PC’s Adultery & what I didn’t like about the book!
After reading Alchemist, if anyone reads Adultery who believes in love & a happily ever after s/he might get highly disappointed. I’ll explain why.
First, let me give you guys a little brief about the book.
This book is about Linda going through her 30s, living in Switzerland with a loving and wealthy husband and their two kids. A professional woman working as a journalist. And in the story as per her- her life is so very perfect, yet she feels boredom and unhappy due to her monotonous life. She is confused if she is depressed or not. Does she need a psychiatrist or not.
One day, she is assigned to interview a successful politician, Jacob, her ex-boyfriend. Jacob is a married man, having a perfect wife. Linda’s desire to add some zeal, excitement and adventure in life makes her fall for him.
Paulo has portrayed Linda as a shallow, self-centered and depressed woman who keeps losing herself to the name of so-called love. Frequently it is mentioned in the book that she feels she is in love with Jacob. But the basic elements such as trust, faith, warmth, friendship, compatibility, understanding and care are lacking between them. Rather she is jealous, confused and insecure.
Linda has been narrated as per the author’s perceptive to indicate that a certain kind of mindset may exist.
This book doesn’t dignify the beauty of adulthood in the age of 30s and not up to the mark to maintain the essence. As Paulo Coelho is the master of vocables, some quotes are written admirably. Like-
“Love isn’t just a feeling. It’s an art. And like any art, it takes not only inspiration but also a lot of work.”
“Beware when making a woman cry. God is counting her tears.”
“We are the ones who create the messes in our heads. It doesn’t come from outside.”
Now let me share my observations of the novel.
People might often say that adultery takes place due to several exogenous variables. But that’s not true at all. At the end of the day, it’s a choice that people make irrespective of variables. And this tendency is not gender-biased. We can’t say wo/men have a high tendency of cheating since they are born this way or that way.
The one point only I could empathize with Linda where she feels that she is missing the passion she’s longing so desperately & how she couldn’t communicate that honestly with her husband.
After reading the story, somehow I got into this realization that after becoming a couple, how people often stop trying to impress their partners and stop trying to retain & increase the passion of loving each other and holding onto each other dearly.
And then seek out for cheaper or easier adventures!
Life is for everyone. Everyone has a right to search for all the shades of life. But for that reason, we can’t justify adultery especially as a name of Purpose or finding us. Or can’t justify adultery saying I was too depressed with life which made me cheat!
In my opinion, the act of fornication itself is immoral. It's cheating. Offtopic might be but these days new ways of cheating are happening (& it’s not always physical: read out what people call cheating emotionally: https://www.insider.com/what-is-an-emotinal-affair-2017-6).
I also heard a few of my friends to saying that people should take cheating casually.
I mean, seriously?
What is wrong is wrong and you can’t justify wrong saying it can be relative. No, it’s not!
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it-William Penn
And when you’re committed to somebody, you won’t allow yourself to look for perfection or even won’t allow yourself to lust for someone else.
If someone really can’t keep the promise they made then at least for the sake of decency (which they might lack) & respect towards their partner they should try to communicate. Then if divorce or separation is inevitable should go for that. But at least one should keep the decency of respecting his/her partner who has been loyal to them all along!
As per a friend of mine who agreed with me
It doesn’t matter if the man or the woman is doing it because they have low impulse control (yes people cheat for that too) or because they found someone to emotionally bond with or fill the void of marriage. People need to learn that communication is necessary to seek a divorce or separation. If they can’t, it doesn’t discount the objective immorality if the action.
And it’s pukeable that the extent to which people want to be left alone without accountability: A. For their lack of capacity to keep a contract or a promise; B. Not have the ability to communicate for annulment C. Continue both partners either because C1. They are for multiple dicks or pussies despite being married C2. They just lack impulse control and can’t say no to sex.
