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Title details for The Zahir by Paulo Coelho - Wait list

The Zahir

A Novel of Love, Longing and Obsession

by Paulo Coelho
John Nicholl
Audiobook
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It begins with a glimpse or a passing thought. It ends in obsession. One day a renowned author discovers that his wife, a war correspondent, has disappeared leaving no trace. Though time brings more success and new love, he remains mystified – and increasingly fascinated – by her absence. Was she kidnapped, blackmailed, or simply bored with their marriage? The unrest she causes is as strong as the attraction she exerts. His search for her – and for the truth of his own life – takes him from France to Spain, Croatia and, eventually, the bleakly beautiful landscape of Central Asia. More than that, it takes him from the safety of his world to a totally unknown path, searching for a new understanding of the nature of love and the power of destiny. With The Zahir, Paulo Coelho demonstrates not just his powerful and captivating storytelling, but also his extraordinary insight into what it is to be a human being in a world full of possibility. In Arabic Zahir means 'visible, present and unable to go unnoticed.' It refers to something or someone that ends up being the only thing we can think of. This state of 'possession' can be understood as saintliness or insanity, with a fine line between the two.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 5, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780007311866
      • File size: 151976 KB
      • Duration: 05:16:36

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 11, 2005
      The press chat cites 65 million copies of Coelho's eight previous novels in print, making the Brazilian author one of the world's bestselling novelists (150 countries and 56 languages). This book, whose title means "the present" or "unable to go unnoticed" in Arabic, has an initial staggered laydown of eight million copies in 83 countries and 42 languages. It centers on the narrator's search for his missing wife, Esther, a journalist who fled Iraq in the runup to the present war, only to disappear from Paris; the narrator, a writer, is freed from suspicion when his lover, Marie, comes forward with a (true) alibi. He seeks out Mikhail, the man who may be Esther's most recent lover and with whom she was last seen, who has abandoned his native Kazakhstan for a kind of speaking tour on love. Mikhail introduces the narrator to a global underground "tribe" of spiritual seekers who resist, somewhat vaguely, conventional ways of living. Through the narrator's journey from Paris to Kazakhstan, Coelho explores various meanings of love and life, but the impact of these lessons is diminished significantly as they are repeated in various forms by various characters. Then again, 65 million readers can't be wrong; the spare, propulsive style that drove The Alchemist
      , Eleven Minutes
      and Coelho's other books will easily carry fans through myriad iterations of the ways and means of amor
      .

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Even before listening, an especially beautiful package in peaceful and harmonious shades of soft coral and delicate sand casts a spell on the listener. Then, Jamie Glover's elegantly restrained and deeply felt narration achieves an understated and unforgettable listening experience. The plot is an intriguing puzzle: A man searches for a beloved wife who has mysteriously vanished with a mutual friend. The protagonist subsequently embarks on a journey to find her and, most importantly, to understand what made her leave him without notice and without apparent reason. Moving and meaningful as a story, this work, for some listeners, may also result in a significant search for their own selves, as well. L.C. 2006 Audie Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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