Travelling across the Siberian steppe in a manner reserved for reclusive world leaders like North Korea’s Kim Jong-il, or sages like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho is getting a rapturous reception in his specially converted train.
Crowds of fans have swarmed on to railway platforms to see the author at remote outposts along the Trans-Siberian route to Vladivostok. More than 1 000 people turned up for one book-signing en route and groups of fans waving signs and begging autographs have appeared at his window at every stop. ”There were girls weeping with joy,” said Natasha Babkina, a manager at Dom Knigi (House of Books) in Yekaterinburg, where Coelho spent several hours meeting readers.
Coelho’s philosophical but plain-language novels have struck a chord with Russians, who love to ponder spiritual matters in late-night conversations around their kitchen tables.
Breathless reports from television crews and news agencies have kept the country informed of his progress across the steppe, including precise details of his daily routine and diet.
The response has taken Coelho, who has sold more than 86-million books, by surprise. ”This pilgrimage has given me hope that art can create a bridge between peoples,” he told The Guardian as he sped through the night towards Irkutsk, 5 600km east of Moscow.
The millionaire author of bestsellers such as The Alchemist and The Valkyries is travelling with his entourage in two private wagons with sitting rooms that are attached to intercity trains and is accompanied by a pair of personal chefs.
Irina Koval, the author’s assistant, said Coelho’s tastes were nonetheless ascetic: he was breakfasting on fresh herbs, orange juice and fruit. ”The chefs are trying to tempt him with all sorts of delicacies but he prefers simple food such as cheese sandwiches,” she added.
The author set out on the journey to mark the anniversary of his visit to Santiago de Compostela in Spain in 1986, which inspired his book, The Pilgrimage.
Coelho found success with The Alchemist, a symbolic novel that urges readers to pursue their dreams. It received gushing endorsements from Julia Roberts and Madonna, who described it as ”a beautiful book about magic, dreams and the treasures we seek elsewhere and then find on our doorstep”, but harsher treatment from the critics. Complaints that his work is pseudo-intellectual and comparable to self-help books have not prevented the author achieving huge global success.
”Russians particularly like that he talks about difficult philosophical ideas in an easy, accessible way that gives them a spiritual experience without spiritual labour,” said a literary critic, Aleksander Gavrilov.
Coelho arrived in Russia after visiting Tunisia, Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine. He embarked on the fortnight-long, 9 235km journey from Moscow to Vladivostok last week and will fly from the far eastern port to his home in France.
So far Coelho (58) has visited three major cities and made unscheduled stops at numerous isolated settlements along the Trans-Siberian railway. Near Yekaterinburg he took a tour of his train ”to look ordinary travellers in the eye”.
”It was 11pm, not the best time for a walk on a train perhaps, but Paulo was strong,” his press service said. On Monday night he was forced to cut short his interview as fans greeted his train in Nizhneudinsk, a poor town.Coelho said the only problem with his journey was the constant swaying of the train. ”I have been sleepless for a week,” he said.
Life and times Paulo Coelho
Born: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 1947
Education: Jesuit school of San Ignacio in Rio de Janeiro. Attended law school in Rio but abandoned his studies in 1970 to travel throughout Mexico, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, as well as Europe and north Africa
Career: Started out writing popular music lyrics. After a brief imprisonment in 1974 for alleged subversive activities against the Brazilian government, Coelho worked for five years for the recording departments of Polygram and CBS
Books: He has sold more than 86-million books and has been translated into 60 languages. These include The Alchemist, The Valkyries, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, Veronika Decides to Die and Eleven Minutes
Family: He and his wife Christina have homes in Rio de Janeiro and Tarbes, in France – Guardian Unlimited Â