This is yet another book about awakening. The book begins in a very unusual way: "Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria." Very interesting and even from those first lines to the last lines of the book, Coelho keeps the reader interested in Maria's story. It is based on a true story but i only knew that until i read the very last line of the book. I guess it is a common story but with a higher meaning, yet it is unique.
What i liked most about the book was the diary that Maria kept. there were some very meaningful things said in there. Very true when you stop to think and i stopped to think.
It takes the reader through Maria's childhood and how she became a prostitute to when she falls in love and is released from the life she lived. i liked the title...after i realized what it meant. eleven minutes was the actual time maria calculated for the act of intercourse to last. At the point where Maria and Ralf consummate their love, one thinks of the scene in "the shawshank redemption" where Tim Robbins has just escaped from the prison and he stands in the rain and raises his hands up to the sky-a redemption. in short, "eleven minutes" does not carry as much clout as "the alchemist" but in it, one sees that maria's attitude is one of a fighter. she does not believe she is a victim. it is worth the read.
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