Being committed to a psychiatric institution and subsequently being released. Despite his desire to be a writer, he was admitted to law school. After that, he worked as a lyricist for Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Raul Seixas, a Brazilian superstar. creating contentious lyrics that alluded to magic and occultism. Before advancing his writing career, Coelho worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director. Here are some of the best Paulo Coelho books to help you aspire, wish and find yourself within the persisting chaos.
The stories of Paulo Coelho imply that living without a connection between action and soul is unfulfilling and that a life restricted by fear of rejection or failure is not worth living. Rather, one must take chances, develop courage, and embrace the unexpected adventure that fate has in store for them.
15 Best Paulo Coelho Books
1. The Alchemist
ABOUT – The Alchemist is a psychological novel, or at least that’s what it wants you to believe. Through his Andalusian travels in Egypt, Paulo Coelho narrates the narrative of a Spanish shepherd who constructs his own personal legend. The “idea” of the story is that people only discover themselves when they learn to listen. This exceptional work makes itself one of the best Paulo Coelho books.
2. The Archer
ABOUT – This book makes this list one of the 15 best Paulo Coelho books. We meet Tetsuya, a man previously famous for his extraordinary ability with a bow and arrow but has since retired from public life, and the youngster who comes looking for him in The Archer. Tetsuya demonstrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life by addressing the boy’s inquiries.
3. Veronika Decides to Die
ABOUT – “Veronika Decides to Die” is a lovely story about hope and joy. The plot centers around Veronika, a beautiful Slovenian woman who has everything a young woman in her prime desires. She has a wonderful job, a slew of men, and a supportive family. However, she is dissatisfied with her life and intends to end it.
” Veronika Decides to Die” is based on the author’s experiences in psychiatric facilities. The book has been adapted into theatre productions several times and translated into 46 languages worldwide. This beautiful narrative deserves to be on the list of 15 best Paulo Coelho books.
4. Brida
ABOUT – Brida is the story of a young Irish woman on a mission to unravel life’s deeper secrets. Brida has always been fascinated by magic and wishes to understand more about what it takes to be a witch. Brida is young, has a fantastic job, has a wonderful partner who adores her, and is content in other ways. She still wants to embark on a spiritual quest, a self-discovery adventure.
She encounters a man who lives deep in the jungle and teaches her how to overcome her fears and trust in the benevolence of the universe. This is an English translation of Coelho’s original Portuguese novel, which was published in 2008 by Harper. Brida is included in the list of best Paulo Coelho books for its uniqueness.
5. Eleven Minutes
ABOUT – Paulo Coelho’s masterwork, Eleven Minutes, is a bestseller in Brazil. This book is based on the fictional story of Maria, a woman who lives in Rio but relocates to Geneva. She is destitute and relies on menial labor to make ends meet in Geneva. Her destiny was to be a prostitute. She has embraced her life in this manner and continues to face it with courage.
This true story about a woman’s quest to understand herself physically and emotionally will keep you intrigued until the very last page. The details are vivid, yet they also leave a lot to the reader’s imagination. Paulo Coelho tackles the thorny and taboo subjects of sexual awakening, love, and a mix of the two. It was written in Portuguese at first, but it has since been translated into a variety of languages all across the world.
6. The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession
ABOUT – The Zahir literally deserves to be in this list of best Paulo Coelho books. The novel was initially written in Portuguese, the author’s native tongue. The story revolves around a pilgrimage. Themes of love, desire, and grief are explored. This book is regarded as a sequel to the author’s previous work, The Alchemist. The story is told from the perspective of a first-person character.
Esther, the wife of a bestselling novelist, died. Despite the luxuries afforded to him by wealth and celebrity, he is dissatisfied owing to his missing wife and embarks on a hunt for her. The book has been translated into 44 different languages.
7. The Spy
ABOUT – The Spy is the incredible story of a woman who risked to defy convention and paid the ultimate price. Told in Mata Hari’s voice through her farewell letter.
Mata Hari was poor when she landed in Paris. She became the city’s most famous woman in a few months. She astonished and charmed audiences as a dancer, and as a courtesan, she enchanted the era’s wealthiest and most powerful men.
Mata Hari’s lifestyle, however, drew suspicion as paranoia gripped a country at war. She was caught for espionage at her hotel room on the Champs Elysees in 1917.
8. The Fifth Mountain
ABOUT – Based on the legendary figure of Elijah, the novel The Fifth Mountain tells the life of the youthful prophet and his struggles with god. The story follows him as he struggles to choose between his love and his feeling of duty, and how he overcomes his obstacles and follows his destiny. The author of this book conveys the notion that every soul’s existence has a purpose, and he leads the reader through a variety of useful lessons that man must learn from his life.
9. Manual of the Warrior of Light
ABOUT – Coelho’s book is written in a way that makes it seem like a warrior’s manual. The term “warrior” is used to describe those who strive to achieve their goals and appreciate life. The author of this manual demonstrates several types of challenges that soldiers face, as well as answers to those problems.
The book contains paradoxes, such as when the author compares warrior behaviour to that of a rock and then compares warrior behaviour to that of water. This book is for people who wish to achieve their life goals and evolve into superior humans.
10. Like the Flowing River: Thoughts and Reflections
ABOUT – An elderly woman explains to her grandson how a simple pencil might point him in the direction of happiness. The secret to making your ambitions a reality is revealed in instructions on how to climb a mountain. Ghengis Khan and the Falcon is a narrative about the foolishness of wrath and the beauty of friendship, as well as a musician who sets an example in achieving one’s goals.
When the author goes to the aid of a man in the street, he learns three crucial things. Paulo demonstrates how the largest, tiniest, and most odd of encounters can teach us valuable lessons about life.
11. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
ABOUT – The plot follows Pilar, an independent young woman who becomes disillusioned with the monotony of academic life and embarks on a quest to discover the meaning of life. Pilar meets a pal who happens to be her childhood sweetheart but is now a spiritual leader, healer, and miracle worker, and they become fast friends. Soon after, they embark on a journey through the French Pyrenees in quest of the actual meaning of life.
The story picks up in a little village along the Piedra River when Pilar’s adolescent passion for a childhood friend emerges once more. I Sat Down and Wept by the River Piedra is a book about the value of love.
12. The Winner Stands Alone
ABOUT – The plot revolves around a single day at the Cannes Film Festival. He delves into the superficial lifestyles of the superclass, a group of wealthy, dwindling, botox-fed individuals who are swept up by celebrity and luxury, own private aircraft and live expensive lives.
He, on the other hand, expresses contempt for ‘the other’ class, which includes those with average or lower wages. It comprises people who have a set routine and do things in a certain way for the rest of their lives in order to achieve specific goals.
13. The Pilgrimage
ABOUT – The Pilgrimage, by Paulo Coelho, is a 1987 story about self-discovery and discovering one’s true path. The story begins in 1986 when the author fails his Regnus Agnus Mundi initiation (RAM). He is told that in order to be accepted into RAM, he must undertake a spiritual quest through the Way of St. James in search of a sword, which will serve as a sign of his acceptance into the order.
14. Hippie
ABOUT – He relates the story of Paulo, a young, slim Brazilian man with a goatee and long, flowing hair who aspires to be a writer, and Karla, a Dutch woman in her twenties who has been looking for a companion to accompany her on the famed hippy route to Nepal. She persuades Paulo to join her on a voyage on the Magic Bus, which sails from Amsterdam to Istanbul and across Central Asia to Kathmandu after they meet in Amsterdam.
Paulo and Karla continue on this trip together, exploring a love affair that awakens them on all levels and leads to choices and decisions that will shape the rest of their lives. Paulo Coelho is indeed known for his distinctiveness therefore this particular novel is added in the list of best Paulo Coelho books.
15. Devil and Miss Prym
ABOUT – Greed, cowardice, and fear have enslaved a community. A man who is being pursued by the ghosts of his traumatic past. A young woman on the lookout for love. Each of them will be confronted with questions of life, death, and power over the course of one exciting week, and each will have to pick their own way. Will they choose between good and evil?
Paulo Coelho dramatizes the conflict between light and darkness within every soul, and its relevance to our everyday struggles: to dare to follow our ambitions, to have the courage to be different, and to master the fear that keeps us from genuinely living in this wonderful novel. The Devil and Miss Prym is an emotional story in which human integrity is put to the test.
