“Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria.”
Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes centers around Maria, an innocent and naïve girl from Brazil. Beginning from her teenage as she discovers puberty, first love and experiences sexual attraction, the narrative follows her as she takes upon a chance offer to be a ‘dancer’ at a club in Switzerland and subsequently, ventures into the world of prostitution.
Quickly she learns the tricks of the trade and establishes herself as one of the best in her circle. And like every other professional, she invests time and passion to grow up the ladder. Juggling multiple emotions and a freedom to explore, she discovers pain, suffering, love, pleasure and peace. An executive introduces her to the world of dangerous and dark fantasies. While a chance meeting with a young artist, charms her ‘inner’ light. In the crossroad that builds ahead, Maria battles her inner turmoils to choose between love and pain.
With social taboos interwoven into the narrative, the novel propels us into the dreary nightclubs and rituals of the forbidden world. But it isn’t an erotica, rather a contemplative slice of life. Satiating the curious minds with the inner-workings of a profession less investigated out in the open, Coelho takes a step ahead to curate a character empowered by choice.
“I [Maria] walk about the streets and look at all the people, and I wonder if they chose their lives? Or were they, like me, ‘chosen’ by fate?”
It is a beautiful story centered upon a theme seldom spoken in open. And maybe that was the singular aspect that pulled me towards it – The thought of the how the literary world read into the words like – Sex, Prostitution and where does love figure into this equation.
Paulo Coelho touches upon all those and much more as he weaves the story around Maria, and with that, he also weaves into the minds of the reader the idea of sacred sex – the one that complements love and life and completes the man and woman. The most endearing aspect of the novel lies in the diary extracts of Maria. One can literally sneak a peek into her mind as she transforms from a young impulsive girl into a mature woman rising above the materialistic equations of life.
Why do people opt for the services of a prostitute? Is it for the sex – the glorified eleven minutes of pleasure or maybe an inner sub conscious ache for having a companion – someone to talk to?
Why do women, young girls go into prostitution willingly? Is it the idea of easy money? What is their idea of love? For those who have spread their legs for umpteen number of men does sex, love and desire have some meaning for them?
And I could go on listing the kind of self-contemplation the read propels us into. Paulo Coelho’s writings have always been much more than the story itself – and maybe that’s why an avid reader of crime fiction like me is getting happily pulled into experiencing the slices of life neatly woven into the pages.
On the downside, too much of pages go into establishing the premise of Maria’s life. But the entry of Ralf and the subsequent story pulls up the experience to deliver a satisfying ‘climax’ to the read.
