The Zahir

This book was not of the same quality as Alchemist but still presented some noble and elevated concepts as presented in all of paulo's books and perhaps the reason I read his books is that they always tend to feature some sort of spiritual quest. There is also a aspect of Sufism in Paulo's books which make them more eminent.

The unnamed narrator of this story is a writer whose wife, Esther, a war correspondent leaves him suddenly without any information or trace of leaving. When she disappears, he is disturbed by the mystery of what has happened. Has she been killed, kidnaped, or left him for another love. The narrator starts his struggle to find the reason of Esther's disappearance and eventually he realizes that she is the one who fills his life with meaning.

Coelho has not created a master work on the level of Alchemist but still there are some insights on courage needed to reach destiny, risks and possiblities of life and rewards of forgetting personal histories.