Love Simply Is - The Witch of Portobello

“The day is made up of 24 hours and an infinite number of moments. We need to be aware of those moments and make the most of them regardless of whether we're busy doing something or contemplating life.”

Reading has been my hobby since I was a child. However, since school life is always hectic, I don't read as much as I'd like to, and can only do so during school holidays. This is why I am absolutely delighted when my language arts lecturer requires us to read a lot. I immediately started reading Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello, which has been on my reading list for a long time.

I finished the book today, and I must say I greatly enjoyed it. The book is a story about a woman called Athena and her journey to find what she wants in life. In this journey she found her true self and got in touch with ‘The Mother’, a deity present in everything.

The book explores a lot about love, happiness, and spirituality. It talks about beliefs similar to paganism or the religion of the gypsies, and may be quite controversial in some parts (this issue is also discussed in the book). However, I find myself very much agreeing with how the author wrote major religious groups like Catholicism and Christianity. It is true that many religions today lost its meaning and fail to do good deeds because of their hypocrisy, bigotry, and ignorance.

Overall, the book is very well written. It is deep and thought provoking. Even though I am a bit confused by the changing point-of-views at first, I quickly realized why the author decided to tell the story from many people’s perspectives. It makes the character seem more ‘real’ and layered, and helps us see things in different ways at once, instead of sticking to one definite story. ‘Be different’ is, in fact, one of the things the book taught its readers.

However, rather than a narrative story, the book sounds like a lecture or an introduction to paganism at some parts, so I don't recommend this to people who thirst for adventures and dynamic plots.

"The truth is that with each step we take, we arrive."