Escaping Flatland: By the River Piedra...

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Friday, January 13, 2006

By the River Piedra...

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.

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