My third book from The Deluxe Collection of Paulo Coelho's books is The Zahir. The term in the book title is quite new to me. Zahir is something that is not used in an everyday conversation and I wonder what meaning lies behind the word. At the beginning of the book, it was defined what the title meant. So you better get a copy of this book and see for yourself. 

I had high expectations with this book since it was a predecessor of Veronika decides to die, and it did not fail me after reading The Alchemist. To be honest I did not like the other philosophical views mentioned in the novel, specifically the ideas of marriage and sex. The narrator of the story felt like he was so casual in taking another woman in his life when he was not even sure if his wife was alive, kidnapped, or left him for good because he was such a scumbag. He had no idea of the reason behind the disappearance of his wife and he willingly accepted a new woman to bed with him. Other people would think this is something normal, but not for me. Other people would believe that being open-minded with that kind of relationship was a sign of maturity, but again, not for me. And the same goes with the missing wife, Esther, she wasn't even different from her husband. She was missing for two years and at the end of the story, I realized she was just the same as her husband. It was like they had an open marriage with those years they were apart, and I do not approve of practicing such.  

Paulo Coelho himself appeared in my mind as the narrator of The Zahir whenever I read the story. I could not shake off the idea that it was him. That's just how I imagined the protagonist and it stayed like that until I finished the book. It took me a long time to finish the book since it was thicker than the previous two books I read from the same author. I concluded reading the book in a week probably with rests in between. 

I almost put down the book because I was not fond of ideas the narrator was persistently showing me, but I did not let go of the book. I was entranced by the whole journey of finding the missing wife. The mystery behind the lost and found journey of the narrator was a stronghold for me to never read the book unfinished. The narrator brought me with him every step of the way in discovering everything behind the story of his missing wife. It felt like I was with him investigating and exploring the different possibilities in life as we delved into the energy of love. I felt him, all his struggles and confusions just to find and maybe get back his wife.

This kind of love story is never my cup of tea, nevertheless, I enjoy the story, and if time and circumstance permit me I will not hesitate to read the book all over again and relive the excitement and experiences with the narrator.