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: Did not enjoy it!
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: Credibility Anyone???
Review: This author came highly recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I trust. Instead of starting out with his most celebrated book the Alchemist, I picked up this one. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with the style in which it is written and the content of this book. This story is told by a 29 year old woman named Pilar, whose goal in life is to find a husband to settle down with. The way in which she portrays her desires, her fears, her reflections on her essence, her vices and weakness and the way she goes about recognizing them is too immature and unlikely for any woman. I presume that the logic of her thoughts is that simple and naïve is because of the fact that she comes from a small village and is not trained to overanalyze details the way big city people do. But I don't believe that is the case. In my opinion, the author does not do justice to understanding the nature of the female enough to write about it. From the thoughts of this woman, it is clear that it is not written by someone who understands our nature, and the lack of credibility of this character becomes apparent from the first pages of the book. The biggest disappointment of the book, however, comes from having to put up with so much religious nonsense that becomes part a theory that is absurd. While this story is about the recovery of faith, the process seems very superficial because it is not questioned and there is no internal conflict, the woman blindly accepts whatever she is handed out on the platter and talks about the synthesis of the information as though she's been preaching it forever. Such immediate acceptance of faith lacks substance and credibility. In the end, this book has its moments, but it's certainly not of the inspirational caliber.
Rating: 
Summary: I did weep at the end
Review: After reading the Alchemist, I was ready to sit down and enjoy my second Paulo Coelho book. and sure enough, the start of this story drew me in like a moth to a flame. One thing I like about Coelho is his poetical wisdom, the way he makes the words dance and the way he dances with those words. It is a rare sight to see.
Reason I gave this book 3 stars was that by the middle of this book, it began delving deeply into a very religous book, which wasn't really introduced prominently through the flaps or the editorial. I would caution those who are not used to reading religous books that there is such a content that you should be aware of, but if you have no bias against religion, I believe it will be a welcome sign posted in front of you.
I believe it is more of a religous story than a love story, it just tittered and tottered between the story. Yet, still, it was a fine piece of book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: a fable about opening our hearts to miracles
Review: Maybe some of you who read before Coelho expect this book to be another fable. It is true, 'By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept' can be considered a fable, as well as a love story set in the present, having some similarities with 'The Alchemist'. This is another journey (actually most of Coelho's books are journeys) to self dicovery and rediscovery of faith. Pilar, the main character, sets up for her journey to regain trust in God and fall in love again, no matter how much it may hurt. However, nobody can deny the beauty of this book which is well worth reading, Coelho being here an artist at describing feelings, confusions, states of mind. Full of deep meanings, warmth, joy and unexpected sorrow, the story is a celebration of the many possibilities life has to offer, and a fable about opening your heart to miracles.
It is also about searching for wisdom, in the French Pyrenees, and learning the wisdom inherent in loving. The 'spiritual path can only be travelled through the daily experience of love', and that is why 'sooner or later, we have to overcome our fears'. Pilar and her lover, make this journey together and finally get to understand its meaning. They are fictitious characters, 'but they represent the many conflicts that beset us in our search for love'. Coelho touches here upon another interesting point: the feminine face of God. We find out of God's feminine face, that all religions all over the world have a Goddess figure, a Virgin Mary, a Great Mother, though her presence, or importance, may seem to have been forgotten. And it is she who encourages us to love, for loving a partner, and marrying, is the only way of serving God. Coelho's parable reflects the interest and fascination with the feminine side of God. The other key to the story is expressed by the author in an introductory note: "Spiritual experience is above all a practical experience of love. And with love, there are no rules." I am sure this will be a very interesting and unforgettable experience for all of you who decide to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerising
Review: I received this book as a gift from a friend of mine, who told me it would teach me what love is like. I have since read it several times over; it is truly phenomenal. The plot is simple but original, the prose elegant and beautiful, and the lessons on love, religion, and following one's dreams are indispensible.
Rating:
Summary: It's all or nothing...
Review: I really liked this book. Have read 3 other Coelho books, Alchemist, Veronika and Miss Prym. Of course the Alchemist is bound to be the favourite of most people because maybe it is the most original and well known. However, I think that the others that I have read are just as interesting. In River Piedra, we have a love story, a doomed love story? Can religion and love come together? Would one so faithful to God give up his religion for a mortal love?
Rating:
Summary: Not one of Coelho's better books, but readable nonetheless
Review: While reading the book, I thought Coelho spent too much time deliberately clouding the plot with his character's musings and rambling state of mind, but then I remembered that I was reading a translation of a Latin author's work -- it is exceedingly difficult to transmit the Latin mindset easily into English, as anyone who's read a work in Spanish or Portuguese followed by its English translation knows. When I have time, I'd like to read the novel in Spanish to see if it rings truer, although I don't know if the Portuguese-to-Spanish translation is any less difficult. I could learn Portuguese, I guess, but I'm too lazy. I can't say I came away from reading this book spiritually enriched, but I will confess to having had an unusual depth to my thoughts while reading it. While there may or may not have been a link, it's enough to get me to read another Coelho novel sometime in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Read The Valkyries instead
Review: I felt like something was missing, that this was discription of some experience important to the author, that he had a memory in his mind but forgot that we as readers don't have the background. We never know how these two lovers met, why they fell in love, how they grew apart, or what was so difficult about reuniting. Often the most profound feelings of love and spirituality the characters experience is under the influence of a lot of wine. We don't even really find out how it all ends or why a spiritual life and a simple life in the place of ones birth are mutually exclusive. After reading the Valkyries, I felt like the holes were filled in.
Rating:
Summary: no stars really
Review: Review of River Piedra If you leave your responsibilities behind, run off to the mountains and have a series of semi-mystical experiences involving wine, fog, and charismatic religious experiences (resembling Woodstock/which provide no apparent value to anyone) then your childhood dreams will come true. The author has used a "cleverly" deceptive title to mask the inevitable happy ending. In this case Paul Coelho is a big phoney who pretends to write inspirational novels.
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