Paulo Coelho: A Modern Writer With a Vast Bibliography - Research Paper

Introduction

With more than a quarter-million books sold globally, Paulo Coelho is one of the most influential modern writers. Paulo Coelho, as an author, has a vast bibliography of non- fictional and functional work, which ranges from song lyrics and esoteric manuals to plays, newspaper columns, and novels. Nearly 20 of Paulo Coelho's novels stands as porous genre grouping. The same stories can be classified as romance, self- help, allegory, autobiography, religious, and post-modern novel. These are novels that best represent his transnationalism persona and through his journey of becoming a writer, he never received any support from his parents since they were discouraging him from becoming a novelist and wanted him to pursuit engineering that is when he quitted law schools to starts his journey to self-discovery of becoming a narrator. These novel are The Pilgrimage (1987), The Alchemist (1988), Veronica decides to Die (1998), Eleven Minutes (2003), The Zahir (2005), The Witch of Portobello (2006), Aleph (2010) and Manuscript Found in Accra (2014).

Paulo's Bibliography

Paulo Coelho de Sousa was born in 1947, August 24, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His youthful ages were strangely complicated: disapproving of their son's artistic ambitions and troubled with his bouts of anger, to a point his parents took him to mental rehabilitation facilities severally (Mayer, 2017). He then dropped out of a school of law to travel through Africa America, and Europe while navigating through, Coelho shifted from becoming play writer to lyrist and eventually to a novelist. He wrote objection songs opposing the military autocracy in Brazil. The song led to his imprisonment and his torture. After his release in the '80s, Paulo undertook his famous journey to Spain along the Road to Santiago. The pilgrimage changes the path of his life and results in his first novel' The Pilgrimage. In his second book introduced him to the international market. The story appealed modest attention and emerged as the most purchased in the '90s.Paulo Coelho was featured in the Guinness Book of Records twice. The first instance was in 2003 when he made the world record for most translations of a single title signed by a novelist in one sitting (53 editions) (Bosman, 2011). The second instance was in 2008, the year his novel, The Alchemist, become the most translated book by a living novelist (67 languages at the time) (Mayer, 2017).

Ways in Which Paulo Coelho’s Family Impacted His Writing

Strict parents brought up Coelho; his father had a definite vision of life and how he expected Coelho to perform in school and a person in general. His mother, Lydia, was ambitious and focused on religious concerns of the family (Mayer & Maree, 2018). Lydia always prayed for her family and encouraged Paulo to maintain his relationship with God during his childhood. Hailing from a devout catholic family, Coehlo went to a catholic-based school, which emphasized the importance of belief, discipline, and hard work. At this young age, he knew that he wanted to study and write books, and he slowly began drifting from his school work. The young Coehlo started writing a diary and concentrated on reading books, unknowingly he prepared for his writing career.

Paulo did not enjoy being at school; he struggled with the firm, strict beliefs of the primary school, and developed a mindset of guilt and hoped to break loose from the strict environment. Things got worse when he lost his grandfather, who was part of his support system. While dealing with profound grief, Paulo met a group of friends who introduced him to the world of artistry. He enjoyed the new fascinating world, forgetting what his parents expected from him. His parent's dream for him was a career in the engineering sector. His parents did not support his vision of venturing into the writing space. Still, he was persistent to learn the art of writing through his journey through life, he met his wife, Christina Oiticica, who became his confidant while he was dealing with emotional instability.

What Other Circumstances Influenced His Work?

Coelho followed his passion for writing through university, even though he was enrolled to study law. In this phase of his life, he was sure of getting satisfaction from writing and not pursuing law. This feeling awakened a realization that triggered his decision to quit law and focus entirely on his writing career. A vital action accompanied by a sense of direction steering the author in the right direction of actualizing his childhood dream.

Paulo's struggles of depression and dealing with frustrations from his career led him into the occult and making a conscious decision to reject Christianity. He got a weird attitude, which made him believe that he was the "prince of darkness," also, he made a deal with the devil by selling his soul to the devil with an expectation of getting the devil's help to kick start his writing career. However, it took a moment for the author to realize his mistakes and took around turn. He embraced his childhood beliefs of faith in God. The author dedicated his life to God; he acknowledged that his moment as a writer is approaching. This whole ordeal reminded him of peace and hope he needed to write. The birth of the world sellers book The Pilgrimage (Coelho, 1987), had arrived. He wrote the magnificent book and published it, and the book was groundbreaking for Paulo's career. The application he made to the Brazilian Academy of Letters (prestigious society of writers) inspired him to yearn for more in both his writing career and life as a whole. He aimed at being his personal better to his audience and family. The author evaluated the market for his career and applied the knowledge he gathered over the years to reach out and articulate his mind through his books.

Autobiographical Books of Coelho's Journey to Self-Realization

The Pilgrimage, the Aleph, and the Zahir are semi-autobiographical books of Coelho's journey through, correspondingly, the Road to Santiago of Compostela in northern Spain, the Trans-Siberian Rail Road, and the Steppes of Kazakhstan, where the writer pursues individual growth searches. In the Pilgrimage, the writer seeks the sword, which represents his acceptance into the primeval catholic Order of RAM under the assistance of a fellow pilgrim called Petrus, who instills the knowledge of the philosophical ideologies and spiritual rites of the Order.

In The Zahir, Paulo pursuits his missing wife, his love-obsession and learns regarding marriage, relationships, and overcoming uncontrollable In Aleph, seeks to subjugate spiritual unproductivity, anguish and distrust that he attains by returning to a past life in the company of a young violinist, whom he had loved and betrayed, as he pardons and releases him from a curse.

The protagonists of Veronika Decides to Die, the Witch of Portobello, and Eleven minutes are females characters Paulo founded on the individual he heard or met along his publishing journeys. In addition, these females characters pursuits' journeys of self-discovery by piloting the experience of separately mental facilities, spiritual awakening, and prostitution. They built on the writer's personal life and mentioned him on his feminine change personality (More & Bed, 2015). In Veronika Decides to Die, a young lady is devoted to a nursing home after an unsuccessful suicide trial and committed to an experimental treatment in which she forced to believe she would die within seven days of a heart problem, causing the character to her new realization will to live. In the Witch of Portobello, a Roman lady known as Athena, adopted by a Lebanese couple early in life and brought up in London, developed mystic capabilities through dance and learned to call the females side of the Divine. Her advancing cult-like fandom captures the negative attention of the media and organized religions, leading to the alleged death of the character. In Eleven Minutes, Maria, a young Brazilian joins an international prostitution ring in Geneva, Switzerland, where she encounters self- realization through sexual experiences.

The Alchemist and Manuscript sections of Accra are more symbolic and philosophical. In the Alchemist, Paulo narrates the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd who trips through the desert towards the pyramids of Egypt in pursuit of the wealth in his recurrent vision. Santiago learns a lot on his voyage, from mystical capabilities to philosophies. Such as the Individual Legend and locates his treasure upon his return that where his narration starts. The philosophical teaching in Manuscript Found in Accra is approved on by a mysterious oratory called the Copt who escorted an ecumenical group of religious leaders, talks to an assorted nervous multitude in Jerusalem on the eve of the Crusade Invasion.

Conclusion

Most of Paulo's books focus on socio-political censure and the genuine "intention" of life. He is one of the best Brazilian writers of this generation. He has been able to show rationality and wisdom in all his work. He dedicated his life to find truth through life, despite his challenges with depression, drug abuse misplaced beliefs, but he manages to stand ground and define his purpose in life. The author's experience is described by a series of publications, which made him famous in more than 170 countries on the continent. A few of his renowned books are: The Alchemist, published in a small townhouse, but spoke to a hundred million people all over the world.( Still hold Guinness world record with being the book with most sold copies). The second one is the pilgrimage, published in 1987; a book whose message resonates with many of his readers. The author has taken his time to travel the world and has managed to interact with his audience; this shows his passion for humanity.

References

Bosman, J. (2011). A word with: Paulo Coelho. Best-selling author gives away his work (Interview). The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/books/paulo-coelho-discusses-aleph-his-new-novel

Mayer, C. H. (2017). The life and creative works of Paulo Coelho. A Psychobiography from a Positive Psychology Perspective. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318440572_The_Life_and_Creative_Works_of_Paulo_Coelho_A_Psychobiography_from_a_Positive_Psychology_Perspective

Mayer, C. H., & Maree, D. (2018). The magical life and creative works of Paulo Coelho: A psychobiographical investigation. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 18(sup1), 1-16.Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/20797222.2018.1511310

More, M. V. R., & Bed, M. B. A. (2015). Paulo Coelho's Philosophical Vision as Reflected in His Novels. The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle. ISSN 2454-1109 Vol 2.7, 15, 21.Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vijay_More3/publication/310263215_Paulo_Coelho's_Philosophical_vision