Adultery is the last novel by Paulo Coelho and its main message is that life without passion and surely has no meaning. The Brazilian writer is one of the best known writers in the world. His best known novel is The Alchemist, published in 1988 and translated into more than 60 languages.
Since then, Coelho has put out roughly one book a year, selling more than 165 million copies and published in more than 170 countries. In Adultery he is in favor of taking risks, doing new things, and avoiding security, which is the antithesis of life. However, to change you have to lose the fear of change and most people fear it.
A second theme that is also seen in many of Coelho's novels is religion: on this occasion, the author conveys that love is the true religion, all religions have it in common and that is their true essence.
Another important theme in the book is happiness. Everyone is chasing her although it is not at all clear what it is. A person can have everything that people pursue in society - be rich, have a partner, children, work - and be unhappy.
Why is adultery interesting?
- Adultery is a subject without expiration and that occurs often in life, both by celebrities and by ordinary people.
- We are never satisfied: although the protagonist of the book has a seemingly perfect life, she feels that there is something missing. We live in a time when we always want something more.
- The romances of youth are often remembered with passion.
- Sometimes we are our worst enemies: we create our own problems through our thinking.
- We spend years chasing something we supposedly want and when we get it, we are not happy
Personal opinion
It would be easy to assume that this novel is simply about sex and adultery. The problem is that people often don't understand the depth of those concepts.
It is the story of a woman who feels lonely, bored and disconnected from life, willing to risk everything to find adventure, passion, emotions. You probably don't like the main character, it may even seem superficial, although if you put your mind to it, you will understand her and learn something from her.
In my opinion, the main message of this book is clear: let your inner child out in a healthy way or you may suffer the consequences. Find the passion in the life you already have, instead of wasting time thinking about how your life could be.
Anyone who is in a relationship, is looking for one or has just left it, can learn something from this book.
So that you better understand what the book is about, I leave you some of his reflections:
- "We don't show our feelings because people might think we are vulnerable and take advantage of us."
- "I discovered what was really causing me problems: the lack of passion and adventure."
- "To find peace in heaven, we must find love on earth."
- "We are always practicing self-control, keeping the monster from coming out of hiding."
- «We ourselves create disorder in our heads. It does not come from outside. "
- Maintaining the security of the relationship while experiencing adventure. It is the ideal situation.
- "People have a tendency to self-destruct."
- “What kills a relationship is precisely the lack of challenges, the feeling that there is nothing new. We need to continue to be a surprise to each other. "
Next I make a small summary of the beginning of the novel (it is not a complete summary).
Start of
The novel begins with the narration of Linda, a young Swiss woman who presents herself as a woman who can complain little. She is 30 years old, has a wealthy husband who is dedicated to finance, two children and a job as a reporter for a newspaper in Geneva (Switzerland).
However, despite her apparent good luck, she feels trapped in a routine, in a life without passion or risk, in the safest country in the world. She thinks that since she got married, time has passed without emotions and she feels the urge to leave everything and go in search of her dreams.
Linda suggests that her discontent was started through an interview in which the interviewee stated, “I have no interest in being happy. I prefer to live passionately, which is dangerous because you never know what might happen next. "
And there are still events that will further ignite the flame that has been lit in Linda. She has an interview with a politician, an ex-boyfriend from the institute, named Jacob, who has become a narcissistic man, selfish and only concerned about himself and his future. But Linda is aware that she is also an obsessed person with herself and wonders if they would have a good relationship.
The interview bores Linda because she is thinking about other things. Shortly after its inception, Jacob acts in a way she had expected: by kissing her. From there the life of the protagonist begins to destabilize with obsessions and feelings of guilt.
Although for Jacob the relationship is only a distraction, Linda wants to experience the passion and imagines herself in love with him. She finds it exciting to fight for an unrequited love and she likes what he has awakened within her.
Linda's obsession begins to grow and she decides that the first obstacle to her happiness is her husband, so she devises a plan to incriminate her husband for drug use.
How far will Linda go to satisfy your wishes?
What did you think of the analysis? What do you think the author is trying to convey?