Summary:
The Zahir, means the undeniable truth in Arabic, in the context of the book, stands as the peak of self-awareness that the narrator has to reach in order to come to terms with the circumstances. The narrator, a world renowned writer based in Paris has his wife missing, mysteriously, without a trail. That causes in him a stir, a hole that leaves him incorrigibly restless to fathom subtle realities of the relationships that make life. The narrator, who is well endowed with all the riches that the world of a celebrity has to offer, all the fame and affluence, is suddenly left with a cancer of a feeling holding him gripped in his heart as his wife leaves him for something he doesn't know of.
The narrator then begins his journey to get a cure for his acute-obsession ridden heart that is as curious as it is clueless. He gets in touch with a friend of his wife, who had brought her from Kazakhstan. The narrator is a person who falls for women too easily and too occasionally and does so again even while in being the turmoil of finding his missing wife. He then trudges on the path of salvation as he decides that in order to find what went wrong between them he has to first find himself i.e. the Zahir.
Review:
Paulo Coelho sketches this one with an intention of making the readers want to touch and feel their self that lies hidden underneath the apparent complexities of our daily lives. This is a portrayal of a love story that is marred with communication breakdowns and conflicting priorities and that almost rips it apart but only to be merged. The author, after all the successful books he has written has become an epitome for imparting subtle emotional sensitivities that work their way through the reader's mind and make them vicariously get in touch with their inner feelings.
The plot also does make you think analytically that the protagonist, who himself has made millions selling books on spiritual truths of life has such a massive spiritual hole in his own being; we hope that perhaps Paulo is hinting at something that will make us have a deeper understanding. The narrator or the protagonist's evidently shallow life, up and until his wife's sudden disappearing act and also to a certain extent beyond the tragic instance makes you have mixed feelings and you tend to question the outcome. The introduction of characters keep fading in the rearview but Paulo tries to save it with the exaggerations of the protagonist's misgivings.
The author's art of weaving a life in the world with transcendental conjectures is world renowned and heavily appreciated. This book, however, cannot surpass the heights, the likes of The Alchemist attained, though it might affect you much more if you find yourself in the middle of a sticky relationship yourself and still feel the vulnerability to redeem it by mending the broken bridges of communication and hence experience the river of love run its full course.
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