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The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Paulo Coelho
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $1.70
You Save: $12.25 (88%)
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Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 26620
Media: Paperback
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0060528001
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780060528003
ASIN: 0060528001
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A stranger arrives at the remote village of Viscos, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives. A novel of temptation by the internationally bestselling author Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym is a thought-provoking parable of a community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear—as it struggles with the choice between good and evil.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Entertaining but very simple September 1, 2008
Y. Koch (Munich, Germany)
I was a big Coelho fan after reading The Alchemist, which is a simple but deep story.
Coelho writes very well, or at least the translations don't lose any of his prose, but I found the story to be a bit flat and preachy. If you have seen any Hollywood movies or read fairy tales, it is no more than they can offer. It was an easy book to read and entertaining, but did not leave me enlightened.
 The Devil Is In The Premise And The Prose February 8, 2008
Alan Sternin (California)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book barely and rarely transcends silly. It is a sad commentary about the psyche and intellect of this country that a book like this is a best seller. That it's also an Oprah recommendation is equally defining. You might ask why I read this book, or read it through. It was assigned as a topic by a discussion group my wife and I belong to. Otherwise, had I started it for whatever reason, I would have put it down after a page or two. (I would love to know if Oprah actually read this pedestrian piece of drivel before putting it on her list.)
 Puzzled by the praise... September 4, 2007
SB (PA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book received such praise, and certainly others who have reviewed it on Amazon include such hyperbole as "THE BEST EVER!!!". I'm at a loss to understand this. The story bumps along akwardly at the beginning - the plot gears up with all the smoothness of an organ grinder just beginning to turn the crank. Once the story gets going, it really does become compelling, and the middle of the book provides much food for thought. The ending has glimpses of the profound, but is rather messily and hastily tied up and dumped at the curb. One piece of the resolution (I won't give it away) has no foundation in the many "deals" made between the two main characters - and I ripped through the pages several times trying to find the explanation I surely had missed, only to toss the book aside frustrated when I didn't find it. All in all, the author has an eye for a topic, a good idea how to frame the debate, but the story needs a lot more tightening up to really pull it off.
 Fantastic book! July 25, 2007
Sahra Badou (Tokyo, Japan)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
`If even God has a hell, which is his love for mankind, then any man has his hell within easy reach, and that's his love for his family.'
This is the best book I have read this year! This book is a real page turner! I highly recommend it!
The story is as follows: A stranger appeared in a small village, Viscos, where 108 women and 173 men live. Unknown to the villagers, he was carrying in his rucksack eleven bars of gold, each weighing two kilos. After having checked-in in the only hotel, he plunged into the forest, where he dug two holes. In one, he buried one gold bar, and in the other hole the remaining 10 gold bars. He then walked back to the village. The first person he saw on his way back was a young woman, Chantal Prym, sitting beside a river reading a book. He approached her, and told her that he would like to show her something she had never seen before. At first she hesitated, but wanting adventure, she followed him into the forest. He told her to dig near a Y-shaped rock, where she found the first bar of gold. The stranger then led her to the next hiding place. There she found the remaining gold bars. She was astonished at the quantity of gold she saw before her. At first, she thought that he was showing her all this gold because he was like other older men, obsessed with the idea of sex with a younger woman. But she soon found out that the stranger was carrying out an experiment into the nature of human beings. He told her that he had discovered that confronted by temptation, humans will always fall. Given the right circumstances, every human being on this earth would be willing to commit evil. To test his theory, he then told her to tell the inhabitants of Viscos about the gold she saw, and to convey the message that should they kill one of their own, all the gold would be theirs! He further added that he would only give them a week. If, at the end of seven days, someone in the village is found dead, the money would go to the villagers, and he would conclude that humans are evil. However, should Chantal Prym steal the one gold bar but the village resists temptation, or vice versa, he would conclude that there are good people and evil people. This would mean that there's a spiritual struggle going on that could be won by either side. However, should he leave with all eleven gold bars, then he would conclude that life is good and that it prevails over evil.
The stranger had lost his wife and daughters at the hand of terrorists. He now needed to find out whether humans are good or evil. If we are good, he thought, God is just and will forgive him for all he has done, for He was the one who drove him towards the dark. But if we are evil, he concluded, then everything is permitted, he never took a wrong decision, and we are all condemned from the start, and it doesn't matter what we do in this life, for redemption lies beyond either human thought or deed.
Coelho is trying to convey to us the message that we are all good and evil; that good and evil have the same face. He recounts two stories to illustrate this. The first story is about the history of Viscos. The story goes as follows: A wicked Arab bandit by the name of Ahab controlled the whole village. One day, a hermit by the name of St Savin came down from his cave, arrived at Ahab's house and asked to spend the night there. Ahab laughed, telling him that he could easily slit his throat while he slept. But Savin insisted. Ahab determined to kill him that very night. They chatted while Ahab sharpened his knife, then Ahab showed Savin where he could sleep and continued menacingly sharpening his knife. After watching him for a few minutes, Savin closed his eyes and went to sleep. Ahab spent all night sharpening his knife. The next day, when Savin awoke, he found Ahab in tears at his side. He told him, "You weren't afraid of me and you didn't judge me. For the first time ever, someone spent a night by my side trusting that I could be a good man, one ready to offer hospitality to those in need. Because you believed I was capable of behaving decently, I did." From that moment on, Ahab abandoned his life of crime.
The other story is about The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci. When Leonardo was creating this picture, Leonardo da Vinci encountered a serious problem: he had to depict Good - in the person of Jesus - and Evil - in the figure of Judas. He stopped work on the painting until he could find his ideal models. He was quickly able to find his model for Jesus in a boy he saw in a choir. But three years had gone by, and the Last Supper was almost complete, but Leonardo had still not found the perfect model for Judas. After many days spent searching, the artist came across a prematurely aged youth, in rags and lying drunk in the gutter. The beggar was taken to the church, not understanding what was going on.
Leonardo immediately started copying the lines of impiety, sin and egotism so clearly etched on the beggar's features. When he had finished, the beggar, who had sobered up slightly, opened his eyes and saw the picture before him. With a mixture of horror he said, "I've seen that picture before!" Leonardo was astonished. He couldn't believe it. The beggar replied, "Three years ago, before I lost everything I had, at a time when I used to sing in a choir and my life was full of dreams. The artist asked me to pose as the model for the face of Jesus." Evil and good have the same face!
Chantal Prym did not immediately tell the inhabitants of the village about the gold. But she did tell them eventually on a Friday night at the village bar when all the villagers, including the stranger, were present. After telling them about the stranger and the gold, she told them,"That gold will belong to Viscos if, in the next three days, someone in the village is murdered. If no one dies, the stranger will leave, taking his gold with him."
They were all shocked, and some asked the stranger to leave the village at once, while others said to call the police. Chantal Prym was sure that there was no way her fellow villagers would be capable of committing a murder for money. But she was wrong! The villagers actually were contemplating committing the murder. The next day, they all congregated in the church. The priest gave a sermon, saying "In the Gospel according to Luke, there is a moment when an important man approaches Jesus and asks: `Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And, to our surprise, Jesus responds: `Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God.' The priest went on saying, `None is good, says the Lord. No one. We should stop pretending to a goodness that offends God and accept our faults: if one day we have to accept a wager with the devil, let us remember that our Father who is in heaven did exactly the same in order to save the soul of His servant Job.' (In the story of Job, God takes a wager with the devil, allowing the devil to strip Job of his wealth, killing his children, and inflicting a horrible disease on his body, just to see whether Job will continue to love and worship Him!)
The priest was once told by a bishop, `Abraham took in strangers, and God was happy. Elijah disliked strangers, and God was happy. David was proud of what he was doing, and God was happy. The publican before the altar was ashamed of what he did, and God was happy. John the Baptist went out into the desert, and God was happy. Paul went to the great cities of the Roman Empire, and God was happy. How can one know what will please the Almighty? Do what your heart commands, and God will be happy.'
One passage in the Bible greatly disturbed Viscos' priest. Why did Jesus ask Judas to commit a sin and thus lead him into eternal damnation? Jesus would never do that; in truth, the traitor was merely a victim, as Jesus himself. Evil had to manifest itself and fulfill its role, so that ultimately Good could prevail. If there was no betrayal, there could be no cross, the words of the scriptures would not be fulfilled, and Jesus' sacrifice could not serve as an example.
The priest was now set on murder, and he managed to convince the rest of the congregation.
The inhabitants of Viscos chose Berta as their victim; an old woman with no friends, who seemed slightly mad, and made no contribution to the growth of the village. All started to dream about the riches that would soon befall them.
Chantal Prym had a dream. It was of an angel handing her the eleven gold bars and asking her to keep them. Chantal told the angel that, for this to happen, someone had to be killed. But the angel said that this wasn't the case: on the contrary, the bars were proof that the gold did not exist. She had understood the dream.
The priest had taken all the shotguns from the villagers, and loaded all of them except one. In this way, they could all believe that they could have been the ones to shoot a blank.
They first sedated Berta, and then took her to the valley to be shot simultaneously by all the villagers. But Chantal Prym intervened. She stood in the line of fire, and asked the villagers if they could use the gold. Can they sell it? She told them the story of Midas, who turned everything he touched into gold, even his food and his wife. Midas died of starvation. Too many questions will be asked by the bank when they tried to change their gold to money. A murder was about to be committed for something they could never have. The villagers were convinced, and the noise of the first shotgun being disarmed was heard, followed by all the rest!
I thought this was as good or better than the Alchemist June 17, 2007
K. O'Grady (michigan)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
After reading the Alchemist (which was recommeneded to me by four people) I wanted to read more by this author. This is the best book I have read in a while! It made me reflect on human nature and will stick with me for years to come. The book explores whether people are naturally good or evil. I was drawn in from the beginning and stayed interested until the conclusion. It is a quick and thought proviking read. I then read Veronika Decides to Die. That was also a good book. I just ordered three more of his books, he is a facinating author.
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