Book Review - Hippie by Paulo Coelho

Hippie by Paulo Coelho
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

From the hirsute generation of Jim, Jimi and Janis this is a journey of self-exploration. A drug addict expounds on the benefits of drug use

With heroin, it’s completely different: you are in control of everything – your body, your mind, your art. An immense indescribable happiness washes over the entire universe. Christ on earth. Krishna in your veins. Buddha smiling down on you from heaven. No hallucinations, this is reality, true reality… Everybody thinking about getting home, making dinner, turning on the television, escaping reality – man, reality is this white powder, not the television.

But then the harsh reality of the moral degradation of the consequences of heroin use sinks in

The problem is your body builds up a tolerance. At first I was spending five dollars a day; today it takes twenty dollars to get to paradise. I already sold everything I had – my next step is begging on the streets; after begging I’ll have to steal, because the devil doesn’t like people who’ve been to paradise. I know what’s going to happen, because it’s happened to everyone you see here today. But I don’t care.

I have not had the privilege of reading the fabled The Alchemist. This autobiographical account meandered along with any profound revelations.

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