Brida
Paulo Coelho, 1990 (Eng. trans., 2008)
HarperCollins
224 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780061578953
Summary
Would you be willing to sacrifice everything for the man or woman of your life?
Brida, a young Irish girl, has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to trust in the goodness of the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch.
This enthralling novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure. It is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—August 24, 1947
• Where—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Education—Left law school in second year
• Awards—Crystal Award (Switzerland), 1999; Rio Branco
Order (Brazil), 2000; Legion d’Honneur (France), 2001;
Brazilian Academy of Letters (Brazil), 2002
• Currently—lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Paulo Coelho's books have been translated into 56 languages, topped bestseller lists throughout the world, and scored him such celebrity fans as Julia Roberts, Bill Clinton, and Madonna; yet for Brazilian publishing phenom Paulo Colho, the road to success has been strewn with a number of obstacles, many of them rooted in his troubled past.
Personal life
As a youth, Coelho was expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, a professional engineer. When he rebelled, expressing his intentions to become a writer, his parents had him committed to a psychiatric hospital where he was subjected to electro-shock therapy. He left home to join the 1970s countercultural revolution, experimenting with drugs, dabbling in black magic, and getting involved in Brazil's bohemian art and music scene. He teamed with rock musician Raul Seixas for an extremely successful songwriting partnership that changed the face of Brazilian pop—and put a lot of money in Coelho's pockets. He also joined an anti-capitalist organization called the Alternative Society which attracted the attention of Brazil's military dictatorship. Marked down as a subversive, he was imprisoned and tortured.
Amazingly, Coelho survived these horrific experiences. He left the hippie lifestyle behind, went to work in the record industry, and began to write, but without much success. Then, in the mid-1980s, during a trip to Europe, he met a man, an unnamed mentor he refers to only as "J," who inducted him into Regnum Agnus Mundi, a secret society that blends Catholicism with a sort of New Age mysticism. At J's urging, Coelho journeyed across el Camino de Santiago, the legendary Spanish road traversed by pilgrims since the Middle Ages. He chronicled this life-changing, 500-mile journey—the culmination of decades of soul-searching—in The Pilgrimage, published in 1987.
Writings
The following year, Coelho wrote The Alchemist, the inspirational fable for which he is best known. The first edition sold so poorly the publisher decided not to reprint it. Undaunted, Coelho moved to a larger publishing house that seemed more interested in his work. When his third novel, 1990's Brida, proved successful, the resulting media buzz carried The Alchemist all the way to the top of the charts. Released in the U.S. by HarperCollins in 1993, The Alchemist became a word-of-mouth sensation, turning Coelho into a cult hero.
Since then, he has gone on to create his own distinct literary brand—an amalgam of allegory and self-help filled with spiritual themes and symbols. In his novels, memoirs, and aphoristic nonfiction, he returns time and again to the concepts of quest and transformation and has often said that writing has helped connect him to his soul.
While his books have not always been reviewed favorably and have often become the subject of strong cultural and philosophical debate, there is no doubt that this self-described "pilgrim writer" has struck a chord in readers everywhere. In the 2009 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records, Coelho was named the most translated living author—with William Shakespeare the most translated of all time!
Extras
From a 2003 Barnes & Noble interview:
• Few writers are able to accomplish what Coelho can in just two to four weeks—which is how long it takes for him to write an entire novel.
• Before become a bestselling novelist, Coelho was a writer of a different sort. He co-wrote more than 60 songs with Brazilian musician Raul Seixas.
• Coelho is the founder of the Paulo Coelho Institute, a non-profit organization funded by his royalties that raises money for underprivileged children and the elderly in his homeland of Brazil.
• Coelho has practiced archery for a long time; a bow and arrow helps him to unwind.
• In writing, Coelho says "I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation."
• Coelho loves almost everything about his work, except conferences. "I am too shy in front of an audience. But I love signings and having eye contact with a reader who already knows my soul."
• When asked what book most influenced his life, he answered:
The Bible, which contains all the stories and all the guidance humankind needs.
(Bio and interview from Barnes & Noble.)
Book Reviews
An inspiring reading experience insured ... together with Brida you can learn to dance and if not at least fill-up with inspiration for the rest of your inner-search Quest.
Cosmopolitan (Israel)
Coelho's brilliant tale of young Brida, an Irish girl who wishes to become a witch, is a compelling and vivid fantasy epic. Sadly, narrator Linda Emond's uninspired and monotonous reading is a disservice to this fantastic tale. Though the story is set in Ireland during the mid-'80s, Emond makes no attempt at a regional dialect or even the slightest shift in tone for any of the characters. Her narrative voice is dull and uninspired, read with a soft whisper that will surely put most listeners to sleep before it ignites their imaginations. The story would be much better served with a narrator more willing to put their performance skills to the test and dive into the story.
Publishers Weekly
Masterful spiritual storyteller Coelho published Brida in 1990, two years following the publication of one of his most popular works, The Alchemist. Here translated into English, Brida follows the mystical experiences of a young Irishwoman named Brida O'Fern as she enters the world of witchcraft. Traveling from Dublin to the wild woods, Brida searches for her first teacher, the Magus, a man who recognizes her as his soul mate. The Magus starts her on her spiritual path through a test of faith before passing her to another teacher, Wicca, who helps further develop her mystical skills. As Brida grapples with lessons challenging her to remember her past lives and find her true path, she must also deal with her current lover and her growing attraction for the Magus from the woods. Blending the beliefs of pagan and Christian religions, Coehlo pulls through the common threads of love, faith, and the journey of the soul. Devotees of his works will spark demand for this interesting novel. Recommended for popular fiction collections.
Library Journal
[A]nother mystical pilgrimage from the master of the genre. Readers familiar with The Alchemist (1993), The Zahir (2005), and The Witch of Portobello (2007) will recognize the common themes—mysticism, discipleship, and a quest for fulfillment—that are incandescently woven into the fabric of most of his fiction.... Slighter than some of Coelho’s philosophically meatier novels, Brida is still a journey well worth taking.... —Margaret Flanagan
Booklist
New Age savant Coelho whitewashes witchcraft. This true-to-life tale of Brida, a young Irish sorcerer's apprentice whom Coelho met during a pilgrimage, was originally published in the author's native Brazil shortly after his breakout work, The Alchemist (1988). Twenty-one-year-old Brida seeks out the Magus, a wizard exiled to a forest, to learn magic. The Magus immediately recognizes Brida as his Soul Mate, but since Brida is unschooled in the Tradition of the Moon, the feeling isn't mutual. After an initial trial (an overnight stay, alone, in the Magus' woods) proves her worthy, Brida's path toward witchy enlightenment leads her to another teacher, Wicca, who guides Brida through the tarot and a series of trances, immersing her in the eclectic ragout of bromides that is spirituality according to Coelho. This benign rubric incorporates ancient Celtic pantheism (this is the only apparent reason for the setting, Ireland, because for all the local color the story could happen anywhere) but also the teachings of Saint Paul, Saint Augustine and Saint John of the Cross. The closest Wicca's queens of the night get to wickedness is hand wringing over their misunderstood sisters who were burnt at the stake. These witches call upon the Virgin Mary to stand by whenever they invoke the power of the Serpent, and they eschew the ultimate sin of attempting to control humans. In fact, that very sin consigned the Magus to his sentence of loneliness: He used Black Magic to drive away his rival for a woman—not even his Soul Mate, just a brief fling. An intriguing episode featuring one of Brida's past lives, during the persecution of the Cathar heretics, is all too brief. This patchy melange of vaguely Gnostic sounding aphorisms and not much action—climaxing with a BYOB witch-initiation party—will mostly appeal to Coelho's diehard devotees.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. What sets Brida on her quest for knowledge? Is she willed by something in particular, or is she merely inquisitive?
2. What importance does the Irish setting of the novel have? How does Brida's status as an "Irish girl" define her?
3. Paulo Coelho uses capitalization frequently in this novel, with names, with places, with feelings. What significance(s) does this stylistic choice serve?
4. The Magus is a very important and electrifying figure in this novel. What purpose does he serve? How would you describe him? What about his physical appearance?
5. Compare and contrast the figures of The Magus and Wicca. How do their roles in Brida's life echo each other and differ from one another?
6. Paulo Coelho often blends the Christian and the pagan in his work and does so especially in this novel. How do Christianity and paganism complement one another in this novel? Is Brida's quest to follow one of them specifically or to fuse them together?
7. There are a number of rituals mentioned in this book, and the cloak scene is particularly memorable. What do you think Wicca is trying to teach Brida during these ceremonies? During the initiation ritual, in particular?
8. There is a very strong female presence in the book, as well as a sense of female community and communion. What solace does Brida find in the company of women? How does The Magus's presence differ from theirs?
9. Part of the novel deals with a past life experience of Brida's. What occurs during this period of time? Why is it relevant to Brida's current existence?
10. Is the story of Brida an allegory? If so, who are the allegorical figures, and what do they collectively represent?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
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