Th Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho

As a firm Paulo Coelho fan I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. As ever this was a great read and a page turner. However, and I don´t know if this was due to my own expectations, this was a less inspiring story than say, Veronika Decides to Die. It lacked originality and unabashedly imitated the bible. The bible is full of parables, symbolic stories told so that we may be guided to better ourselves, choose the right path. Perhaps since everyone else says so, Paulo Coelho now sees himself as a prophet or apostle and feels it is his calling to write a more modern day parable. If so, then I would ask him to go all the way, as he did in Veronika, and not waiver between biblical and modern day.
So we spend the first half of the book observing Elijah as he encounters one misfortune after another, up to and including the loss of a loved one, despite his belief that he is truly open to the messages of the oracles and more than willing to follow their guidance.
However, it is only when he surrenders his human interpretation and allows himself to become an instrument of the true word, that everything flourishes.
A fine tale indeed, but I found Coelho´s handling of it, especially the latter part, to be too superficial and thus lacking the energy and ´WOW´ factor he so magnificently achieves in other books.
Briefly then, a good read, a fine story, yet hardly as dynamic or mysterious as his other works. Ultimately a bland, disappointing conclusion.