A Warrior's Life Part 13

Aged thirty-six, single and with no responsibilities, Toninho saw no reason to refuse: after all, it wasn't every day that someone invited him to go to Europe, regardless of what he would have to do when he got there. And if things didn't work out, all he had to do was take the plane back. But it was only when he arrived in Rio, with his bags packed, and read the contract drawn up by Paulo that he discovered that things were not quite like that. In the first place, while Paulo and Chris were taking an Iberia flight that included a free night in a hotel, Paulo had bought him a much cheaper flight on the ill-fated Linhas Aereas Paraguaias. Apart from the risks involved in flying with a company that was hardly a world champion in safety, he had to go to Asuncion, in Paraguay, in order to get the plane to Madrid. In addition, the ticket could not be exchanged and could be used only on the specified dates, which meant that, whatever happened, he could not return to Brazil until the beginning of October, two months later. The contract, grown yellow over time and lost at the bottom of a trunk in Rio de Janeiro, shows how draconian were the conditions Paulo imposed on his slave, who is referred to here as 'Tony': Agreements1 If Tony sleeps in my room, he will only do so when it is time to sleep, since I will be working there day and night.2 Tony will receive an allowance of US$200 a month which will be reimbursed to him when he returns to Rio, but this is not obligatory.3 Should my room or apartment be occupied by someone else, Tony will sleep elsewhere at his own expense.4 Any visits I want to make and for which I require Tony's company will be at my expense.5 Tony will not make the journey with me and Chris. He will wait for us in Madrid.6 Tony has been advised of the following items:6.1 That the air ticket does not allow him to change the date of his return;6.2 That it is illegal for him to work in Spain;6.3 That, apart from his monthly allowance of US$200, he will have to find money himself;6.4 That if he changes his return date he will have to pay the equivalent of a normal fare (US$2080) to be discounted from the US dollars already paid for the non-refundable ticket.1 August 1986Antonio Walter Sena JuniorPaulo Coelho On reading these monstrous requirements, Toninho Buda considered returning to Minas Gerais, but the desire to know Europe won out and so he had no alternative but to sign the agreement. Since their respective flight times did not coincide, he took a flight the day before Paulo and Chris on a journey that started badly. On arriving in Madrid, without knowing a word of Spanish, he spent three hours trying to explain to the authorities how he was planning to stay sixty days in Spain with the four 10-dollar notes in his wallet. He found himself in the humiliating position of being undressed and interrogated before, finally, being allowed to go. On the following day, Tuesday, 5 August, he was once again at Barajas airport, awaiting the arrival of his boss. Toninho had found somewhere to stay with an old blind woman who hated Brazil (a 'country full of shameless hussies', she would mutter) and who would lock the front door at eleven at night, after which whoever was still out in the street slept in the street. The only advantage of Dona Cristina Belerano's boarding house was the pricea paltry 600 pesetas (US$7 in today's terms) a day, which included a modest breakfast. Chris and Paulo spent only the first night together in Madrid: the following day Chris rented a car and went off to hide Paulo's sword in the place indicated by Jean.

It was suffocatingly hot in the Spanish capital on 7 August 1986, when Paulo left the city in a hired car. He drove about 450 kilometres north, crossed the frontier with France and left the car at a branch of the hire firm in Pau, where he spent two nights. On the Sunday morning, 10 August, he took a train to the Pyrenees and there wrote what was to be the final note in his diary before returning from his pilgrimage: 11h57S.-Jean-Pied-de-PortA fiesta in town. Basque music in the distance.

Immediately below, on the same page, was a stamp on which one can read an inscription in Latin'St. Joannes Pedis Portus'beside which there is a handwritten note in French signed by someone called 'J.', whose surname looks something like 'Relul' or 'Ellul': Saint-Jean-Pied-de-PortBa.s.se-NavarreLe 10 Aout 1986J.........

Could this initial J be for Jean? As is usually the case whenever someone tries to cross the frontier of his mystical world by asking too many questions, Paulo Coelho neither confirms nor denies this. Everything indicates that Jean was the person in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port (presumably, as the official representative of the religious order RAM) to ensure that his disciple really was beginning the ordeal imposed on him.

Paulo's pilgrimage would end in the Spanish city of Cebrero, where he found the sword and broke off his journey. An episode in which a taxi driver claimed that Paulo had in fact made the journey in the back of his comfortable, air-conditioned Citroen, and was proved by a j.a.panese television company to have been lying, led Paulo to include in the preface to the subsequent editions of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage a short piece in which he invites the reader to believe whichever version he prefers, thus only increasing the mystery surrounding the journey: a short piece in which he invites the reader to believe whichever version he prefers, thus only increasing the mystery surrounding the journey: I've listened to all kinds of theories about my pilgrimage, from me doing it entirely by taxi (imagine the cost!) to my having secret help from certain initiating societies (imagine the confusion!).My readers don't need to be sure whether or not I made the pilgrimage: that way they will seek a personal experience and not the one I experienced (or didn't).I made the pilgrimage just onceand even then I didn't do the whole thing. I finished in Cebrero and took a bus to Santiago de Compostela. I often think of the irony: the best-known text on the Road at the end of this millennium was written by someone who didn't follow it right to the end.

The most important and mysterious moment of the whole journey, which is not revealed until the end of the book, occurred when Paulo was nearing Cebrero, some 150 kilometres from Santiago. At the side of the road, he came across a solitary lamb, still unsteady on its feet. He began to follow the animal, which plunged off into the undergrowth until it reached a little old church built beside a small cemetery at the entrance to the town, as he describes in the book: The chapel was completely lit when I came to its door. [...] The lamb slipped into one of the pews, and I looked to the front of the chapel. Standing before the altar, smilingand perhaps a bit relievedwas the Master: with my sword in his hand.I stopped, and he came toward me, pa.s.sing me by and going outside. I followed him. In front of the chapel, looking up at the dark sky, he unsheathed my sword and told me to grasp its hilt with him. He pointed the blade upward and said the sacred Psalm of those who travel far to achieve victory:'A thousand fall at your side and ten thousand to your right, but you will not be touched. No evil will befall you, no curse will fall upon your tent; your angels will be given orders regarding you, to protect you along your every way.'I knelt, and as he touched the blade to my shoulders, he said:'Trample the lion and the serpent. The lion cub and the dragon will make shoes for your feet.'

Paulo tells how at the exact moment when Jean finished speaking, a heavy summer shower began to fall. 'I looked about for the lamb, but he had disappeared,' he wrote, 'but that did not matter: the Water of Life fell from the sky and caused the blade of my sword to glisten.' Like a child celebrating some form of rebirth, Paulo returned to Madrid, moved into a pleasant furnished flat in the elegant Alonso Martinez district, and gave himself over body and soul to the city's vibrant lifestyle. Until October, he could count on the a.s.sistance of Toninho Budawhom he referred to in his diary as 'the slave', or simply 'the sl.'but he soon realized that he had chosen the wrong man to be his servant. While Paulo had become a sybarite eager to drain Madrid's night-life to the last drop, Toninho turned out to be a radical vegetarian who would eat only minute portions of macrobiotic food and drink no alcohol. Nor could he spend his evenings with his boss, since he had to be back at Dona Cristina's boarding house by eleven, when the night in Madrid had barely begun. He also complained with increasing frequency that his salary was not enough to live on. On one such occasion, they had a bitter argument.

'Paulo, the money isn't enough even for me to buy food.'

'I think you'd better read our contract again. It's says there that if the pay isn't enough, then you have to earn some extra money yourself.'

'But Paulo, the contract also says that it's forbidden for foreigners to work here in Spain!'

'Don't be so stupid, slave. Other people manage to get by. It's not as if you were crippled or anything, so do something!'

Toninho had no option. When he was down to his last penny, he took his guitar, which he had brought with him from Brazil, chose a busy underground station, sat on the floor and began to sing Brazilian songs. Beside him was a cap waiting for the coins and, more rarely, notes thrown in by pa.s.sers-by. He could never stay long in the same place before being moved on, but an hour's singing would usually bring in 8001,000 pesetas (US$911), which was enough to buy a plate of food and pay for his board and lodging. Another way of earning money was by using his rudimentary knowledge of Asian ma.s.sage, in particular shiatsu, which wouldn't require him to speak Spanish or any other language. The cost of putting an advertis.e.m.e.nt in one of the Madrid newspapers was prohibitive, but with the help of a friend, he managed to find a kind soul willing to print a number of cards on which he offered to perform therapeutic ma.s.sage for 'back, muscular pain, insomnia, tiredness, stress, etc'. On the day when the cards were ready, he stuck a copy in his diary and wrote above it: Thursday, 25 Sep 86I woke late, but went for a run in the Retiro Park. I had diarrhoea when I got back and felt very weak. Paulo phoned me, and I told him that it was going to take a miracle for them to keep me here...I had the business card made to hand it out in strategic places in Madrid, but I'm the one who needs a ma.s.sage! I need to get stronger. The tension is killing me.

Given Paulo's indifference to the sufferings of his 'slave', Toninho returned to Brazil at the beginning of October without saying goodbye.

All Paulo wanted to do was enjoy himself. He would lunch and dine in good restaurants, he would go to cinemas and museums, and he found himself giving way to two new pa.s.sions: bullfights and pinball machines. With the latter, he would usually stop playing only once he had broken the record set by the previous player. He gradually became such an aficionado of bullfights that he would travel for hours by train to see a particular fighter in action. If there were no bullfights, he would spend his afternoons standing in bars full of adolescents, eyes glued to the illuminated screen of the pinball machine. He even joined a course to learn how to play the castanets.

It did not take long, though, for him to fall once more into depression. He had US$300,000 in the bank and five apartments bringing in a regular income, he was in a stable relationship and he had just received the sword of a Master or Magus, but he was still unhappy. In spite of the busy life he was leading, he found time to fill more than five hundred pages of his diary between September and January, when he was due to return to Brazil. Most of these pages repeated for the umpteenth time the monotonous complaint he had been making for the last twenty years, which had now become a tearful mantra: 'I'm still not an established writer.'

At the end of October, Chris came to Madrid for a few weeks and rubbed more salt into his wounds. One day, when Paulo was saying how prolific Pica.s.so was, she said: 'Look, Paulo, you have as much talent as he has, but since we got together six years ago, you haven't produced anything. I've given and I'll continue to give you all the support you need. But you have to have a concrete objective and pursue it tenaciously. That's the only way you'll get where you want to be.'

When Chris returned to Brazil at the beginning of December, Paulo was in an even worse mental state than before. He was lamenting the fact that he had lost the ability to tell 'even stories about myself or my life'. He found his diary 'boring, mediocre and empty', but eventually recognized that, if he did, this was his own fault: 'I haven't even written here about the Road to Santiago. Sometimes I think about killing myself because I'm so terrified of things, but I have faith in G.o.d that I shall never do that. It would be exchanging one fear for a greater fear. I've got to get away from the idea that writing a book would be an important thing to do in Madrid. Perhaps I could dictate a book to someone.'

In the middle of December, Chris phoned to say that she could no longer stand working with Pedro: 'Paulo, your father is being very difficult. I need you to come back here straight away.'

Pedro Queima Coelho did not agree with the expenses that the publishing house incurred in advertising, and this created permanent friction between him and Chris. The phone call was an ultimatum for Paulo to start the countdown and think about returning, with or without his book. He handed over this final responsibility to G.o.d, begging in his diary for the Creator to give him a sign when the time came to start writing.

Some days later, one icy Tuesday morning, he left early to go for a walk in the Retiro Park. When he returned home, he went straight to his diary and wrote: 'I had hardly gone any distance when I saw the particular sign I had asked G.o.d for: a pigeon feather. The time has come for me to give myself entirely to that book.'

In biographies and on official websites, The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage is described as having been written in Rio during the Carnival of 1987, but there are clear indications in the author's diary that he began to write the first lines of the book when he was still in Spain. A day after receiving what he believes to have been a sign from heaven he wrote: is described as having been written in Rio during the Carnival of 1987, but there are clear indications in the author's diary that he began to write the first lines of the book when he was still in Spain. A day after receiving what he believes to have been a sign from heaven he wrote: 15/12I can't write this book as though it were just any book. I can't write this book just to pa.s.s the time, or to justify my life and/or my idleness. I have to write this book as though it were the most important thing in my life. Because this book is the beginning of something very important. It's the beginning of my work of indoctrination in RAM and that is what I must devote myself to from now on.18/12I wrote for an hour and a half. The text came easily, but there are lots of things missing. It seemed very implausible, very Castaneda. Using the first person worries me. Another alternative would be an actual diary. Perhaps I'll try that tomorrow. I think the first scene is good, so I can make variations on that theme until I find the right approach.

The miracle was apparently taking place.

CHAPTER 24.

The Alchemist PAULO'S FIRST MOVE when he returned to Brazil was to persuade his father to leave Shogun so that Chris could work in peace, which he managed to do without causing any resentment. During his absence, she had dealt very competently with the firm's business, and knowing that Chris was looking after the firm as well as or even better than he could was a further inducement for Paulo to dedicate himself entirely to the book. He was still full of doubts, though. Was he really just writing a book about his pilgrimage? Weren't there enough books on that topic? Why not abandon the idea and try writing something else, such as a when he returned to Brazil was to persuade his father to leave Shogun so that Chris could work in peace, which he managed to do without causing any resentment. During his absence, she had dealt very competently with the firm's business, and knowing that Chris was looking after the firm as well as or even better than he could was a further inducement for Paulo to dedicate himself entirely to the book. He was still full of doubts, though. Was he really just writing a book about his pilgrimage? Weren't there enough books on that topic? Why not abandon the idea and try writing something else, such as a Manual of Practical Magic Manual of Practical Magic? And whatever the subject, should the book be published by Shogun or given to Eco, as had been the case with Manual Pratico do Vampirismo Manual Pratico do Vampirismo?

These uncertainties lasted until 3 March 1987, a Tuesday during Carnival. That day Paulo sat down in front of his typewriter, determined to leave the apartment only when he had put the final full stop on the last page of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage. He worked frenetically for twenty-one days, during which time he did not set foot outside the house, getting up from his chair only to eat, sleep and go to the toilet. When Chris arrived home on the twenty-fourth, Paulo had a package in front of him containing 200 pages ready to be sent to the printer. The decision to have Shogun publish it was growing in his mind and he even put some small cla.s.sified ads in the Sat.u.r.day edition of Jornal do Brasil Jornal do Brasil announcing: 'It's on its way! announcing: 'It's on its way! The Pilgrimage The PilgrimageEditora Shogun.'

The person who once again dissuaded him from the idea of being at once author and publisher was the journalist Nelson Liano, Jr, who advised him to knock on Ernest Mandarino's door. Paulo thought about it for a few days, and it wasn't until mid-April that he signed the contract for the first edition of O Diario de um Mago O Diario de um Mago, or The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, standing at the counter of a small bar next to the publisher's office in Rua Marques de Pombal.

The contract contains some odd things. First, Paulo demanded that, instead of the usual five-or seven-year contract, he should have a contract that would be renewed with every edition (the first had a print run of 3,000 copies). He did not, as he had with Manual Pratico do Vampirismo Manual Pratico do Vampirismo, ask for monthly rather than quarterly accounts, but accepted what he was offered, even though inflation in Brazil had reached almost 1 per cent a day. The other strange thing is that at the foot of the contract the author put in an apparently meaningless addendumwhich would, however, prove to be prophetic: 'Once the book has sold 1,000 (one thousand) copies, the publisher will be responsible for the costs of producing the book in Spanish and English.' If, among his gifts, Paulo had had the ability to predict the future, he could have taken the opportunity to make it Mandarino's responsibility to produce versions not only in English and Spanish but also in the other forty-four languages into which The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage would subsequently be translated, among them Albanian, Estonian, Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi, Malay and Marathi. would subsequently be translated, among them Albanian, Estonian, Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi, Malay and Marathi.

Although sales got off to a very slow start, they soon overtook all of Eco's other t.i.tles. Years later, when he was retired and living in Petropolis, 70 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro, Ernesto Mandarino was to recall how much of this success was due to a virtue that few authors possessa desire to publicize the book: 'Authors would leave the finished ma.n.u.script with the publisher and do nothing to publicize their work. Paulo not only appeared in all the media, newspapers, radio and television, but gave talks on the book wherever he was asked.'

On the advice of his friend the journalist Joaquim Ferreira dos Santos, Paulo took an initiative rare even among established authors: at his own expense he employed the twenty-year-old journalist Andrea Cals to work exclusively on publicizing the book in the media. The salary was modest8,000 cruzados a month, the equivalent in 1987 of about US$400but he offered a tempting bonus. Should the book sell 20,000 copies by the end of 1987, Andrea would get a return flight from Rio to Miami. The contract also included the publicity for an exhibition of art by Chris ent.i.tled 'Taro', and if all twenty-two works on show were sold before the exhibition closed, Andrea would earn a further 5,000 cruzados. Meanwhile, Paulo and Chris printed flyers about The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, which they themselves handed out nightly in cinema, theatre and stadium queues.

All this was an attempt to make up for the resistance of large media companies to give s.p.a.ce to something as specific as The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimagewhich seemed to be of interest only to the shrinking underground press. Andrea recalls trying in vain to get a copy of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage included in included in Mandala Mandala, a TV soap being shown by Globo and whose theme was in some ways similar to that of the book, but it was down to her hard work that the book got its first mention in one of the major newspapers. Beside the very brief mention in the Jornal do Brasil Jornal do Brasil was a photo of the author who, at Joaquim's suggestion, was wearing a black cape and holding a sword. The picture caught the attention of the producers of was a photo of the author who, at Joaquim's suggestion, was wearing a black cape and holding a sword. The picture caught the attention of the producers of Sem Censura Sem Censura, a chat show that went out every afternoon on the national television network Educativa, to which Paulo was invited.

In response to a question from the presenter, Lucia Leme, and in front of millions of television viewers, Paulo revealed for the first time in public the secret that had been known only to a few friends and his diary: yes, he was a magus and among his many powers was that of making it rain. The strategy worked. The reporter Regina Guerra, from the newspaper O Globo O Globo, saw the programme and suggested to her boss an interview with this new individual on the Rio cultural scene: the writer who could make it rain. Her boss thought it all complete nonsense, but when his young reporter persisted, he gave in. The result was that, on 3 August, the cultural section of the newspaper devoted its entire front page to Paulo Coelho, who was given the t.i.tle of 'the Castaneda of Copacabana'. In a sequence of photos, he appears among the leaves of his garden wearing the same black cloak and dark gla.s.ses and holding a sword. The text preceding the interview seems made to order for someone claiming to have supernatural powers: The thick walls of the old building mean that the apartment is very quiet, in spite of the fact that it's in one of the noisiest parts of the cityCopacabana, Posto Quatro. One of the bedrooms acts as a study and opens on to a miniature forest, a tangle of bushes, climbing shrubs and ferns. To the question'Are you a magus?' Paulo Coelho, who has just launched The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, his fifth book, replies with another: 'Is it windy outside?'A glance at the dense leaves is enough to make one shake one's head and murmur a casual 'No', implying that it really doesn't matter if there's a breeze outside or not: 'Right, take a look'he remains as he was, seated on a cushion and leaning against another, doing nothing.First, the tip of the highest leaf of a palm tree starts to sway gently. In the next instant, the whole plant moves, as does all the vegetation around. The bamboo curtain in the corridor sways and clicks, the reporter's notes fly off her clipboard. After one or two minutes, the wind stops as suddenly as it began. There are a few leaves on the carpet and a question: was it coincidence or is he really a magus who knows how to summon up the wind? Read on and find out more.

Apart from O Globo O Globo, the only other coverage the rain-making author received was in Pasquim Pasquim and the magazine and the magazine Manchete Manchete. He was always friendly and receptive towards journalists, posing in a yoga position and allowing himself to be photographed behind smoking test tubes and putting on or removing his cloak and sword according to the demands of his clients. The barriers began to fall. His telephone number was soon in the diaries of social columnists, among them his friend Hildegard Angel, and he was often reported as having been seen dining in such-and-such a restaurant or leaving such-and-such a theatre. For the first time Paulo could feel the wind of fame in his facesomething he had never experienced even at the height of his musical success, since, at the time, the star of the partnership was Raul Seixas. This media exposure did increase the sales of the book, but The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage still seemed far from becoming a best-seller. still seemed far from becoming a best-seller.

In order to try and capitalize on his new-found 'almost-fame', as he himself called it, Paulo and the astrologer Claudia Castelo Branco, who had written the preface to The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, joined forces with the specialist travel firm Itatiaia Turismo to organize a spiritual package holiday named 'The Three Sacred Roads', which were to be Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Those interested would be guided by Paulo and Claudia on a journey that would start in Madrid and end in Santiago de Compostela, via a zigzag route through Egypt (Cairo and Luxor), Israel (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv), France (Lourdes) and then back to Spain (Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon, Ponferrada and Lugo). Whether it was the fault of the dreadful advertis.e.m.e.nt published in the newspapers (which did not even say how long the excursion would last) or the high price of the package (US$2,800), they received not a single enquiry. However, although it produced no results, the project had cost them both time and money, and in order to pay them for their work, the agency gave them a half-price trip to the Middle East, one of the places suggested for the failed magical mystery tour.

Paulo and Claudia set off on 26 September with Paula, Chris's mother, but as soon as they arrived in Cairo, he decided to continue alone with Paula. On their second day in the Egyptian capital, he hired a guide named Ha.s.san and asked him to take them to the Moqattam district, in the southwest of the city, so that he could visit the Coptic monastery of St Simon the Shoemaker. From there they crossed the city by taxi, and night was falling when, after driving through an enormous slum, they reached the sandy fringe of the largest desert on the planet, the Sahara, a few hundred metres from the Sphinx and the famous pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos. They left the taxi and continued their journey to the pyramids on horseback (Paulo was frightened of falling off a camel, the only other available means of transport from there on). When they drew near, Paulo decided to proceed on foot, while Ha.s.san looked after the horses and read the Koran. Paulo says that, near one of the illuminated monuments, he saw a woman in the middle of the desert wearing a chador and carrying a clay pot on her shoulder. This, according to him, was very different from what had occurred in Dachau. 'A vision is something that you see and an apparition is something almost physical,' he explained later. 'What happened in Cairo was an apparition.' Although used to such phenomena, he found what he had seen strange. He looked at the endless stretch of sand surrounding him on that moonlit night and saw no one else apart from Ha.s.san, who was still reciting sacred verses. As the shape approached Paulo, it disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared. However, it left such a strong impression that, months later, he could reconstruct the apparition in detail when describing it in his second book.

When he flew back to Brazil some weeks later, he received the first major news regarding his career while still on the plane. The stewardess handed him a copy of O Globo O Globo from the Sat.u.r.day before, and he placed the folded newspaper on his lap, closed his eyes, meditated for a moment and only then opened the paper at the arts sectionand there was from the Sat.u.r.day before, and he placed the folded newspaper on his lap, closed his eyes, meditated for a moment and only then opened the paper at the arts sectionand there was The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage on that week's best-sellers' list. Before the end of the year, he would sign contracts for five new editions of the book, the sales of which went on to exceed 12,000 copies. This success encouraged him to enter on that week's best-sellers' list. Before the end of the year, he would sign contracts for five new editions of the book, the sales of which went on to exceed 12,000 copies. This success encouraged him to enter The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage for the Premio Inst.i.tuto Nacional do Livro, an award supported by the Ministry of Education for published novels. The jury that year was to meet in Vitoria, the capital of Espirito Santo, and its members were the poet Ivan Junqueira, the writer Roberto Almada, and the journalist Carlos Herculano Lopes. for the Premio Inst.i.tuto Nacional do Livro, an award supported by the Ministry of Education for published novels. The jury that year was to meet in Vitoria, the capital of Espirito Santo, and its members were the poet Ivan Junqueira, the writer Roberto Almada, and the journalist Carlos Herculano Lopes. The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage didn't even appear on the list of finalists and only got Junqueira's vote. 'The book was unusual for us, because it mixed reality with fantasy,' the poet recalled later. 'For me personally it was interesting in that I like travel literature very much and also this kind of half-ghost-story.' didn't even appear on the list of finalists and only got Junqueira's vote. 'The book was unusual for us, because it mixed reality with fantasy,' the poet recalled later. 'For me personally it was interesting in that I like travel literature very much and also this kind of half-ghost-story.'

Immediately after the results were announced, Paulo suffered yet another disappointment. The magazine Veja Veja had published a long report on the boom in esoteric books in Brazil and made no mention of had published a long report on the boom in esoteric books in Brazil and made no mention of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage. This was such a hard blow that Paulo once again thought of giving up his career as a writer. 'Today I seriously thought of abandoning everything and retiring,' he wrote in his diary. Weeks later, however, he seemed to have recovered from those two setbacks and returned to the I Ching, already with an idea for a new book. He wrote a question in his diary: 'What should I do to make my next book sell 100,000 copies?' He threw the three coins on the table and stared in delight at the result. Usually vague and metaphorical in its responses, the Chinese oracle was, according to Paulo, astonishingly clear: 'The great man brings good luck.'

That piece of good luckthe new bookwas already in his head. The next work by Paulo Coelho was to be based on a Persian fable that had also inspired the Borges story 'Tale of the Two Dreamers', published in 1935 in A Universal History of Infamy A Universal History of Infamy. It is the tale of Santiago, a shepherd who, after dreaming repeatedly of a treasure hidden near the Egyptian pyramids, resolves to leave the village where he was born in search of what the author calls a 'personal legend'. On the journey to Egypt Santiago meets various characters, among them an alchemist, and at each meeting he learns a new lesson. At the end of his pilgrimage he discovers that the object of his search was in the very village he had left. Paulo had also chosen the t.i.tle: O Alquimista O Alquimista, or The Alchemist The Alchemist. It's odd to think that a book that would become one of the greatest best-sellers of all timeat the beginning of 2000 it had sold more than 35 million copiesstarted out as a play that would combine Shakespeare and the Brazilian humourist Chico Anysio, as the author recorded in his diary in January 1987: Menescal and [the actor] Perry [Salles] called me asking me to write a play for one actor alone on the stage. By coincidence, I was watching Duel Duel on video, which is a film about a man alone. on video, which is a film about a man alone.I had an idea: a large laboratory in which an old man, an alchemist, is searching for the philosopher's stone, for wisdom. He wants to discover what man can achieve through inspiration. The alchemist (perhaps that would be a good t.i.tle) recites texts by Shakespeare and by Chico Anysio. He will perform songs and hold dialogues with himself, playing more than one character. He could be an alchemist or a vampire. I know through personal experience that vampires really excite the human imagination, and it's some time since I've seen anything that combines horror and humour on the stage.But, like Faust, the alchemist realizes that knowledge lies not in books but in peopleand the people are in the audience. In order to get them in the mood, he gets them to chant or sing something all together. Perry would be the alchemist, in the role of the discoverer. Again, I stress that this must all be done with great good humour.

This sketch never became a play, but went on to become a novel. Paulo knew the story so intimately that when it came to writing the book, it took him only two weeks to produce 200 pages. At the beginning was a dedication to Jean, to whom Paulo gave the privilege of being the first to read the original ma.n.u.script: For J.,An alchemist who knows and uses the secrets of the Great Work.

When The Alchemist The Alchemist was ready for publication in June 1988, sales of was ready for publication in June 1988, sales of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage had exceeded 40,000 copies and it had spent nineteen uninterrupted weeks in the main best-seller lists of the Brazilian press. The sublime indifference with which the media had treated it gave a special savour to Paulo's success, a success that was entirely down to the book itself and to the guerrilla warfare that Paulo, Chris and Andrea Cals had engaged in to publicize it. The I Ching, as interpreted by Paulo, recommended that he renew his contract with Andrea, but since she had taken on other work and he required her to devote herself entirely to him, her responsibilities were transferred to Chris. had exceeded 40,000 copies and it had spent nineteen uninterrupted weeks in the main best-seller lists of the Brazilian press. The sublime indifference with which the media had treated it gave a special savour to Paulo's success, a success that was entirely down to the book itself and to the guerrilla warfare that Paulo, Chris and Andrea Cals had engaged in to publicize it. The I Ching, as interpreted by Paulo, recommended that he renew his contract with Andrea, but since she had taken on other work and he required her to devote herself entirely to him, her responsibilities were transferred to Chris.

She and Paulo adopted the same tactics for The Alchemist The Alchemist as had been used for the first book: the couple once again distributed flyers at the doors of theatres, bars and cinemas, visited bookshops and presented booksellers with signed copies. With his experience of the record industry, Paulo brought to the literary world a somewhat reprehensible practicethe as had been used for the first book: the couple once again distributed flyers at the doors of theatres, bars and cinemas, visited bookshops and presented booksellers with signed copies. With his experience of the record industry, Paulo brought to the literary world a somewhat reprehensible practicethe jabacule jabacule, a payment made to radio stations to encourage them to make favourable comments about a record, or in this case, a book. Evidence of this can be found in spreadsheetscertificados de irradiacosent to him by O Povo AM-FM, the most popular radio station in Fortaleza, Ceara. These show that during the entire second half of July, The Alchemist The Alchemist was mentioned three times a day in programmes presented by Carlos Augusto, Renan Franca and Ronaldo Cesar, who were, at the time, the station's most popular presenters. was mentioned three times a day in programmes presented by Carlos Augusto, Renan Franca and Ronaldo Cesar, who were, at the time, the station's most popular presenters.

Paulo and Chris knew that they were in a world where anything goesfrom sending signed copies to the grandees of the Brazilian media to becoming a full-time speaker, albeit unpaid. He had eight themes for organizers of talks to choose from: 'The Sacred Paths of Antiquity' 'The Dawn of Magic' 'The Practices of RAM' 'The Philosophy and Practice of the Occult Tradition' 'The Esoteric Tradition and the Practices of RAM' 'The Growth of the Esoteric' 'Magic and Power' and 'Ways of Teaching and Learning'. At the end of each session, the audience could buy signed copies of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and and The Alchemist The Alchemist, and it was, apparently, very easy to get people to come and listen to him. Paulo's diary at the time shows that he spoke frequently at theatres and universities, as well as in country hotels and even people's homes.

However, this campaign produced slow results and the effects on sales of The Alchemist The Alchemist took time to appear. Six weeks after its launch, a few thousand copies had been solda vast number in a country like Brazil, it's true, but nothing when compared with the success of took time to appear. Six weeks after its launch, a few thousand copies had been solda vast number in a country like Brazil, it's true, but nothing when compared with the success of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and far fewer than he had planned: 'Up to now', he wrote, 'the book hasn't reached 10 per cent of the goal I set myself. I think what this book needs is a miracle. I spend all day by the telephone, which refuses to ring. Why the h.e.l.l doesn't some journalist call me saying that he liked my book? My work is greater than my obsessions, my words, my feelings. For its sake I humiliate myself, I sin, I hope, I despair.' and far fewer than he had planned: 'Up to now', he wrote, 'the book hasn't reached 10 per cent of the goal I set myself. I think what this book needs is a miracle. I spend all day by the telephone, which refuses to ring. Why the h.e.l.l doesn't some journalist call me saying that he liked my book? My work is greater than my obsessions, my words, my feelings. For its sake I humiliate myself, I sin, I hope, I despair.'

With The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage still high in the best-seller lists and still high in the best-seller lists and The Alchemist The Alchemist heading in the same direction, it had become impossible to ignore the author. A great silence had greeted the publication of the first book, but the launch of heading in the same direction, it had become impossible to ignore the author. A great silence had greeted the publication of the first book, but the launch of The Alchemist The Alchemist was preceded by full-page articles in all the main Brazilian newspapers. And because most of the press had totally ignored was preceded by full-page articles in all the main Brazilian newspapers. And because most of the press had totally ignored The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage on its publication, they felt obliged to rediscover it following the success of on its publication, they felt obliged to rediscover it following the success of The Alchemist The Alchemist. However, most restricted themselves to printing an article on the author and a summary of the story. The journalist and critic Antonio Goncalves Filho, in Folha de So Paulo Folha de So Paulo, was the first to publish a proper review. He commented only that The Alchemist The Alchemist was not as seductive a narrative as was not as seductive a narrative as The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and that the story adopted by the author had already been the subject of a considerable number of books, plays, films and operas, something that Paulo himself had commented on in his preface to the book. and that the story adopted by the author had already been the subject of a considerable number of books, plays, films and operas, something that Paulo himself had commented on in his preface to the book.

'This is why The Alchemist The Alchemist, too, is a symbolic text. In the course of the book I pa.s.s on everything I have learned. I've also tried to pay homage to great authors who managed to achieve a Universal Language: Hemingway, Blake, Borges (who also used the Persian story for one of his tales) and Malba Tahan, among others.'

In the second half of 1988, Paulo was just wondering whether to move to a larger, more professional publisher than Eco, when he was set yet another trial by Jean. He and Chris were to spend forty days in the Mojave Desert in southern California. A few days before they were due to leave, he had an unsettling phone conversation with Mandarino, the owner of Eco, who, although he was still enthusiastic about The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, did not believe that The Alchemist The Alchemist would enjoy the same success. The best thing to do would be to postpone the trip and try to resolve the problem immediately, but Master J would not be moved. And so in the middle of September, Paulo and Chris found themselves practising the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius Loyola in the extreme heat of the Mojave Desert, which could reach 50C. Four years later, he wrote would enjoy the same success. The best thing to do would be to postpone the trip and try to resolve the problem immediately, but Master J would not be moved. And so in the middle of September, Paulo and Chris found themselves practising the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius Loyola in the extreme heat of the Mojave Desert, which could reach 50C. Four years later, he wrote As Valkirias As Valkirias [ [The Valkyries], which was based on this experience.

At the end of October, they returned to Rio. Paulo wanted to resolve his difficulties with Eco immediately, but leaving the small publishing house without having anywhere else to go was not a good idea. One night, wanting to forget these problems for a while, he went with a friend to a poetry recital that was being held in a small fashionable bar. During the entire evening, he had the strange feeling that someone in the audience behind him was staring at him. It was only when the evening came to an end and the lights went up that he turned and caught the fixed gaze of a pretty dark-haired young girl in her early twenties. There was no apparent reason for anyone to look at him like that. At forty-one, Paulo's close-cropped hair was almost entirely white, as were his moustache and goatee. The girl was too pretty for him not to approach her.

He went up to her and asked straight out: 'Were you by any chance looking at me during the reading?'

The girl smiled and said: 'Yes, I was.'

'I'm Paulo Coelho.'

'I know. Look what I've got here in my bag.'

She took out a battered copy of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage.

Paulo was about to sign it, but when he heard that it belonged to a friend of hers, he gave it back, saying: 'Buy your own copy and I'll sign it.'

They agreed to meet two days later in the elegant old Confeitaria Colombo, in the centre of the city, so that he could sign her book. Although his choice of such a romantic venue might seem to indicate that he had other intentions, this was not the case. He arrived more than half an hour late, saying that he couldn't stay long because he had a meeting with his publisher, who had just confirmed that he was not interested in continuing to publish The Alchemist The Alchemist. So that they could talk a little more, Paulo and the girl walked together to the publisher's office, which was ten blocks from the Colombo.

Her name was Monica Rezende Antunes, and she was the twenty-year-old only daughter of liberal parents whose sole demand had been that she take a course in cla.s.sical ballet, which she abandoned almost at once. When she met Paulo, she was studying chemical engineering at the Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. What Monica remembers most vividly about that meeting was that she was 'dressed ridiculously': 'Imagine going to discuss contracts with your publisher in the company of a girl in tiny shorts, a flowery blouse and hair like a nymphet!'

Monica ended up being a witness to the moment when Mandarino at Eco decided not to continue to publish The Alchemist. The Alchemist. He didn't believe that a work of fiction such as this could have the same degree of success as a personal narrative like He didn't believe that a work of fiction such as this could have the same degree of success as a personal narrative like The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage. Although she had read only The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, Monica couldn't understand how anyone could reject a book by an author who had made such an impact on her. Perhaps in an attempt to console himself, Paulo gave her a not very convincing explanation for what might be Ernesto Mandarino's real reason: with annual inflation in the country running at 1,200 per cent it was more profitable to put his money in financial deals than to publish books that ran the risk of not selling. The two of them walked on together a little farther, exchanged telephone numbers and went their different ways.

A few days later, before Paulo had decided what to do with the rights to The Alchemist The Alchemist, he read in a newspaper column that Lya Luft would be signing her book of poetry, O Lado Fatal O Lado Fatal [ [The Fatal Side], at a c.o.c.ktail party given by her publisher, Paulo Roberto Rocco. Paulo had been keeping an eye on Editora Rocco for some time. It had only been in existence for just over ten years, but its catalogue already included heavyweights like Gore Vidal, Tom Wolfe and Stephen Hawking. When Paulo arrived, the bookshop was crammed with people. Squeezing his way past waiters and guests, he went up to Rocco, whom he knew only from photographs in newspapers, and said: 'Good evening, my name's Paulo Coelho, we don't know each other but...'

'I already know you by name.'

'I wanted to talk to you about my books. I've a friend, Bona, who lives in the same building as you and had thought of asking her to give a dinner so she could introduce us.'

'You don't need to ask anything of anyone. Come to my office and we'll have a coffee and talk about your books.'

Rocco arranged the meeting for two days later. Before making a decision, though, Paulo turned to the I Ching to find out whether or not he should hand The Alchemist The Alchemist to a new publisher, since Rocco had clearly shown an interest. From what he could understand from the oracle's response, it seemed that the book should be given to the new publisher only if he agreed to have it in the bookshops before Christmas. This was a highly convenient interpretation since, as any author knows, Christmas is the best time of the year for selling books. As he was about to leave to meet Rocco, the phone rang. It was Monica, whom he invited to go along with him. to a new publisher, since Rocco had clearly shown an interest. From what he could understand from the oracle's response, it seemed that the book should be given to the new publisher only if he agreed to have it in the bookshops before Christmas. This was a highly convenient interpretation since, as any author knows, Christmas is the best time of the year for selling books. As he was about to leave to meet Rocco, the phone rang. It was Monica, whom he invited to go along with him.

After a brief, friendly conversation with Rocco, Paulo left copies of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and and The Alchemist The Alchemist with him. The publisher thought it somewhat strange that Paulo should want him to publish the book so quickly, but Paulo explained that all he had to do was buy the camera-ready copy from Eco, change the name of the publisher and put the book on the market. Rocco said that he would think about it and would reply that week. In fact, two days later, he called to say that the new contract was ready for signature. Rocco was going to publish with him. The publisher thought it somewhat strange that Paulo should want him to publish the book so quickly, but Paulo explained that all he had to do was buy the camera-ready copy from Eco, change the name of the publisher and put the book on the market. Rocco said that he would think about it and would reply that week. In fact, two days later, he called to say that the new contract was ready for signature. Rocco was going to publish The Alchemist The Alchemist.

CHAPTER 25.

The critics' response REJECTED BY MANDARINO, The Alchemist The Alchemist became one of the most popular gifts not only that Christmas but on many other Christmases, New Years, Easters, Carnivals, Lents and birthdays in Brazil and in more than a hundred other countries. The first edition to be launched by his new publisher sold out within a few days, creating a most unusual situation: an author with two books in the best-seller lists, one, became one of the most popular gifts not only that Christmas but on many other Christmases, New Years, Easters, Carnivals, Lents and birthdays in Brazil and in more than a hundred other countries. The first edition to be launched by his new publisher sold out within a few days, creating a most unusual situation: an author with two books in the best-seller lists, one, The Alchemist The Alchemist, fiction and the other, The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage, non-fiction. The Alchemist The Alchemist never stopped selling. never stopped selling.

The phenomenon that the book became in the hands of Rocco encouraged Paulo to take The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage from Eco as well and give it to his new publisher. Needing a pretext for such a change, he began to make demands on his old publisher. The first of these was an attempt to protect his royalties from the erosion caused by an astonishing 1,350 per cent annual rate of inflation: instead of quarterly payments (a privilege accorded to very few authors), he wanted Mandarino to make them weekly, which he agreed to do even though it was against market practice. Taking advantage of Mandarino's infinite patience (and his clear interest in retaining the book), Paulo then added two clauses. .h.i.therto unknown in Brazilian publishing contracts: daily monetary correction, linked to one of the mechanisms that existed at the time, and the use of a percentage of gross sales for marketing the book. These tactics seemed to be of particular interest to Monica Antunes, who now went everywhere with Paulo. At the beginning of 1989, she told him over dinner in a pizzeria in Leblon that she was thinking of giving up her degree course at the university (she had just finished her second year in chemical engineering) and moving abroad with her boyfriend, Eduardo. The author's eyes lit up, as if he had just seen a new door opening, and he said: 'Great idea! Why don't you go to Spain? I've got various friends there who can help you. You could try to sell my books. If you succeed, you'll get the 15 per cent commission every literary agent earns.' from Eco as well and give it to his new publisher. Needing a pretext for such a change, he began to make demands on his old publisher. The first of these was an attempt to protect his royalties from the erosion caused by an astonishing 1,350 per cent annual rate of inflation: instead of quarterly payments (a privilege accorded to very few authors), he wanted Mandarino to make them weekly, which he agreed to do even though it was against market practice. Taking advantage of Mandarino's infinite patience (and his clear interest in retaining the book), Paulo then added two clauses. .h.i.therto unknown in Brazilian publishing contracts: daily monetary correction, linked to one of the mechanisms that existed at the time, and the use of a percentage of gross sales for marketing the book. These tactics seemed to be of particular interest to Monica Antunes, who now went everywhere with Paulo. At the beginning of 1989, she told him over dinner in a pizzeria in Leblon that she was thinking of giving up her degree course at the university (she had just finished her second year in chemical engineering) and moving abroad with her boyfriend, Eduardo. The author's eyes lit up, as if he had just seen a new door opening, and he said: 'Great idea! Why don't you go to Spain? I've got various friends there who can help you. You could try to sell my books. If you succeed, you'll get the 15 per cent commission every literary agent earns.'

When she told her boyfriend about this, he discovered that the company for which he was working had a factory in Barcelona and it appeared, at first glance, that it would be fairly easy to get a transfer there, or at least a paid placement for a few months. Monica, meanwhile, had learned that some of the most important Spanish publishers had their headquarters in Barcelona.

In the last week of May 1989, Monica and Eduardo arrived in Madrid, where they stayed for three weeks before going on to Barcelona. During their first year in Spain, Monica and Eduardo lived in an apartment in Rubi, just outside Barcelona. At book fairs they would go to all the stands collecting publishers' catalogues and would then spend the following days sending each a small press release offering the Spanish language rights to The Alchemist The Alchemist and other foreign language rights to publishers in other countries for and other foreign language rights to publishers in other countries for The Pilgrimage, The Pilgrimage, which had been taken on and translated by the Bolivian agency H. Katia Schumer and published in Spanish by Martinez Roca. which had been taken on and translated by the Bolivian agency H. Katia Schumer and published in Spanish by Martinez Roca.

Meanwhile, in Brazil The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and and The Alchemist The Alchemist remained at the top of the best-seller lists. Although Mandarino had accepted all the author's demands, at the end of 1989, he received a visit from Paulo Rocco, who brought bad news. For an advance of US$60,000, his company had acquired the publication rights to remained at the top of the best-seller lists. Although Mandarino had accepted all the author's demands, at the end of 1989, he received a visit from Paulo Rocco, who brought bad news. For an advance of US$60,000, his company had acquired the publication rights to The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage. Nearly two decades later, Ernesto Mandarino still cannot hide the hurt caused by the author on whom he had gambled when he was still a n.o.body: 'New editions were continuing to come outto the envy of other publishers. When he visited me, Rocco said that he was offering Paulo Coelho an advance of US$60,000. I said that if that was what he wanted, there was nothing I could do, as the contracts were renewable after each edition. After twenty-eight editions of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage he left us. That really hurt. Almost as hurtful was the fact that, in interviews and articles, he never mentioned that he began with us.' he left us. That really hurt. Almost as hurtful was the fact that, in interviews and articles, he never mentioned that he began with us.'

Bad feelings apart, Mandarino recognizes the importance of the author not only in the publishing world in Brazil but also in Brazilian literature: 'Paulo Coelho made books into a popular consumer product. He revolutionized the publishing market in Brazil, which used to limit itself to ludicrously small runs of 3,000 copies. With him the market grew. Paulo Coelho brought respect for books in Brazil and for our literature in the world.'

In a very small publishing market such as that in Brazil, it was only natural that large publishers should feel interested in an author who, with only two t.i.tles to his name, had sold more than five hundred thousand copies. Despite the Olympian indifference of the media, his books vanished from the bookshop shelves and thousands crowded into auditoriums across the country, though not to listen to the usual promotional rubbish. Readers seemed to want to share with the author the spiritual experiences he wrote of in his works. Paulo's talks were incredibly popular, and scenes such as that in the Martins Pena auditorium in Brasiliawhen it was necessary to put up loudspeakers outside the 2,000-seater auditorium for those arriving latewere not uncommon. One interview which he gave to the journalist Mara Regea, of Radio Nacional de Brasilia, had to be repeated three times at the request of listeners wanting to hear him talk for an hour and a half on alchemy and mysticism. Such enthusiasm was repeated across the country. In Belo Horizonte, the 350-seat Banco do Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais auditorium wasn't large enough for the almost one thousand people who turned up to hear him, forcing the young Afonso Borges, the organizer of the event, to place televisions in various parts of the building so that no one would miss the author's words.

When the press woke up to this phenomenon, it seemed confused and at a loss to explain his overwhelming success. Reluctant to judge the literary content of the books, the newspapers preferred to regard them as yet another pa.s.sing marketing phenomenon. In the opinion of a large number of journalists, the author Paulo Coelho was nothing more than a fad, like the hula hoop, the twist and even the lyricist Paulo Coelho and his Sociedade Alternativa. Since O Globo O Globo had called him 'the Castaneda of Copacabana' on the front page of its arts section two years earlier, the media had practically forgotten him. It was only when his books reached the top of the best-seller lists and the newspaper had called him 'the Castaneda of Copacabana' on the front page of its arts section two years earlier, the media had practically forgotten him. It was only when his books reached the top of the best-seller lists and the newspaper O Estado de So Paulo O Estado de So Paulo learned that learned that The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and and The Alchemist The Alchemist had sold more than half a million copies that the critics took note of the fact that two years was a long time for something that was merely a fad. The man with the prematurely white hair who talked about dreams, angels and love seemed to be here to stay, but it took a while for the press to understand this. had sold more than half a million copies that the critics took note of the fact that two years was a long time for something that was merely a fad. The man with the prematurely white hair who talked about dreams, angels and love seemed to be here to stay, but it took a while for the press to understand this.

He did not appear prominently in the newspapers again until October 1989, in a full-page feature in the arts supplement of O Estado de So Paulo O Estado de So Paulo, which was divided into two parts. The first was a profile written by Thereza Jorge on the author's career in rock music. At the end, she stated unequivocally: 'But it is in literature that Coelho has clearly found his place.' However, proof that opinions on his work were divided appeared on that same page, in the form of a twenty-line item signed by Hamilton dos Santos. He summarized Paulo's work as 'a cloying synthesis of teachings drawn from everything from Christianity to Buddhism'. As the author himself confessed, this was 'the first real blow' that he had received from a critic: 'I just froze when I read it. Absolutely froze. It was as though the person who wrote it was warning me about the price of fame.'

Even the monthly literary tabloid Leia Livros Leia Livros, a cult publication edited by Caio Graco Prado, found itself bowing to the sheer force of numbers. On the cover of the December 1989 edition, Paulo appeared with sword in hand, hair bristling and gazing Zen-like into infinity. The treatment meted out to him by Leia Livros Leia Livros, however, was no different from the approach normally adopted by other members of the press. Of the twelve pages of the article, eleven were taken up with a detailed profile of the author, with no evaluation of his work. The actual review, signed by Professor Teixeira Coelho of the University of So Paulo, occupied only half a page. The average Brazilianas one presumes most readers of The Pilgrimage The Pilgrimage and and The Alchemist The Alchemist weremight have had difficulty in understanding whether Paulo was being praised or insulted, so convoluted was the reviewer's language: weremight have had difficulty in understanding whether Paulo was being praised or insulted, so convoluted was the reviewer's language: The time when vision, imagination, the non-rational (albeit with its own rationality) were considered an integral part of the real and came 'from above' it was just a mental habit. This norm defined a cultural paradigm, a way of thinking and knowing about the world. This paradigm was replaced by the new rationalist paradigm of the eighteenth century. Today, it is this paradigm that appears to be (temporarily) exhausted. The Paulo Coelho phenomenon is a symbol of the decadence of this paradigm and implies a distrust of rationalism as we have known it over the last two centuries.[...] I prefer to see in the sales success of Paulo Coelho's works the primacy of the imagination, which continues to exert its power in different forms (religions, 'magic', 'alternative' medicine and s.e.x, the poetic road to knowledge), forms that old-fashioned emblematic Cartesian thinking would designate as 'irrational'.[...] Within the Paulo Coelho genre, Lawrence Durrell with his 'Avignon Quintet' is a better writer, and Colin Wilson more intellectual. However, such judgements are superfluous.

While the press was racking its brains as to how to understand the phenomenon, it continued to grow. In a rare unguarded momentespecially when it came to moneyPaulo revealed to the Jornal da Tarde Jornal da Tarde that the two books had so far earned him US$250,000. It may well have been more. a.s.suming that the amounts he and Rocco disclosed were true, the 500,000 copies sold up until then would have brought him at least $350,000 in royalties. that the two books had so far earned him US$250,000. It may well have been more. a.s.suming that the amounts he and Rocco disclosed were true, the 500,000 copies sold up until then would have brought him at least $350,000 in royalties.

With two best-sellers, a new publisher, hundreds of thousands of dollars or more invested in property and his international career showing signs of taking off, Paulo was summoned by Jean to fulfil another of the four sacred paths that initiates to RAM must follow. After the Road to Santiago, he had performed a further penance (the trip to the Mojave Desert), but there was still the third and penultimate stage, the Road to Rome. The fourth would be the road towards death. The so-called Road to Rome was merely a metaphor, since it could be followed anywhere in the world, with the added advantage that it could be undertaken by car. He chose Languedoc, on the edge of the Pyrenees in southwestern France, where a Christian religious sect, Catharism or Albigensianism, had flourished in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, only to be stamped out by the Inquisition. Another peculiarity of the Road to Rome was that the pilgrim must always follow his dreams. Paulo thought this too abstract and asked for more information, but the reply was less than illuminating: 'If you dream of a bus stop during the night, the following morning go to the nearest bus stop. If you dream of a bridge, your next stop should be a bridge.'

For a little more than two months he wandered through the valleys and across the mountains and rivers of what is one of the most beautiful regions of Europe. On 15 August he left the Hotel d'Anvers in Lourdes, where he had been staying, and continued on towards Foix, Roquefixade, Montsegur, Peyrepertuse, Bugarach and dozens of other ti