From the immensely popular Brazilian author of The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho’s Manuscript Found in Accra is not a novel but a guide to using ancient wisdom to handle the conundrums of life. More than once has Khalil Gibran’s “The Profit” been mentioned as a comparison in discussions, yet this work by Coelho is a far different type of text.
Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo CoelhoMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Based on the title, I was expecting something more along the lines of recently read “The Aleppo Codex”, but found “Manuscript Found in Accra” to be something completely different. Knowing very little about the author, Paulo Coelho, I quickly learned of his international popularity with his novels “The Alchemist”, “Veronika Decides to Die”, “Aleph”, etc.
“Manuscript Found in Acra” did not read like a novel for it is actually the manuscript itself – a transcript of questions and answers regarding fear, anxiety, defeat and more, translated from the original Greek. The questioners consist of 3 groups; Jews, Muslims and Christians, the answers provide messages of wisdom, lessons and analogies delivered from a sage prophet known as the “Copt”, with some very profound gems, such as: “…to those who believe that adventures are dangerous, I say, try routine; that kills you far more quickly” and “The greatest manifestation of the miracle of God is life”.
Though it was not what I expected, it was uplifting and well worth the short time it took to read it.
Steve D.
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