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Cover of Zahir by Paulo Coelho

Zahir

  • 320 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 2005
  • 21 editions

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1 About this book

The Zahir is a 2005 novel by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. As in an earlier book, The Alchemist, The Zahir is about a pilgrimage. The book touches on themes of love, loss and obsession.

The Zahir has been translated into 44 languages. The book was first published in Iran, in Persian translation, by Caravan Publishing. Iran has never signed any international copyright agreements. By being published first in Iran, the book falls under the national copyright law of Iran. This copyright measure created an unusual situation where a book is first published in a language other than the author's native language. However, the book was banned in Iran a few months after its publication, during the 18th Tehran International Book Fair.

Intended as a work of fiction, the story has strong autobiographical features, which led to an attack on the book's shallow egotism in the English press.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Marriage
  • Psychological fiction
  • Missing persons
  • Compulsive behavior
  • Husband and wife
  • Personas desaparecidas
  • War correspondents
  • Matrimonio

2 About Paulo Coelho

Born 1947

Paulo Coelho de Souza ( KWEL-yoo, koo-EL-yoo, -⁠yoh, Portuguese:; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He has been a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His 1988 novel The Alchemist is an international best-seller.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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