11 minutes by paolo coelho

I never thought Paolo Coelho, a writer of self-discovery inspiring books could write such very graphic book like the Eleven Minutes.

Eleven Minutes is a story of Maria and what had transpired in her life while finding her man. Being a young girl with hopes and dreams, her heart was broken at a very young age. So young to understand what love really means. Yet, at the same time, she understood that sometimes you need to take courage and say yes in order to acquire her dreams. During her school days, she had loved and lost, been hurt and finally decided to not let the men control her life like she did before. And so there she was believing that she knows everything about love and life.

Then, one day, when she had saved enough money, she had decided to take a vacation away from home. She went to the beach and had met a man that she thought would sweep her off her feet. Though they have language differences and they were just exchanging smiles in all occasions, Maria still went with him to Switzerland still believing that he can be a good husband.

When she reached Switzerland, that's when she realized that she knows a little of life and that her husband to be, will never be a husband BUT her boss on the red light district of Geneva. She had realized that reality is harsher than she thought it was. Then ended up as a girl who works and earns for a living using her very flesh at a bar in Rue du Berne.

Yet being the girl that she is, didn't stop her from following her dreams, that is, to become rich, help her parents and eventually marry the guy that she loves. She stayed at the bar yet made it to a point to study and learn. And being as smart as she is, she did learn.

While she is letter her life guide her, she had been introduced to the different sexual awakenings and had almost led herself to self-destruction when she is experiencing the different sides of sex. Then, when she was about to give her dreams up, she met a painter and fell in love with him. And that was when she was left with two options, whether to continue living the red light district life or to be swept off her feet with the future as uncertain as the present.

Eleven Minutes though it is dealing with issues like sex and sexuality, just like prostitution, sex in the context of love and sacred sex, Paolo Coelho still made it to a point to convey what he wants the readers to have. Though it is very graphic, a beautiful message was there to earn. The book may have been considered as erotic, yet it still tells a story about self-discovery that lets the reader to have better understanding about the different issues concerning sex in the context of prostitution, sacred sex and sex in love.