Beban menjadi seorang pengarang yang pernah melahirkan karya monumental sangatlah berat. Setiap karya berikutnya selalu menarik perhatian publik dan selalu diperbandingkan dengan karya monumentalnya. Paulo Coelho rupanya harus menerima kenyataan ini, setelah Sang Alkemis menjadi buku best seller dunia, dan diterjemahkan dalam 56 bahasa, setiap Coelho menerbitkan karya terbarunya orang cenderung bertanya-tanya "Apakah karya ini sebaik sang Alkemis?". Hal inilah yang rupanya akan terus menjadi pertanyaan abadi bagi publik dan tentunya akan memacu Coelho untuk melahirkan karya-karya terbaiknya, sebab jika tidak, hal ini akan menjadi bumerang bagi karier kepenulisannya.Zahir yang merupakan karya teranyar dari Paulo Coelho seolah hendak membuktikan kekonsistennya dalam melahirkan karya-karya sebaik Sang Alkemis. Novel Zahir yang pertama kali diterbitkan oleh Harper Colins pada Sepetember 2005 telah mengungguli daftar Best Seller di Amerika Serikat. Sayang pencapaian untuk menembus angka-angka penjualan yang fantastis tersandung ketika Zahir dilarang beredar di Iran oleh Kementrian Kebudayaan Iran (BBC, 13 Mei 2005) dengan dalih popularitas Coelho dianggap berbahaya bagi masyarakat Iran.Dalam Zahir yang banyak disebut-sebut sebagai novel semi-otobiografi, Coelho menulis tentang kisah seorang penulis besar yang berasal dari sebuah negara di Amerika Latin yang karyanya menjadi best seller dunia. Dari seluruh kisah hidup si penulis yang terungkap di novel ini akan nampak bahwa ciri-ciri tokoh ini mirip sekali dengan Coelho, Meski demikian cerita ini bukanlah kisah hidup Coelho yang sesungguhnya. Rupanya dalam Zahir Coelho hanya memasukkan karakter dirinya dan aktifitas kesehariannya sebagai penulis dalam diri tokoh utamanya.Dikisahkan seorang penulis terkenal mendapati istrinya, Esther seorang wartawan perang, tiba-tiba saja menghilang secara misterius. Tak ada yang salah dalam pernikahan mereka, kedua-duanya saling mencintai bahkan Esther pulalah yang memotivasi suaminya dalam berkarya hingga melahirkan karya best seller dunia " Ada Waktu Untuk Merobek, Ada Waktu Untuk Menjahit". Ketiadaan istrinya tersebut membuat Esther menjadi Zahir/obsesi bagi si penulis untuk menemukannya kembali.Hanya sedikit petunjuk yang diperolehnya dalam mencari Esther, beberapa orang mengatakan Esther kerap bertemu dengan seorang pemuda berkulit gelap dengan wajah ras Mongolia. Mereka berdua terlihat terakhir kali di sebuah kafe di Paris. Akhirnya si penulis berhasil menemui pemuda tersebut, Mikhail namanya, seorang pemuda yang berasal dari Kazakhstan. Mikhail mengetahui dimana Esther berada, namun hingga suatu saat tertentu ia belum juga memberitahukan dimana Esther berada sebelum ia mendapat bisikan dari "Sang Bunda" tokoh spritual yang dipercayainya dan memberinya misi untuk mewujudkan kekuatan Cinta bagi pembaharuan dunia.Si penulis akhirnya mengikuti kemana Mikhail pergi. Pencarian sang penulis atas isitrinyapun dimulai. Si penulis dibawanya kedalam suatu pertemuan-pertemuan spiritual yang dipercaya Mikhael dan kelompoknya dapat mewujudkan misi "Cinta" yang ternyata awalnya dimotori oleh Esther. Melalui serangkaian pertemuannya dengan Mikhail si penulis mulai menelusuri kembali jejak kebersamaannya dengan sang istri, hal-hal yang terjadi dengan perkawinan mereka, hingga perpisahan itu. Tidak itu saja, pencarian Zahir ini membawa dirinya keluar dari dunianya yang aman dengan berkelana dari Amerika Selatan, Spanyol, Perancis, menapak pada jalur sutra hingga Kroasia dimana terdapat kawasan padang rumput di Kazakhstan dan mengenal cara hidup kaum nomaden. Perjalanan inilah yang akhirnya akan membawa si penulis melakukan perjalanan melintasi seluruh masa lalunya, melihat kesalahan yang ada pada dirinya, mengenal wanita yang dikawininya dan juga memperoleh pemahaman baru tentang hakikat cinta dan kekuatan takdir, dan juga kepekaan dan arti dalam mengikuti suara hati yang oleh Mikhail dikatakan suara dari "Sang Bunda"Sama seperti novel-novel Coelho lainnya, kali ini Coelho pun menuturkan suatu cerita dengan gayanya yang kuat dan menawan yang sarat dengan kedalaman makna. Makna Zahir yang diambil dari cerpen Jorge Luis Borges ini digambarkan oleh Coelho sebagai sesuatu yang sekali disentuh atau dilihat tak bisa terlupakan, dan sedikit demi sedikit akan memenuhi seluruh pikiran kita, sehingga kita terjerumus pada kegilaan (hlm. 75). Melalui definisi Zahir ini pembaca disadarkan bahwa setiap orang memiliki Zahir-nya masing-masing, dan bila kita bisa menapakinya dengan benar maka zahir ini akan menjadi inspirasi, kekuatan dan energi hidup yang melahirkan kreatifitas-kreatifitas baru.Selain sarat dengan makna, novel ini juga menyuguhkan sisi yang menghibur. Tokoh utama novel ini yang seorang pengarang terkenal membuat novel ini mengungkap bagaimana sebenarnya keseharian seorang penulis terkenal baik dalam menghadapi pertanyaan-pertanyaan para wartawan yang selalu menayakan hal yang itu-itu saja, pengalamannya dalam menandatangani buku-bukunya, gencarnya para kiritikus dalam mencerca novel-novelnya, dll, sehingga melalui novel ini pembaca memperoleh gambaran seperti apa rasanya menjadi seorang penulis terkenal.Untaian kalimat-kalimat dialog penuh makna dalam Zahir bagi orang yang bisa memahaminya menjadikan novel ini novel yang menginspirasi dan menggugah pembacanya, namun bagi yang tidak terbiasa membaca novel-novel jenis ini, Zahir dengan ketebalan 440 halaman ini bisa menjadi novel yang membosankan dan menimbulkan tanda tanya besar "Apa sih yang dimaksud dengan novel ini?" sehingga mungkin saja pembaca akan mencampakkan novel ini sebelum selesai menamatkannya. Namun andai saja kita terus membaca dan mencoba memaknai novel dengan sabar hingga lembar –lembar terakhir, maka kita akan menemukan semua jawaban dari kebingungan kita terhadap novel ini. @h_tanzilhttp://bukuygkubaca.blogspot.com/
2.6 stars Okay, dear dear Paulo Coelho. Where do I start? This is how this book briefly was written. Careful, this review contains spoilers!(view spoiler)[Just so you guys and girls know, this is the seventh book I read by the dude in here, so I am talking based on previous experience, not prejudgment, ok? Paulo in this extravagant novel is searching for his wife who decided to leave no trace of her whereabouts to him because she felt unhappy. Unhappy because he doesn't understand her, because he is always too busy because bla bla bla bla bla. I think in his mind, Coelho created the impossible kind of woman. I would never suspect that a woman would be ok with her husband having affairs all the time and when he says that he doesn't want her anymore, she puts her foot down and says NO, you do want me. blakh. Annd then when he finds out that she left him, and that now, in the end of the book, she's pregnant, he's cool with it. He's very cool. no. There's NO guy out there like that no matter how good he is. okay, now I want to talk about the dudes EXCELLENT (not) philosophy. After 7 books, I finally would express my dismay!!! WOHOU. The picture below will explain what I am feeling right now. His philosophy is very shallow and cheesy. I am not going to start lecturing people on MY philosophy. No. I am not here to do that. But I want to say that sometimes some things are more important than personal happiness and that NO ONE is happy except the ignorant. So I am happy with my unhappiness, thank you very much, Coelho. I hate his philosophy and his style of writing (ok, I know. I am reading the translation BUT) is very annoying, disturbing, and it feels like he took extra doses of drugs while writing all of his books. It is sooo calm, and it is SOOO ANNOYING. Argh. okay. This is me only. oh, and, the whole talk about God and the bible scriptures... it is just bleurgh. Dude... no, just no. i respect your religious beliefs BUT NO. He puts his religiousness in a very cheesy concept. And he goes on and on talking about the energy of love and how it would save our lives. Dude, I know that shit, I really do. but your cheesy kind of writing style is making me hate the hell out of love and promote violence. Your books are dull, very dull, and boring. I know I know I shouldn't read them if I don't like them but curiosity gets the best of me. I try to read any book I set my eyes upon no matter how good and bad it is. besides, I think esther is a bitch. oh and I hate how he promotes for his other books IN HIS BOOKS. DONE IT THOUSANDS OF TIMES. DUDE, HOW MUCH REALLY DO YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR BOOKS? GREEDY LITTLE BASTARD.The only thing I liked about this book is his obsession with his wife. Nice idea. LOVED IT. It is very new, especially since people rarely admit about their obsessions. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about The Zahir (2006)?
A great book for anyone struggling with attachment or ownership of something that you love."I heard other people speaking in the name of freedom and the more they defended this unique right, the more enslaved the seemed to be to the parent's wishes, to a marriage in which they had promised to stay with the other person "for the rest of their lives," to the bathroom scales, to their diet, to the half-finished projects, to lovers to whom they were incapable of saying "No", or "It's over", to weekends when they were obliged to have lunch with people they didn't even like. Slaves to luxury, to the apperance of luxury, to the appearance of the appearance of luxury. Slaves to a life they had not chosen, but which they had decided to live because someone had managed to convince them that it was all for the best. And so their identical days and nights passed, days and nights in which adventure was just a word in a book or an image on the television that was always on, and whenever a door opened, they would say "I'm not interested, I'm not in the mood."
—Toby
I am momentarily wordless.. But I will eventually have to say something, if not lots of things, on the exceptional Coelho’s novel The Zahir. I may begin by saying that this novel was like a textbook on real life and true love for me. It introduced me to many new concepts, such as personal history, as well as to many interesting anecdotes that I would pay anything to my memory so it always remembers them. I don’t think that I ever liked as many statements, at some points whole pages, in one book. Coelho’s style, the emotions and sincerity he put in his writing mesmerized me from the first page till the last word in the book; and at last I refuse to let go of them although I am done with the novel. The story is unique and rich in its own way. It represents an extraordinary romance which evolves throughout the story despite the total separation between its holders. If life is a learning field then true love will be the hardest and toughest lesson to excel and protect. Engy Moussa7/6/2011 at 22:47
—Engy Moussa
The very little things that made me detest this book: I believe that each reader creates his own film inside his head, gives faces to the characters, constructs every scene, hears the voices, smells the smells. And that is why, whenever a reader goes to see a film based on a novel that he likes, he leaves feeling disappointed, saying: “The book is so much better than the film.” The thing is, Paulo never describes ANYONE or ANYTHING clearly.In this book although the main character is obsessed with his wife and talks, thinks and remembers her non-stop, you never know her hair color, skin color, eye color, does she have long hair or short hair? what clothes does she wear normally? what color are her clothes? SHE IS JUST A BLUR TO ME.. EVERYTHING'S A BLUR IN THIS BOOK..I actually think his books are THE BEST books to be turned into movies because you can never create your own movie in your headAnd here's another part I disagree with greatly "Do you know what gives a woman most pleasure within marriage?”“Sex.”“No, making food. Watching her man eat. That is a woman’s moment of glory, because she spends all day thinking about supper"P.S. I have read other books by Paulo and compared to that crap this book is way better, good job man. but compared to other writers' books, this is crap.
—Suzie Toumeh
