By the River Piedra I sat down and wept

(that's an old review i wrote, and just wanted to share it.. funny how i understood back then, and am totally detached from it now)

"If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to
live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to
make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or
forget him. Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing
which to do is the worst kind of suffering."

The previous amazingly touching phrase is one of the many quotable
phrases in "By the River Piedra I sat down and wept" by Paulo Coelho
published March 1997. Even though I consider Coelho to be a purely
"commercial" writer, yet the beauty of this book is undeniable.. I
would recommend it as an easy, interesting read..

The book's synopsis from Barnes & Noble:
Pilar is an independent and practical yet restless young woman,
frustrated by the daily grind of university life and looking for
greater meaning in her existence. Her life is forever transformed by
an encounter with a childhood friend, now a mesmerizing and handsome
spiritual teacher - and a rumored miracle worker - who leads her on a
journey through the French Pyrenees, a magical landscape that has been
home to holy visions and miracles through the ages. On this passionate
adventure of the heart and spirit, the two lovers together glimpse the
feminine face of God and receive a startling revelation about the
divine - that what they have always known as God is actually love, the
powerful, essential force that is the very water of life. As they
rediscover each other, Pilar and her lover also discover the joyous
power at the heart of the human experience, and Paulo Coelho, our
preeminent weaver of spiritual adventure, once again opens a window
onto exhilaration and inspiration for his characters and readers
alike.

Favorite quotes from the book:
"All of us have had this experience. At some point, we have each said
through our tears, "I'm suffering for a love that's not worth it." We
suffer because we feel we are giving more than we receive. We suffer
because our love is going unrecognized. We suffer because we are
unable to impose our own rules."

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life
fully when we allow the unexpected to happen."

and a favorite:
"A fall from the third floor hurts as much as a fall from the
hundredth. If I have to fall, may it be from a high place."