Hippie : Book Review

Hippie by Paulo Coelho

As per the dictionary meaning, ’Hippie’ is a person of unconventional appearance, typically having long hair, associated with a subculture involving a rejection of conventional values and the taking of hallucinogenic drugs.
And that's how Paulo led his life, as a 'Hippie' before he met Karla and started-off his journey on 'Magic Bus'.
In this book, Paulo tells his own life stories, his own experience, in a third-person style of writing.

Plot of the Story: Paulo, a Brazilian boy, who wanted to become a writer started his journey to explore himself and his life. He reached Dam Square in Amsterdam after he had done several Hippie trails in the past. Paulo was headed towards Piccadilly Circus in London from Amsterdam where he met a girl named Karla who was looking for a companion in her journey to Nepal via Magic Bus. Karla got successful in convincing Paulo to come along with her on the journey to Nepal. Other than Karla and Paulo, Magic Bus consisted of two drivers: one with British accent named Michael and other an Indian, named Rahul; and other passengers were: a group of Australians, two underage girls, a French man and his daughter, an Irish couple(Rayan and Mirthe).
Rayan, French father and a daughter, Michael, Rahul all had their fair part of stories to share in the book and how and why they landed up in the Magic Bus. And as the story moves forward, Magic Bus came to a stopover in Istanbul for a week, where both Paulo and Karla explored the true meaning of their lives and also a man with no name came into the picture. A week in Istanbul awakened Karla and Paul, and both of them made choices and decisions which set the course for their lives thereafter.

In my opinion, it is not the best work of Paulo. At certain points, the story lost the track, there was disconnectivity and it needed me to read it twice to understand the flow. Moreover, I found some irrelevant detailing at certain points for instance, ‘Death Train’ and ‘Gate of Sun’ are a bit stretched out and could have been combined together.
This book gave an insight into Paulo’s life what all he had gone through in his life: imprisonment when he was not at fault and how this incident haunted him, drugs especially LSD he wanted to try and then his transformation as a person as he reached Istanbul and met a man with no name.

Extracts:

• When Rayan explained about parallel reality, where everything is possible: ‘There is not one but many parallel realities. The one is that spiritual state that takes over your body and soul when you feel happy, your heart filled with love… And the other when the tiny details of our daily life transform into problems out of nothing.’
• When Paulo distanced himself from everyone after the incident of encountering the police and Rahul came to him and talked him through:  ‘…You have moments of bravery and moments of cowardice. In moments of cowardice, you are gripped by fear. And fear, contrary to what most people say, has its roots in the past. Each time you take a step forward, you will feel fear at what you’ll find. And how can I fear what’ll find if I haven’t already experienced pain, separation, internal and external torture?’’
• In his search of dancing dervishes, when Paulo met a man with no name to understand Rumi, Sufism, in search of knowledge, a man said:  ‘… Books bring us opinions and study, analyses and comparisons, while the sacred flame of madness brings us to the truth. Knowledge is an illusion, ecstasy is the true reality. Knowledge fills us with guilt, ecstasy allows us to be one with He who is the Universe before it existed and after it has been destroyed. The search for knowledge is an attempt to wash oneself with sand when a well of clean water can be found right next to us…’
• Paulo when asked the man with no name to be his teacher in order to learn the ways of the Sufi, a man replied:  ‘…Then seek the truth. Seek always to be on its side, even when it brings you pain. There are times when the Truth goes quiet for stretches, or when it doesn’t tell you what you want to hear. Truth is not that gives us certainty. It is not that which gives us profound thoughts. It is not that which makes us better than others. It is not that which makes us prisoners to our own prejudices…’
• When Paulo asked the man with no name about who taught him Sufism and the man, in turn, responded that how he learned it from three teachers: a thief, a dog, and a child. Read the book to know that.

Lines:

• ‘When we try to dismiss negative thoughts, it only attracts more diabolic energy.’
• ‘We don’t choose the things that happen to us, but we can choose how we react to them.’
• ‘When things happen without planning or expectations they are that much more enjoyable and worthwhile.’
• ‘Life is all about figuring it out.’
• ‘The Truth is what makes us free. You will know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free.’
• ‘You won’t learn anything more than what your heart wishes to teach you.’
• ‘There is no suffering worse than the dark, grey room where pain cannot reach.’

Rating: 2.5/5