The Zahir

The Zahir by Paulo Coelho was a book that I had read about on a Bookaholics page on Facebook.  I loved the writing of this book. It is described on the front cover as "A novel of obsession".



I don't believe that the narrator of the story was ever identified by name.  He was a married man, a well-read author living in Paris with his wife, Esther, who was a war correspondent. Suddenly one day, Esther disappeared.  The police initially held the narrator in prison thinking that he had done something to her.  Everyone was trying to figure out was she kidnapped, was she murdered, or did she just leave her husband?  Esther had taken her passport and had been withdrawing money from their account, so it was eventually determined that she had left of her own free will.  It was also found that she probably had left with the younger man she had last been seen with.

The book is about the narrator's obsession with Esther, who in his mind called her "My Zahir".  He studied their life together, their past conversations, anything about her life that he could.  Eventually, the young man that she had been seen with came to see him and he became involved in the young man's life.  One night, as they were leaving the young man's group of friends, they had this conversation:

"I think that woman was right," I said.  "If you tell a story, then that means you're still not really free of it."

"I am free, but, as I'm sure you'll understand, therein lies the secret; there are always some stories that are 'interrupted,' and they are the stories that remain nearest to the surface and so still occupy the present; only when we close that story or chapter can we begin the next one."

When the young man finally told the narrator where Esther was, the narrator began the journey to find her.

I won't share the ending, but I will say that I was very moved by it.