The Fifth Mountain..

This is the title of the new book I hav just read .. by PAULO COELHO. I had read one of his more famous books "The alchemist" some yrs ago..n aftr eading it I sweared not 2 read another buk of his ever! For I wasnt able to decifer that one..nor understand y ppl lykd it sooo much! The male protagonist spoke to "the sand" for full 4 pages there!...which I thought made little sense.

I had The fifth mountain wid me for quite some time now bt never really desired to read it..ofcourse for the reasons mentiond...but out of sheer boredom I decided to giv it a try..N I am glad I did it!!

The fifth mountain is set in the backdrop of Egypt n a place called Akbar(no connections to the King...Alas the only name in the buk that was familiar) and at a time wen mountains wer considered Gods..Battles wer fought for religion n Gods..to see whose Gods are the strongest!
(Here its about the Gods of the fifth mountain and the One lord)

Its about a guy named Elijah..his tyrst wid his destiny..his belief in his GOD..his struggle wid his God(referred as One Lord)..his realization of love n the true identification of self n the purpose of his existence.
The story is about this common boy Elijah who thinks he is uncommon for he is able to hear the voice of God...yet he discovers how common he is for he is a mere pawn at the hands of the Lord.
In his quest to serve God and to communicate his message of peace,belief and religion;Elijah lands in a foreign land called Akbar where he is taken care by a women(a young widow) and her son (As per Gods Orders).Akbar is about to be attacked and if attacked Akbar's loss is inevitable.Elijah along with the governer tries hard to evert a battle through negotiations,but The priest because of his false pride insists for a War. N thus AKBAR is attacked and ruined.Elijah losses the young widow in the confusion of the war .The young widow before dying says...Im not going anywhere..I'll always stay in Akbar.The boy (widow's son) insists on rebuilding Akbar as he thinks her mother is Akbar and so Akbar should be beautiful. But Elijah sees it as imposible as the city is grounded.
The events leave Elijah devastated and he breaks his ties with God and his angel.He believes that god had cheated with him by taking the young women away. Elijah now questions what his actual purpose for existence is.He questions himself if he has actually done anything in life worthy of courage.All he has done in life uptil now as in accordance with Gods will.But God Had Cheated him.So he shall find his own way now.
Self realization strikes him and he starts with the onimous task of rebuilding Akbar.
Akbar that is left with the old,the women,the children n heaps of bodies of the young men.
He convices the old to bring back the strength of their youth,the women folk to believe that there is a future for their children.Elijah finds joy in the new task he has assigned himself n discovers that this was Gods way of teaching him that "Past is Perishable..Look ahead"
He learns that even children can teach us things-being happy , keeping yourself busy and asking for anything without fear.
Elijah and the folks work day in and out to rebuild Akbar.He inspires ppl to learn Byblos or the alphabet and is named the governor of Akbar. Prosperity of Akbar is restored.
Now Elijah is revisited by the Lord's Angel to give him the message to return to his home and restore peace in his state by proving the existance of the One Lord.He is granted one power and one chance to do it.
Elijah willfully obeys and leaves......... leaving behind the city which taught him life.......