo Coelho is:

His works

In 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives[1] , which failed to make any kind of impact. In 1985 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it “of bad quality”. In 1986, Paulo Coelho made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage. Another novel, Brida has been just released in English.[1].

In the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist[1], which is based on Jorge Luis Borges' Tale of Two Dreamers, which in turn was based on a tale from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best-selling Brazilian books of all time. It has sold more than 65 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 56 languages. It is also a movie-in-progress produced by Laurence Fishburne[2], who is a fan of Coelho.

Coelho has sold over 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide and his works have been translated into 66 languages (Goodyear, Dana (2007-05-07), "The Magus", The New Yorker: 38-45, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/07/070507fa_fact_goodyear ). He has received numerous literary awards from a variety of countries, including La Légion d'honneur (France), Grinzane Cavour (Italy). In addition, he has written Maktub[1], which is a collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, The Manual of the Warrior of Light, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept[1], The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like The Flowing River and The Valkyries[1]. Despite the popularity of Coelho's works in Iran, his 2005 novel The Zahir[1] was banned there, with 1,000 copies being confiscated [1], but a week later it appeared again in bookstores, according to his publisher Caravan. His latest book, The Witch of Portobello was released in 2006 – 2007.

He also adapted The Gift (Henry Drummond) and Love Letters of a Prophet (Khalil Gibran).

His books have appeared on bestseller lists in countries not only in Brazil but in the UK, the United States, France, Germany, Iran, Canada, Italy, Israel, Finland, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Cuba, Poland and Lithuania. He is the all time best-selling Portuguese language author.

Coelho writes a weekly column published in more than 45 countries [2], including O Globo in Brazil, Akşam, a Turkish newspaper, and Freizeit, a weekly supplement published by the Austrian Kurier.

Acclaim and criticism

Although his work has sold very well it is not generally critically acclaimed. His work has also not been unanimously appreciated at home; his election to the Brazilian Academy of Letters proved controversial. Seen by some Brazilian literary critics as a lesser author whose material is too simplistic and similar to that of self-help books, criticism of his work arises mostly from his plain, direct style and borrowing of ideas from other authors, to the extent of plagiarism. Additionally, his works in Portuguese contain grammatical errors and inaccuracies; some of these have been minimized in translation or altered in later editions.

His works are pervaded with spiritual themes but do not endorse any specific religion, aside from using Catholic imagery.

Bibliography

Note: Although the biography section of Coelho's website states that his first book was published in 1982,[3][4] the Official Fan Club Paulo Coelho website lists two additional books published in 1974: The Manifest of Krig-há and Theater For Education.[5]

Year Portuguese Title English Title
1982 Arquivos do Inferno Hell Archives
1986 O Manual Prático do Vampirismo Practical Manual of Vampirism
1987 O Diário de um Mago The Pilgrimage
1988 O Alquimista The Alchemist
1990 Brida Brida
1991 O Dom Supremo The Greatest Gift
1992 As Valkírias The Valkyries
O Diário de um Magus The Diary of a Magus
1994 Maktub Maktub
Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
1996 O Monte Cinco The Fifth Mountain
1997 Letras do amor de um prophet Love Letters from a Prophet
Manual do guerreiro da luz The Manual of the Warrior of Light
1998 Veronika decide morrer Veronika Decides to Die
Palavras essenciais Essential Words
2000 O Demônio e a srta Prym The Devil and Miss Prym
2001 Histórias para pais, filhos e netos Fathers, Sons and Grandsons
2003 Onze Minutos Eleven Minutes
2004 O Gênio e as Rosas The Genie and the Roses
E no sétimo dia And on the Seventh Day (collection of three previously published novels)
2005 O Zahir The Zahir
Caminhos Recolhidos Revived Paths
2006 Ser como um rio que flui Like the Flowing River
A bruxa de Portobello The Witch of Portobello
2007 Vida: Citações selecionadas Life: Selected Quotations
2008 O Vencedor está Só The Winner is Alone
O Mago The Wizard (biography by Fernando Morais)

The Experimental Witch Project and Pirate Coelho

Paulo Coelho has equally been active in Internet with two pioneering projects : The Experimental Witch and Pirate Coelho.

In June 2007, Paulo Coelho announced, on his internet blog[6], The Experimental Witch Project, a collaborative project. In the book, the life story of the main character, Athena, is told in the form of interviews with the other characters. Coelho has asked aspiring filmmakers to tell the tale from the point of view of one of the 13 characters in the book that interact with Athena — or through the eyes of a narrator. Fans of the Brazilian-born writer will post their entry for the collaborative screenplay on Myspace.

In addition to a €3,000 (£2,000) prize, each winner will have the film edited by professionals and screened at film festivals around the world.

Paulo Coelho also stated in beginning of 2008[7] that he recurred to piracy through torrent network[8] in order to promote his works.

His actions in Internet have made him according to Jeff Jarvis 'the Googliest author'[9].

Messenger of Peace

Marking the International Day of Peace, in September, 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated Paulo Coelho as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace raising global awareness of the world body's work and ideals. Paulo Coelho seeks to promote intercultural dialogue in his position as Messenger. Through his Institute which he founded with his wife, Christina Oiticica, he helps underprivileged members of Brazil's society.

"I gladly accept this responsibility and am committed to do my best to work towards a better future for the current and next generations," said Mr. Coelho, who also serves as Special Counsellor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 (Portuguese) "Bibliografia". Brazilian Academy of Letters (Brazil) (2007-06-26). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  2. ↑ "Fishburne set to adapt 'Alchemist'". Variety.com (2007-06-26). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
  3. ↑ Sant Jordi Associados Literary Agency: Paulo Coelho's Titles. Retrieved on October 7, 2006.
  4. ↑ PauloCoelho.com: Biography. Retrieved on October 7, 2006.
  5. ↑ Official Fanclub Paulo Coelho: Books. Retrieved on October 7, 2006.
  6. ↑ (English) "The Experimental Witch". Paulo Coelho's Blog. Retrieved on 2007-08-27.
  7. ↑ (English)"DLD08 - Day1 - Creating universes" (July 12,2007).
  8. ↑ (English)"Alchemist Author Pirates His Own Books" (January 24, 2008).
  9. ↑ (English){{cite web |title=Guardian column: Paulo Coelho, pirate |url=http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/08/04/guardian-column-paulo-coelho-pirate/

Publications

Further reading

External links