The Little Red Book

December 8, 2008


It was late afternoon.

I’m still in the office and thinking what I can do once I get home.

I realized that I’ll be alone again: Ceejh will be working on evening shift while Mims on the other hand, will be staying a little longer in the office to finish some paper works.

Afraid to gain more weight because of getting too much sleep (so bad, it’s become one of my favorite past time since I’ve arrived here in Doha), I wondered if a friend will be going to Villaggio, maybe I can come with him, visit my boyfriend who was working in one of our shop and walk around.

Thanks God, he’ll go.

I called my boyfriend and told him that am on my way.

We just ate dinner, chat a little and I decided to check some shops and look for some stuffs.

I normally go to Virgin Megastore, the shop where you can find books, cds, dvds, appliances, gadgets, etc, whenever I visit there.

I browsed through some books.

I did not really intend to buy one, since am not yet finished reading “Brida” by Paulo Coelho but this little red book intrigue me.

The cover shows the leg of a woman with high heels on, and another pair of what seems to be a man’s leg.

“Eleven Minutes” by Paulo Coelho…

I’ve heard things about the book, some are good and some are bad.

I got a copy and headed to the counter.

It’s out of curiosity why I bought the book: am curious why it was titled Eleven Minutes.

He could have thought of other titles.

It reminded me of the books and movies/shows with titles as such: Gone in 60 Seconds; 24; 40 days and 40 nights…

Anyways, I myself will be able to do so many things in eleven minutes: I can take a shower; I can doze off; I can call; I can walk to and from the grocery; etc.

I remembered the game shows in Philippines; one can also be a millionaire in eleven minutes…

So what’s with the Eleven Minutes?

Many things came into my mind.

Based on the overview, the beautiful Brazilian lady, Maria, is a prostitute.

So I thought maybe she was given only eleven minutes to make the most important decision of her life: whether to be a prostitute or not;

Or she only has the last eleven minutes to live;

Or she had a chance to make a wish within eleven minutes…

Hmmm…

Given that it was written by Paulo Coelho, even if some people said that this book is different, I started reading and finished the book earlier than what I had expected and soon enough learned the significance of the Eleven Minutes.

Maria, a prostitute who spends time in reading books: about almost anything that her mind can comprehend, views life and love through another perspective.

I like the entries in her diary.

It showed the other side of Maria: the Maria who has a passion for writing, living and loving.

Here are some lines from her diary:


Pain and suffering are used to justify the one thing that should bring only joy: LOVE.

Love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer.


Though, at first she had a very pessimistic view about love, at the end she was able to find her “True Love”.

The one who saw the “light” in her…

Sigh….

P.S.

Paulo Coelho is one of my admired writers when it comes to writing style.

He uses simple words but with great meaning;

He’ll make you think;

He’ll make you realize the simplicity and complexity of life and that’s what I like the most about him.

Let me leave you with another passage from Maria’s diary and I hope we can all have the courage shown by Maria…

“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back where I came from because I didn’t have the courage to say “yes” to life?”