Paulo Coelho’s Blog

21 Responses to “Esther”

• atzuko

  August 26, 2009 at 10:59 pm

  acabo de leer el zahir y la verdad es que me gusto mucho bueno como todas la novelas que el escribe, me gustaria que me recomendaran otra novela del mismo autor .
  el papel que hace esther en la novela me encanta se ve que es una mujer que piensa.

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• Elaine Stevens

  August 15, 2009 at 7:59 pm

  Namaste,
  Esther is my hero. Your women are always strong and independent, but Esther rocked! I know that she was a metaphor for so much more, but as a woman reading this work, she knew her mind and went for it. In the end, she hadn’t been waiting around for him to find her. She had been on her own search. When he did arrive, it was a “take me as I am” moment. Bravo!

  I saw her as a metaphor for the writer’s intuition in many ways. She knew what he needed before he did. While he appeared to look at her as a pain in the ass sometimes, she guided him to his goals. She was like his guardian angel in the flesh. As you wrote in the Valkyries, if we don’t pay attention to our angel, they move further and further away and need to be sought out to be reclaimed.

  Love to you

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  Marta Adriana Reply:
  August 18th, 2009 at 1:55 am

  Elaine!
  Well said. I loved your comment.
  You know, I’m curious . What does Namaste mean?
  Would be wonderful if you could reply.
  Blessings

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  Elaine Stevens Reply:
  August 18th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

  Namaste Marta Adriana,
  Thank you for your kind words.

  Namaste is a Sanskrit term which is loosely translated into English as The Divine in me pays homage to the Divine in you. I liked the greeting and so I adopted it.

  Love to you

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  Marta Adriana Reply:
  August 20th, 2009 at 2:41 am

  Lovely answer.
  Thank you.
  Lots of love

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• Monika

  July 23, 2009 at 9:44 pm

  Behind every famous man stands a strong woman.

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  T.K. Reply:
  July 24th, 2009 at 1:43 am

  BESIDE every famous man stands a strong woman. Woman came from the side of man (his rib cage - which protects the heart) NOT from behind (his spine or backbone).

  :-p

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  Lolita Reply:
  July 24th, 2009 at 4:04 am

  T.K. do you really believe that woman came from man’s RIB cage?

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  Savita Vega Reply:
  August 16th, 2009 at 9:32 pm

  It’s okay. I think this is just what some men like to tell themselves because it is more appealing than the other option, which is telling themselves where THEY really came from, one and all, without exception.

  “There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men.” - Mohandas K. Gandhi

  “Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in high heels.” - Faith Whittlesey

  

  Francesca Reply:
  August 6th, 2009 at 8:39 pm

  This book came into my life during a time period when I was hurt by someone and had given up on love. The story gave me hope. Like Esther,I had been taken for granted. I love the fact that he learned through his journey how amazing Esther really was. Other’s had seen it, but he had to loose her to find this out.

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  Marta Adriana Reply:
  August 16th, 2009 at 3:19 pm

  Francesca

  Your feeling is like mine. Love should be stronger than habit.
  In this case , he was so used to her he had taken her for granted. That happens to all of us, and if we want to keep the energy of love flowing we should be aware of this.

  I was about to take my lover for granted , but then this thought stroke me and prevented me from doing so. Later it was him who took me for granted. It did hurt. My love went unrecognised, and I thought how unfair this was, even though I shouldn’t have thought like that.

  What you say is giving me hope too, and I see it as a sign, the same as someone else’s words in this blog: “What we keep we lose, but what we give up is given back to us”.

  I want to be like Esther, brave enough to dissapear, risking everything to not be taken for granted, even if this meant the end of their relationship.

  I also admire the way she enjoyed their separation, not giving herself to despair , open to people and open to love.

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• Debi

  July 18, 2009 at 5:30 pm

  I think the book is incomplete as Esther’s story was not shared. Having said that ,it continues to be a special book because I faced so many of my prejudices while I read - how i had all along thought love to be this one dimensional experience of only bliss and happiness , about how i went away from people who loved me because their love did not fit into my ideal of this often abused word called love.

  I love this book because it showed how much i still can live and know…and fight.

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• Alexandra

  July 10, 2009 at 1:59 pm

  I must say some parts of the story were a bit idealized. For example the part when we see Esther in a situation that reminds Penelope, Ulysses wife. Than, we find out she awaits a baby from a young man, not from the writer. But, the Writer accept the situation without any effort. Is really very unreal case, but I see Art, and Literature might present new cases from new points of view.

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  Rachel Reply:
  July 14th, 2009 at 7:17 pm

  I just happened upon Paulo Coelho’s writing, the Alchemist sits on my shelf for years. I will read it soon. Anyway, the Zahir struck me so deeply that I began to accept my fate as a writer. That subject, the baby by another man came at the end of the book, the wrap up, I am sure that many readers wanted more words, and more drama upon the re-meet, but I thought it beautiful, simple, and so much was said in so few words.
  It may seem unrealistic to the naked eye, or the average reader that there was little to no reaction to the baby in her belly, but, I know that in the few semi-evolved relationships I have had, that that kind of acceptance is necessary for the life of a relationship, and the openness of heart.
  I love you I love who you are I release you from responsibility for my happiness and I take you with an open heart.

  It felt congruent to the story, the Writer, and to the situation.

  Sometimes reality seems more like fiction than we would like, or expect it to. People really do relate with open hearts.

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  Alexandra Reply:
  July 21st, 2009 at 11:00 am

  Is true. Yesterday I heard those wise words. ” Lovers look at the Moon as it were only them to see it”. I think is the explanation. Lovers see everything in a special light, that others cant see.
  Love
  Alexandra

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  Carolena Sabah Reply:
  July 21st, 2009 at 12:25 pm

  Beautiful words Alexandra!

  

  Francesca Reply:
  August 6th, 2009 at 8:42 pm

  I think that the baby at the end was to show how much he loved Esther. Not many men would accept a woman with another man’s child. But his love for her was so great that it did not matter.

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  Magdalena Reply:
  August 15th, 2009 at 9:16 pm

  Hello, I’ve just finished reading “The Zahir” and must comment on this excellent ending of the book which shows the essence of love. From my point of view the Writer’s acceptance of his wife’s pregnancy is a sign of his deep longing, which results in unconditional love. Maybe it could look a little bit idealised, but when people face the hazard of big loss, they are able to accept everything without a single world. In my oppinion, the only thing the Writer feels at that moment is a relief, enormous happiness and peace, that she is back in his world, no matter if she’s pregnant with another man, no matter if she used tolove someone else, she’s back, and only that counts. No more description in the book is needed. That is the power of love… “…let me become the shadow of your shadow,the shadow of your hand, the shadow of your dog, but don’t leave me!” - love makes everything could be forgiven and forgotten like in Jacques Brel song, which I regard as one of the most beautiful and true songs about love, “Ne me quitte pas!” ( “Don’t leave me!”).
  Translation taken from: http://www.grazian-archive.com/quiddity/brel/ne_me_quitte_pas.htm

  Warm greetings, Magdalena

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  Savita Vega Reply:
  August 16th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

  I tend to agree, Alexandra, it did happen a bit fast (the acceptance), but I also saw it as a way of illustrating that Esther was not just this “woman in waiting” - her life on hold, hoping that her husband would come and find her. She went on loving, too. Just as he had Marie, she also had other lovers during their separation. Even if he did not come for her, she was going to be okay. She was going to get on with the living of her life. I think it just happened fast because the book needed to end there. There wasn’t any space to make for a long drawn-out account of the anguish or doubt that this pregnancy might have caused him - after they got back home and the newness of the reunion had worn off. That would be another book. It is an interesting topic, though. A man coping with his wife carrying a child that is not his own. Another one of those strict taboos in our society. In many countries it is quite acceptable for a man to have a “second family” - to have children with someone other then his wife - but it is not okay for a woman to expect a man to accept the same fate. A man is not supposed to merely accept that his wife is having a child by another man. That is another good reason why it seemed a fitting ending - a break with the restrictions imposed by social norms: loving and accepting a wife who is pregnant by another man.

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• samina

  July 10, 2009 at 12:11 am

  This book spoke to me about marriage. It reminded me of what Kahlil Gibran wrote,

  “And stand together, yet not too near together:

  For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

  And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

  I desperately wished I could have read Esther’s version of events and her path. I wanted to know more about her time away, her struggles and the fight she might have had with herself to just suddenly leave.

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• cem cansu

  July 7, 2009 at 2:18 pm

  Esther is a very strong women to be admired. I wish the same from my Zahir, but could not see any kilobyte of similarity, not expecting megabytes, or GBs.

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