By the River Piedra...
... is a metaphysical allegory from Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist. The book was simple, preditable and repetitive, but had a few quotable sections. Here is one:
"What was that song you were singing yesterday?" I asked.
"Balada para un loco", he said. "Why do you ask about it now?"
"I don't know"
But I had a reason: I knew he'd sung the song as a kind of snare. He'd made me memorize the words, just as I would memorize course work for an examination. He could have sung a song I was familiar with - but he'd chosen one I'd never heard before.
It was a trap. Later, if I heard the song played on the radio or at a club, I'd think of him, of Bilbao, and of a time in my life when autumn turned to spring. I'd recall the excitement, the adventure, and the child who was reborn out of God knows where.
This dude was clearly a playa. Perhaps, I too should give up this hedonistic lifestyle in Midtown Atlanta, and become a charismatic spiritual leader practicing in the French Pyrennes. Then ensnare women with my lilting voice and loco songs [Link]. Or maybe a change of scene - that French Pyreenes thing is sooo 80's. A post-renaissance mendicant singing Daler Mehandi to the Naipaul-afflicted ladies in Trinidad: "Saade Naal Raho Ge?" while begging for alms, shelter and sex, like this guy.
