Customer Reviews

The Winner Stands Alone: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the closing chapters of Paolo Coelho's new book "The Winner Stands Alone" . . .

I never got there.

I love Coelho's work. My shelves hold copies of any and all of his titles(translated into English). I've taught many of his books in both my collegiate literature and religious studies courses. And it a very rare thing, indeed, for me not to finish any book, and never before one of Coleho's.

But I simply couldn't plow through another page of this one.

When Coelho was elected a (French) "Knight of Arts and Literature," there were some few (but significant) voices saying that he did not belong, that he was not a serious writer. Could this criticism have gotten to the world's best-selling author? Impossible to know, but it would appear that Coelho struggles mightily in "Winner Stands Alone" to stand with those pantheonic others -- the Hemingways and Steinbecks, the Garcia Marqez's and Saramago's of the literary world. And he just doesn't make it.

Coelho, at his best, is a parabalist, and a wonderful one. Parable is in and of itself a serious art form, as Dickens, Saint-Exubery, Hermann Hesse, Shalom Alecheim, and even Shakespeare knew well. But when a parabalist tries to be something other than a parabalist, more often than not the effect is something like Pete Seeger trying to do opera. The voice is never right, and what is powerful expression in one form becomes needless repetition in the other.

This is the case with "Winner Takes It All." Parable has its own tone of voice, and its characters don't need to be distinguished from each other in any but oversized ways (good, evil, innocent, seductive). That very lack of sophistication is part of the mythic appeal of parable. But when one tries to apply the same gifts to a literary novel, what results is characters of two weak dimensions (rather than one, powerful, primitive one), and a narrative tone that has shifted from godlike to simply condescending. Parable operates in almost poetic fashion; the impact of the short, intense, emotionally perfect line says it all. In this novel, the poetic moment is rare. Rather, Coelho regales us with paragraph upon paragraph of repetitive prose that feels rather like cotton packing -- one keep hoping that if one removes enough of it, whatever is being so safeguarded will reveal itself. It never does (or at least not in the first 200 pages). Rather, as if unsure that his point is being made ("Cannes is the embodiement of our shallow, materialistic, spiritually dead culture"), Coelho keeps heaping it on until the entire novel suffocates under the weight.

Coelho is not the first great writer to suffer from "genre envy." America's finest living poet, Wendall Berry tries to be a novelist; Paul Auster, its best novelist, attempts poetry. Perhaps it's something the gifted need to try from time to time, some sort of built-in humility mechanism. My hope is that Coelho has had his fling at Parnasus, and soon will return to the pilgrim's road, where he has won so often and where we always can walk with him to the end.

Sometimes it's not the winning that causes the standing alone. It's the smell.

I like Coelho. I like him because his books are simple. Straightforward. And to no small degree uplifting. Inspirational. I can read one of his books and feel good about myself and the world (to some degree). So enter The Winner Stands Alone with the super rich psychopath Igor eliminating worlds (you figure that out - not a stretch) to convice or terrorize his ex wife to return to him during a day at the Cannes Film Festival.

The book fails because he spoons us the obvious; a successful producer whose success has been achieved through money laundering, a struggling actress who is getting the break she has always dreamed of, an independent film director who has slogged five years on a project but hasn't been able to get it shown until possibly now, a fashion model who doesn't know if she wants the fame that is being handed to her, and so on. Does he want us to judge these dreams or does he judge them through his psychopath? What have these dreams to do with the random actions of a disturbed mind? Is it only that a psychopath could exist in this miasma of be's and wanna be's.

There are a few memorable characters; the personal assistant who babysits the actress, the investigator who while abhored at the events secretly wants them to continue so he can finally have an opportunity to solve a significant crime. They are interesting but the flesh hardly hangs on their bones before Igor fires the final shots and the winner is declared.

I love Coelho's books not because he skewers my reality but rather because he offers another reality, another personal journey outside of it. This is where he excels. And where he should remain. Winner Stands Alone is a spectacular failure.

Paulo Coelho's new book, The Winner Stands Alone, was a read that I had to fight myself not to put down not because it was so good, but because it was as dark as these reviews / sentiments confirm.

As I plowed through the darkness, just to honor my commitment to finish what I start, I kept wondering why the writer of something as magical as The Alchemist would write something so heavily into the dark side of the force.

As soon as I finished the book I started reading Coelho's The Valkyries for the second time. The characters in this book are on a quest to speak with and see their angels.

The Valkyries made me realize that part of our quest is to be comfortable in both the light and the dark without being consumed by the darkness. Being afraid of the dark only gives it more power.

Mid way through the book, as I was about to chuck it, I would give it a rating of 1, for the reasons that I have stated, I'm giving it a 5.

I have read almost all of Paulo Coelho's books. Of course there are some I have enjoyed much more than others but usually I can walk away with a little something from all of them. I can't really say that in the case of his latest novel.

Firstly, it reads more like a manual than anything else. He goes on and on and on describing evidently what he feels is the reality of the Cannes world. It's so rote and dry for a work of fiction. He's not writing this as a documentary but it feels that way, like he wants to be the authoritarian on what goes on at Cannes. Cannes is not for writers, this is not his world. I am curious why he wanted to write on this subject. I just kept hoping the plot would take me somewhere good but it never did.

In this book he has this habit of throwing in these little side notes that start off with "According to Scientific research..." Since when does Paulo Coelho need scientific research to validate his work when it's spiritual in nature? I don't like his contributing to the collective unconscious' need for permission from science to believe in something. People are allowed to draw their own conclusions based on their feelings, life experience and opinions. More than science justifying it, it should be the question of how does your beliefs serve you or is what you are concluding about things really working for you in your life? It was just his way of trying to sit in his authority in this book. Even using his "scientific research" to back up his remarks, I still disagree with some of the logic he was using. A scientific observation is one thing, how the human mind uses that to back up certain conclusions is quite another matter. It just made no sense to me why he kept doing that. I felt like I was a captive audience to his opinions rather than an invited guest entering the world of his novel where my time and interest would be treated with respect. I felt he was too opinionated in this book.

The book was really just boring, poorly written and unenlightening. It had this dark feel to it but I felt it wasn't coming from the reality of Cannes but from Coelho himself. This review is not a "shoot the messenger" type thing. The message of the book was an important one but he just did a very poor job delivering it.

Don't expect the typical metaphysical, spiritual, mystic Coelho-novel with 'The Winner Stands Alone'. I have read all of Coelho's books and this is my least favorite. Many individual stories weaved together, sometimes somewhat 'forced'. The concepts of revenge and sacrifice, love and hate, crime and redemption, vanity and self-fulfillment are all over the place in this book, but not in the usual intricate, enchanting Coelho-style, they are not creating the usual Coelho-reading 'bliss'. I thought the idea of the book was solid, in it being a non-metaphysical book, which is unusual for Coelho, but, to my dismay, it didn't live up to the expectations.

This is a hard book to review. It's really one that a reader needs to read for him- or herself because it's the type of book that people relate to individually. As for me, I thought it was a good book. I can't say that I enjoyed it, because "enjoy" is not the right word. The correct words would be more like, thought-provoking, profound, insightful, unique.

Paulo Coehlo gives us a backstage look at the "Superclass", the sect of people who are above us mere mortals-- the rich and famous, whom many of us idolize. His lifting of the curtain to give us a peek allows us to see the dirty underbelly of the "Superclass", and makes us question our own reverence of this group of people. After all, they are only human, just like the rest of us.

He uses his main characters, Igor, Ewa, Hamid, Jasmine, and Gabriela, to take us into this high class world, and weaves them into a story that captivates the reader as well as exposing the superficiality of the "Superclass". Igor's quest for revenge interconnects these five characters as well as questioning their own dreams and wants. It caused me to look at my own life in the same way, seeing what is real versus what is false.

The end was definitely not what I expected, which is a good thing. I love it when the ending of a book goes in a different direction. Life itself doesn't always continue in an expected way, and it's good to find a book which understands that. I can't really say too much more without spoiling it, so read it yourself... ;)

I have never reviewed anything on Amazon before but I'm sooo angry after wasting my time reading this book; I had to! I am a HUGE Paulo Coelho fan! I have all of his books; even duplicates of some in Spanish because I'm bilingual. I have bought and given copies of the Alchemist away to friends and family because I felt it was so profound. When I saw this book, I grabbed it due to WHO wrote it; after struggling and pushing myself to finish this book to see if it ever got any better, I was left utterly and completely PO'ed after reading the last page. Unbelievable. SKIP this book! I refuse to believe Paulo Coelho wrote this! But, there is his name on the cover!

I really loved this book. I am surprised to find so many negative reviews.

I am a fan of Coelho, even though I haven't read all his books yet, and only some of his books I liked. The Alchemist and The Devil and Miss Prym are my favorite.

I read books to be entertained and to learn about life. This book provided me with both. I knew celebrity came at a steep price, but it was entertaining to see it through the eyes of celebrities. It is fun to be able to walk in the shoes of a celebrity, and Coelho succeeds in this. It shows that Coelho put a lot of research into this book.

Life is a jungle, and innocent people die everyday. Some readers were repulsed by the senseless murders by Igor, but isn't life this way? Many innocent people get killed in our own cities who we don't hear about.

Some readers also expressed the lack of spirituality in this book as compared to Coelho's previous books. I disagree. This book shows that fame and money does not guarantee happiness, and that in fact they imprison the person. I wholeheartedly believe in this. "Money does not buy happiness, it only rents it!" Our society has moved towards a materialistic existence, and this has sacrificed our happiness. How many teens idolize stars, and become bolemic in order to look like them, not realizing that the stars would kill to have a chance to have the freedom of their fans?

The only negative thing I have about this book is the ending. I HATED the ending! For this reason alone I give it a four star rating instead of a five.

Did anyone else hate the ending?

I have never read any of Paulo Coelho's books beside this one. I have always wanted to read The Alchemist and By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept. Somehow, I got to this one first, I guess because it was new. From reading the summaries and reviews of his previous books, I am still holding out hope for them that they are nothing like this one.

The problem with this book is he spends far too much time pontificating on the downfalls of society in regards to fame and money. We worship it, it changes us, it's so horrible, etc. I don't disagree with any of that, but be a little subtle. Your audience is not dumb. We don't need the point beat over our head every 3 pages. It honestly felt like he was just switching between writing a novel to writing a (badly-written) dissertation on the evils of celebrity. He focuses on it to the point of irritating the reader and making the story and characters secondary. Which sadly, the actual story is not redeeming the book either. Even the stories of the characters themselves are hard to get very invested in, partly because of the choices in writing and partly because of the overbearing feeling of "I am here to teach you a lesson!" I think he had some decent ideas as far as setting, plot, etc. Unfortunately that was ruined with poor writing and a feeling of being preached to.

I would like to know if any of his other books are worth it... :)

I am a huge fan of Paulo Coello and his work. But I was very disappointed in the " The Winner Stands Alone." It is not like anything else Mr. Coello has written. I have always been inspired by his connection with spirit and how it touches people. This book is about the dark side of people and involves many senseless murders. It has a truthful and cynical look at Cannes and the movie business. But I was left with an anger and a feeling of loss after I had finished this book. And the a soulfelt question lingered after completion on reading which was Why?