Rating: 
Summary: Not Good at All!!!!
Review: "By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept" by Paolo Coelho deals with two childhood friends who were extremely fond of each other but were separated when the boy leaves the village to explore the world and to find himself. Years later, they met again at a conference and realized that they never got over each other. The love that they felt for each other when they were children were still very much alive now that they both reached adulthood. Both characters had inner conflicts that they need to deal with. For Pilar, the main character in the book, was one who never did leave her village and who sought to lead a peaceful and predictable life was drawn to childhood friend. She was torn between leaving something that she is familiar with (returning to her village, get a husband, etc) and following this man to new places and learn new things. For him, he was torn between the love he felt for Pilar and the fact that he believed he has the ability to perform miracles and therefore heal the sick. The story started out nicely enough until the author decided to concentrate mostly on Catholicism. For those of us who are not Catholics, it is difficult to understand the Catholics' heavy emphasis on Virgin Mary. At some point, Coelho seems to place equal importance between Mary and Jesus. I agree with one reviewer who said that the book cover of this book totally neglected any mention of Catholicism and gave the impression that it was a love story. I honestly did not enjoy this book, and feel that there are much better books out there. However, if you are a die hard fan of Coelho, this may appeal to you as his unique writing and poetic expression is very much visible in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Love that worht everything
Review: Daniel Lozada-Montebello Adult School,Montebello Ca.
Love is a need of every human,we were created to love and to be loved as a human we have a strong desire to be love,we have the necesity of being loved in a special way, this story is about a young couple that found each other once again after a long separation, their encounter brought some feelings that they had when they were younger, during that separation they try to find the real love, they know that they had something in common but they didn't know what was that but it was something powerful and special that it had to be discovered in specific time and specific circumstances, the separation helped them to understand that there is just one specific person for each one of us. They learned that the real love can't be substitude by any other feeling or material things and they learned the real love is not something that comes so easy, they have to fight and persevere in order to find it. They made many mistakes but and the end of the story they knew that the real love have to be cultivated.
Rating: 
Summary: Spirituality
Review: I am not a writer myself, as my review will clearly show, but I must say this. This was a truly excellent book, and I've already recommended it to 4 other people. It is true that it does get very religious, and some people have docked it for that. I must ask this though, why can't they step back and see it as general spirituality? I for one don't believe in organized religion, but couldn't put this book down. I feel that says something for the quality of the book, and for the meaning it gives. I wish that everyone could read this book, and not get hung up on simple things.
Rating:
Summary: The love persevere
Review: I enjoyed a lot this book. When you feel love everything is a magic moment. Of course, you shuold be sure about her or him love. Sometimes we don't know who really love us, but, we must to trust on them. We always hope a true love. It came to us. You can feel the true love, in your heart, in your soul, is a magic moment. Travel with him or her, spend the life togheter, to be only one, with difficults, problems, discuss, but, the love is a powerful thing.
Rating:
Summary: Read it outloud for the best experience!
Review: I found this book at the information counter of a book store while purchasing Einstein's Dreams. I picked it up and read the back cover and decided to purchase it. That afternoon I was riding the metro in Washington, D.C. and was captured so securely by the opening pages that I began to read it out loud! I am still captivated by the story through the relationahip between the lead characters and the metaphysical/religious sense to living. Often times we, humans, fail to see the cooling nature of spirituality; the feminine face of God as Coelho puts it. There are aspects of spiritually that span all the world's religions and Coelho is successful to point out the commonalities of all. The love story is beautiful and Coelho is successful in describing the essential struggle of Love and Life through the protagonist, Pilar. Love and Life are two of the three quests that humans try to find the answers for. (Death being the third) I feel that Paulo Coehlo has both entertained me and helped me to look deep into my soul for the answers to my life. A wonderful Love story that should be read out loud.
Rating:
Summary: It's a start...
Review: I read the Alchemist and I really liked it, so I figured this book would be another moving experience. I was disappointed a third of the way in, and remained that way for the rest of the book. I never once felt attached to either of the characters. The love that unfolds in the story seems a bit empty. These people are apparently connected through a lovely childhood, but *why* is their bond so special? The book says little more than "they had a lovely childhood together" and we're expected to just take the author's word for it. It's the same with her transformation in the days she spends with him. Her life is changed by his influence, but why? Did it really only take a change of scenery? Has she really never thought of some of the things he's discovered? Could she have just fallen in love with anyone who brought her out of her banal existence? I felt like as these events were happening, I wasn't being brought along for the ride. I was merely taking the author's word for it and reading a summarization. Their love meant nothing to me because I couldn't see why she wanted him over anyone else, and vice versa. Without real purpose and depth, love stories like this become fluff. I think with twice the content and detail, I would have felt much more of a connection to the material. I like a lot of the things Coelho has to say (it's still a better story than I could write) and I'm definitely going to read the rest of his books -- this one just wasn't for me.
Rating:
Summary: fast read
Review: I read this book in one day. It was enjoyable, I really liked the religious element. But I do feel it lacked depth and character development. All in all I liked it, but I would definitely buy it used or borrow it.
Rating: 
Summary: Read for the writing, if not for the author's viewpoint
Review: I've noticed very extreme ratings from 1 star to 5 stars given to this book. This book forces the reader to think about some pertinent issues in life: do we quietly accept or burdens? Or do we fight to change our dull boring lives? Should we let ourselves be mired in habit or should be seek a wonder-filled life? It does seem a touch too chauvinistic - Pilar's friend is too much the perfect guy, the romantic spiritual teacher who teaches her about the meaning of life - but right at the end of the book, the author has redeemed Pilar by letting show her friend some very important things about love. People will rate this book according to whethere or not they agree with the author on these issues, but I rate this work 4 stars anyway for its unusual romantic storyline, and the writing, which is laudable. Read the book. Even if you don't like the author's ideas, you should still ponder the themes relating to life, acceptance and love of the novel. Without this book to open our eyes, many people might just pass through life without ever noticing these issues.
Rating:
Summary: BY THE RIVER PIEDRA I SAT DOWN &WEPT
Review: In my personal opinion, I love this story because they find the way to be together and fight to accomplish their goals. Most of all, I love their determination to not give up and start a new life if Great Mother would not agree. They were afraid to chage the way of their life. Great Mother agreed to give them a second chance and they were so happy because they would be serving to God and at the same time they can be together as a couple, in this life we have to fight for our love or dreams.
Rating:
Summary: Follow your dreams.. Have faith...
Review: Listen to your heart.. These are the themes of this lovely, poetic little book. A celebration of love and a life-affirming tale.
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