'This is not a thriller, but a stark portrait of where we are now', - Paulo Coelho

The above line is included in the preface to The Winner Stands Alone. Have you wondered why an author should ever make a disclaimer of this kind? It is very simple really. Coelho actually thought that his book might be interpreted as one. Remember Bernard Shaw's classic reaction after the first performance of 'Arms and the Man' received overwhelming response? Shaw said he was the only one present in the theatre who realised that the play had been a 'miserable failure'. All because, a play he had subtitled 'an anti-romantic comedy' was accepted for its elements of popular romanticism. I don't suppose Coelho actually need to be as disappointed as Shaw. A 'stark portrait of where we are now' may be a gripping narrative of realities as well. In fact, most realities are thrilling.


The novel spans for a little less than twenty-four hours and is set in Cannes, the capital of films, during the film festival. Paulo Coelho captures the life behind the glam and glitz with even the minutest nuance in its right place. We have seen Cannes on television and read about it in magazines but these don't tell us about the anxieties of stars and the backstage intrigues without making it sound like gossip. And gossip it no doubt is. But not so with Coelho. The master of magic realism is equally brilliant in his depiction of realities in this book. I have come across a few people who have not liked 'The Winner Stands Alone' much. But mostly these are people who do not like intrigue as a genre, or thrillers for that matter. Also, some readers are not able to tune in to a new experiment by a favourite author.


The book centres around protagonist Igor, a Russian Millionaire, following a run away wife (Ewa) to tell her how important she is. Ewa, is now with Hamid, a world famous fashion designer from Middle East. Now of course this is an oversimplification of the plot. The social realism in this book is perhaps the most scathing of all Paulo Coelho novels, here the setting provides ready opportunities for dissecting lives. The producers, directors, actors, models, make-up artists, agents – all are people who have been subjected to glamour in all its obscene excess. Fundamentally all of them are struggling and all of them are victims. The quote in the beginning of the book captures the essence- “I am not what you supposed, but far different” (Walt Witman.)


Paulo Coelho chooses Cannes as representative moral degeneration. "In Cannes," an assistant remarks, "there's no such thing as friends, only self-interest. There are no human beings, just crazy machines who mow down everything in their path in order to get where they want or else end up plowing into a lamppost." The 'superclass' in this volatile world has all the power. And power here is defined and measured in terms of luxury one can afford, and botox injections that women can push in to defy age. But Coelho does not spare members of any social class or group in his criticism. The silly antics of ordinary men are as despicable in his mind as the age-old vanities of the important.

There are just too many sins held up under the light in Coelho's book. You simply must read it.