Hippie by Paulo Coelho
Although he has authored more than twenty books, Paulo Coelho is perhaps more well known for The Alchemist – a book which continues to inspire millions of readers around the world. Now, the Brazilian novelist who is one of the world’s best-selling authors, has added another book to his list of oeuvres with the publication of a personal and nostalgic novel called . The story hearkens to Mr. Coelho’s past and his experiences exploring South America and Europe in the 1970s and he manages to weave a love story into this tale of adventure. Here is the synopsis:
Following the “three days of peace and music” at Woodstock, the 1969 gathering in Bethel, NY that would change the world forever, hippie paradises began to emerge all around the world. In Dam Square in Amsterdam, long-haired people wearing vibrant clothes and burning incense could be found meditating, playing music and discussing sexual liberation, the expansion of consciousness and the search for an inner truth. They were a generation refusing to live the robotic and unquestioning life that their parents had known.
At this time, Paulo is a young, skinny Brazilian with a goatee and long, flowing hair who wants to become a writer. He sets off on a journey in search of freedom and a deeper meaning for his life: first, with a girlfriend, on the famous “Death Train to Bolivia,” then on to Peru and later hitchhiking through Chile and Argentina.
His travels take him further, to the famous square in Amsterdam, where Paulo meets Karla, a Dutch woman also in her 20s. She convinces Paulo to join her on a trip to Nepal, aboard the Magic Bus that travels across Europe and Central Asia to Kathmandu. They embark on a journey in the company of fascinating fellow travelers, each of whom has a story to tell, and each of whom undergo a transformation, changing their priorities and values, along the way. As they travel together, Paulo and Karla explore their relationship, an awakening on every level that brings each of them to a choice and a decision that sets the course of their lives thereafter.
