I met Paulo Coelho when I was twenty years old. By ‘met,’ I mean the book Veronika Decides to Die entered my life. It’s important to provide a little backstory here because a key foundation in enjoying Coelho’s writing is that it finds you at the right time.
At twenty, I was undergoing a huge metamorphosis. Long-term health issues had catapulted me into a physical transformation, but it was the spiritual evolution that rippled through my life and set the pace for who I am still becoming twenty years later.
A Time of Transformation
I was fed truths my entire life. Up until this point in my young adulthood, I believed in heaven and hell, a God that punished, sins that would follow you until you repented. And even then….
I have been born again so many times I’ve lost count.
Yet, once I was out of Christian school and the regularly scheduled Sunday church, I was able to come up for air, to start ‘thinking’ without being influenced by religious dogma constantly humming in the background, and I started to break it down.
I became obsessed with truth, desperate to find something different from what I had believed my whole life but never felt connected to—something that felt like hope and home.
An Awakening
The summer before I turned twenty-one, I met a man who changed my life. Yes, he was my lover, but more importantly, he was my teacher. Our paths were fated to cross, and I am endlessly grateful to him for bringing me Coelho’s writing. When we met, he had been where I was in his own way. Though the circumstances that brought us to this place were different, we had each reached a threshold of wonder—a place of reckoning with our spiritual journey that was almost thirstier for the questions than the answers.
And that’s how it is, right? We all run the gamut of the human experience at different times, slipping into every emotion, trial, challenge, and revelation. They may look different, but when you connect with someone who is or has recently been on the road you are now walking, that kind of connection is earth-shattering. And so here I was, my Teacher and I, having our own sort of book club. Exploring truth, and human connection, stretching the corners of our minds.
Some of Coelho’s biggest critics say his work is merely overrated parables. I don’t think they found him at the right time. The Alchemist should never be required reading, and despite spending more than 370 weeks on the New York Times bestseller’s list…I don’t think it’s even close to being his best work.
And, it wasn’t the first or even second book of Coelho’s that I encountered. But it’s all timing. Had I read it first, I might not have read them all in the years to follow. If I’d found Brida before I found The Valkyries, maybe my experience would have been different.
But why am I telling you this story that began twenty years ago? Well, I recently spent a fantastic day on a sailboat microdosing LSD with another teacher in my life, and during our post-sail happy hour enjoying a Mai Tai (what else would one drink after a day of sailing?) Coelho’s name was brought into the conversation, and this teacher (and friend and fellow Conscious Agent) asked me to write about it.
I love a good prompt.
So, for a topic as large as my love for this man’s work, I want to tell you about the themes in eight of my favorite Coelho books, and perhaps you will gravitate towards the right book at the right time and embark on your own journey through his worlds.
Paulo Coelho’s Greatest Hits (According to a Superfan!)
Coelho’s books are based on his fantastical life, his studies with teachers of his own, visions, mystical encounters, deep love, loss, grief, gratitude, exploration, suffering, and revelation…essentially, he has found a way to consolidate the essence of the human experience and deliver it through powerful, immersive storytelling and characters you can see yourself in—at the right place and the right time.
Veronika Decides to Die
This is a story of personal redemption. Veronika wakes up in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt and proceeds to address the reasons why she lost the will to live. This novel is truly about mental health, what our society views as the line between “normal” and “madness” and challenges societal expectations.
Ultimately, Veronika Decides to Die is about freedom, and will remind you to live authentically, pursue your passions, and be continually in a state of wonder with your own precious life.
The Devil and Miss Prym
This book is entirely about the juxtaposition of good and evil. It centers on human nature, morality, and ethics. A stranger visits a small village town and offers its villagers a massive fortune in exchange for just one thing: a murder.
Miss Prym finds herself faced with temptation, pushing her to find out where her integrity runs out. What may seem like a basic lesson in right vs. wrong takes you on a trip through the gamut of fear, greed, instinct, and self-preservation. The Devil and Miss Prym is a tale that reminds you that your actions—in all scenarios—define your character.
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
This love story will gut you in all the best ways. Pilar is the central character who crosses paths with a childhood love who is now a spiritual leader. There is tons of nostalgia, unrequited love, and tender moments of deep sensuality.
Can love serve a spiritual purpose? Where does spirituality and relationship with another human intertwine? This novel explores romance, individual and personal growth, and how sometimes, we just cross paths with another person that we have to be close to in every way imaginable. Above all—the core message in this book is that love transforms.
Brida
Brida is a young woman on a path to spiritual discovery. This book found me at a very important time in my life as I was leaving religion and curiously discovering the “other”. One of the core elements of Brida is being around soul mates. This is one of my favorite theories of Coelho’s because it suggests that when we die, our soul fragments into countless pieces, which reunite again through future lifetimes. These are our soul mates.
Coelho emphasizes that we may meet parts of our own soul in others as we live through different lives, reinforcing the idea that our spiritual journey involves reconnecting with these fragments to find deeper meaning and unity with the world (and people) around us.
The Valkyries
The Valkyries is one of Coelho’s novels based on his real-life experiences. This one is a powerful story about the desert, angels, and a journey like no other, alongside his wife. This is a book you might read twice. It’s about faith, doubt, and pushing yourself to the limits of your own dreams.
Much like many of Coelho’s novels, this story is heavily themed around spirituality and evolution. When we sabotage ourselves through fear, guilt, shame, or doubt—how can we pursue spiritual fulfillment? This book will encourage you to push through what scares you.
Eleven Minutes
In Eleven Minutes, we follow the story of Maria—a Brazilian prostitute living in Switzerland. Maria’s story challenges the cultural relationship between love and sex, personal pleasure, and emotional intimacy.
Is love greater than sex? Can they both offer healing?
Aleph
Aleph is probably my favorite work of Coelho’s because it focuses on past lives. This is another book based on a real-life experience where Coelho traveled across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Here, he meets Hilal, a young woman who proceeds to tell him about a shared past life.
This book’s concept is about connecting timelines to merge past and present, allowing us to heal and transform. It is very much about karma, love, and mysticism. Who can we become when we heal old wounds? If you are into the Akashic records, you’ll like this book.
The Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage is semi autobiographical. If you liked The Alchemist, you’ll probably love this story of personal transformation. This book about magic follows Coelho on his journey by foot along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route through Spain.
While you might not be inspired to pack up your hiking boots and hit the dusty trail, this book just might push you out of your comfort zone to take that leap of faith into your own personal transformation.
The Right Book at the Right Time
While I’m a fan of his writing, I’m a student of his work. This is a glimpse into eight of over thirty written by this fantastical human. I don’t know if you’ll like his words, or his stories, or the characters in his books. Maybe you’re more of a Chuck Klosterman, Tom Robbins, David Sedaris kind of a reader. Maybe you like something else altogether.
But I am certain that someone will read this article, pick a title from this list, and it will be at the exact right time. Just as his books found me at a critical moment of transformation, I hope they also offer you a chance to reflect, grow, connect with the human experience, and challenge yourself to stretch the corners of your mind.
