![]() ![]() Paulo, a “skinny Brazilian with a goatee” – you cannot blame Coelho for vanity in describing himself – arrives in Europe to see the two centres of the hippie world of the 60s and 70s, Dam Square in Amsterdam and Piccadilly Circus in London. Paulo never makes it to Nepal, but before you scream ‘spoiler!’, that makes no difference, because what happens before then on the fabled hippie trail is life-changing. It is a cliché, but as with so many journeys, it is not the destination but the getting there that matters. Hippie continues the spiritual search, this time departing on the fabled Magic Bus from Amsterdam towards Nepal, enlightenment and self-discovery. Coelho’s previous autobiographical novels are all set on journeys: The Pilgrimage describes the author’s spiritual awakening on his 500-mile hike to Santiago de Compostela, The Valkyries tells the story of his and his wife’s journey across the Mojave Desert, and Aleph sets out on another pilgrimage across Asia on the Trans-Siberian railway. Hippie is the newest addition to Coelho’s bibliography, but to say that it is something new from Coelho would be lying. ![]()
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