Review: The Winner Stands Alone

The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I love Paulo Coelho and one of the reasons that I do is because all his books contain a very specific message. He is not bound to writing just fiction, but has incorporated some fantasy into some of his books and he has also written factual books about his personal journey. This book markedly stands out from the rest, both because of the topic, the environment it is set in and the manner in which it ends.

The Winner Stands Alone though, is a fictional story, set during the Cannes Festival, and like all PC stories it is wrapped in meaning.

There are 4 main characters, 3 of which have succumbed to the manipulations of the world they want to be a part of: The world of money, power, and fashion; The Hollywood world of fame and fortune that we are sold through the media; The world filled with drama, money and bodyguards as seen on reality television and the front page of celebrity magazines.

It starts with Igor, a billionaire from Russia arriving at the Cannes Festival to win back his ex wife, Ewa. He plans to do so by "destroying worlds" for her (i.e. killing people). Igor is probably the most discussed character of this book, and he brings up a very interesting question: Is right and wrong something that you set for yourself, and if so, to what extent?
Hamid Hussain is Ewa's new husband, who lives in constant fear of losing her. Ewa herself is characterized as a supporting character, and in her we find a stereotype for many women out there.
Gabriela wants to be an actress and, like so many others, travels to the Cannes in order to realise her dream.
A model, and the new face for HH (Hamid Hussain Fashion House), Jasmine escaped into the fashion world in order to create a safer world for herself and her mother.

Of these 4, 1 will die, and of 3 that remain alive, only one will be truthful to their dreams and who they really are.

This book has been wonderfully researched and throughout, each character (both main and sub) brings forth their own musings about the world they (we) live in, how they got there, why they remain there and what they dream(ed) of. PC touches on the power that money has to trap people, the ways in which average people are duped into desiring the lifestyles that they are sold, and although his main spectrum with regards to the trap of money, is the Superclass (the moviestars, producers, millionaires, etc.), it can be reflected back to almost every average person that deals with bills and responsibilities, who has dreams they feel they can't follow due to the life that binds them.

This brings to light a lot of opinions about the fashion industry, the marketing industry, the truth about what we think we see in Hollywood and the so-called Superclass of the world and the ways in which we are manipulated, as witnesses to this world, so that some person somewhere can make a bucket load of money off our desires. Of course, this is all a very gross generalisation, and there are always exceptions to every rule, but in this book, the generalisation is the topic of discussion. Whether or not you will agree with the opinions that are brought into discussion, is a personal matter but at the very least, it is thought provoking.

In addition to thinking a little, for some out of the box, for some affirming what they might already suspect, the reader is also privy to information on how the system works in this world, and how it is sold to the masses on the outside. Personally, I love gaining knowledge, especially when said knowledge is aimed at liberating my mind. I will never look at a box office hit in quite the same way.

A truly insightful book throughout, the only reason why I am withholding one star is because the ending left me mystified. As stated above, PC writes a message into all of his tales, and this story is no exception. In addition, you also get the various opinions and thoughts throughout the book, but then ... the story ends. You get half of the message from the one character left in truth, sure, but the actual ending on the very last page left me sleepless on the night I finished it, wondering how it ties in to the overall message of the story. You might think that you have an idea of what the message will be throughout the book, but when it actually ends, you find that all your ideas are suddenly null and void with respect to the very last page. Of course you could take the final page out of the equation and be left with a clear cut message all on its own, but PC is not likely to have written it without a very specific reason. There is also the probability that the very last page is a message all on its own and then you have at least one sound message from this book, and one page of obscurity.

Some people enjoy books and stories that are open ended like this one. Perhaps I think too much, or perhaps I am missing something (please let me know if you think you know what it is), but this ending left me baffled, not necessarily in a bad way, but with an intense desire to know and with no idea where to get the answer.




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