What I like about The Devil & Miss Prym?
A lot of things.
What I feel about Paulo Coelho?
The greatest respect in the world.

Truly Coelho is a writer who speaks a universal language. His story is a simple story about human being. Just about human being, and how complicated their thinkings are in finding a simple meaning of life.

The first time I read TDMP I felt a familiar feeling. Before this I've read 'The Alchemist', one of his more successful book about the journey of a shepherd named Santiago in finding the buried treasure who finally realized that the buried treasure he was first seeking of is just near and the real treasure he found is himself. So as I start on TDMP I felt like I've known Coelho. His writings are so pure and 'readable', and although at times his subjects are complex, his way of explaining them are so easy that even a twelve years old can understand.

In TDMP, it started off with a stranger coming to the small dying town of Viscos, whose population of 281 people live in a peaceful quiet manner, with many of the young ones already migrated to other part of the country (it feels just like my kampung, dying little by little). The oldest is Berta, who has the special ability to see more than meets the outer layer of the world, and the youngest is the orphan barmaid Chantal Prym, whose main aim in life is to leave Viscos for good. Not anybody but Berta saw that the stranger who came to the town was a regular man... with devil on his side and nobody but Miss Prym saw that he came with a plan that would bring chaos to the town.

The game was simple. He told Chantal about some goldbars that he hid in the mountains, and offered Chantal (and the rest of Viscos) all those bars with one condition... that they should kill a person. Just one person, a sacrifice that would bring the dying Viscos wealth that can relive its Celtic glory. The story revolves around it, on how Miss Prym was to decide, to tell the people of Viscos or to run away with the goldbars... or IF she tell them would they be willing to do Evil for Good, or would they do Good and let Viscos die... Or if they decided not to do it whether it's because they're Good or just Coward by nature, afraid to make a change...

It's a battle of angels and demons...

I love it for it question the morality and rationality in simultaneous circle all at the same time. Miss Prym, who wasn't the most angelic person in the world, yet refuse to fall into the depth of evil just for the sake of goodness. The stranger, hellbound on proving to himself that Good does not exist just to justify his misery of losing his family. The town of Viscos, looking for reasons and excuses to justify and resolve the issues of their dying town. Berta, the one who would be sacrificed in the name of 'the greater good' fought back only to prove that she would not want to be the scapegoat of the situation. The devils, whispering irrational rationalities into the heart of everyone in order to possess the soul from Righteousness...

There is one passage that I love in this book,
"Very clever. Playing the part of a charitable soul was only for those who were afraid of taking a stand in life. it is always far easier to have faith in your own goodness than to confront others and fight for your rights. it is always easier to hear an insult and not retaliate than have the courage to fight back against someone stronger than yourself; we can always say we're not hurt by the stones others throw at us, and it's only at night - when we're alone and our wife or our husband or our school friend is asleep - that we can silently grieve over our own cowardice"    

Truth in the best words...