Souvik Chowdhury

There aren't much ups and down in the book and while some might not find that appealing, I enjoyed the consistency in its temperament. Knowing it was a part of Paulo Coelho's real life experience made it much better. You could feel every aspect of the journey even if you haven't ever travelled across Europe. If you have (like me) it brings in immense nostalgia. The ending was an emotional rollercoaster x 10 times the original pace of the story. But there at the end is a sense of contentment for both the author and the reader. But if you are looking for a "message" like in most of his books, you won't find one (at least not a distinct one) and that's okay. He needed to tell his life story and he fictionalised it a bit. So you hear HIS version of his life. That's the take of this book.