“The Fifth Mountain” by Paulo Coelho – The Trials of Faith

Paulo Coelho is one of today’s most unique and ambitious writers, tackling on the most complex and convoluted subjects he can find. I've already reviewed his masterpiece, The Alchemist, in which a man was taken on a tremendous journey of soul-searching and self-discovery.

It seems these themes are quite close to Paulo's heart, as they can once again be seen in another one of his modern classics, The Fifth Mountain.

The Fifth Mountain follows the story of the prophet Elijah who must flee the Phoenicians who in the ninth century B.C., under the orders of their princess Jezebel, execute all prophets who do not worship Baal. Instructed by an angel of God, Elijah flees to Zrephath, where he finds love and comfort in the eyes of a young widow.

However, God has other plans for Elijah as soon, his entire world is torn apart by events which keep getting worse and worse, setting him on a road to undergo desolating trials with no weapons other than love and his faith. For the heaviness of the story and themes this novel conveys, it has to be said that the writing is quite simple and easy to understand.

This, in my opinion, is one of Coelho’s true qualities: being able to deliver the exact message he wants all while remaining simple, concise and easy to understand.

Even though, as was mentioned in the past, I’m not much of a religious person, I still found this novel very interesting as even when you take faith out of the equation, some existential questions are brought up: to what point are we capable of controlling our faith, even in the absence of a supreme being? What can help you overcome the will to die when there isn’t anything left to live for? Are tests of faith really necessary?

In any case, these are some of the questions I thought of while reading, and I’m sure you would come up with some different ones, should you read the book of course.

All in all, The Fifth Mountain is a very deep, touching, and even inspiring novel that will find its way into your heart, if not in your head, regardless of what your religious beliefs are or how you may think that this world works.

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Paulo Coelho Personal site Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian novelist and lyricist, sometimes known by the name of Paul Rabbit. His unusual and deeply-moving novels have made of him one of the most widely-read authors today, earning him an array of international awards, including the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. His most famous novel, The Alchemist, has been translated in over 67 languages to date.