The Zahir - Favour Bank

Paulo Coelho in his book The Zahir has many references to The Favour Bank, for example "... but I need his help, or might need it later on. There is, after all, that invisible institution called the Favour Bank, which I have always found so very useful".

Review of The Zahir

A happily married couple ...... husband a celebrity, wife a war correspondent. All of a sudden the wife Esther leaves home without a word told. Police is informed, all places searched.....but absolutely no clue....passport is taken. But why did Esther walk away from a so-called successful happy married life.

The author is just heart-broken. Esther was always taken for granted when she was around, but now her absence was a tough choice. The author then decides to find peace and some inspiration to move on with life and decides to do what his Esther wanted him to do always - Write a book.....

Now the topic and inspiration to write the book was needed and the author takes the trip on road to Santiago and the book (which was the author’s dream and Esther’s choice too) is written. Its nothing but the affection he feels for a wife who has left him abruptly. The main person whom the author hates is a young guy whom he feels is responsible for Esther’s sudden disappearance.

The book gives an insight to a person’s life and how he decides to find happiness. All people with whom Esther has had some contact or correspondence have received a blood stained shirt piece which was given to Esther by an injured soldier. But being Esther’s husband, such a piece was not with him which was of utmost surprise to many.

The author undertakes the journey of life, finding peace and happiness and unlimited success on its path. He then realizes the different moments of his married life and finds the flaws which always went unnoticed but now needs a remedy in order to get back his true love - his wife Esther.

The book also talks about the Favour Bank concept, where-in small acts of help rendered at some time is accumulated in a bank and comes into aid in times of trouble.

A good book, which makes us feel that there is a lot in the journey of life. It raises a lot of questions which one must ask oneself and the answers also need to be given by self. I particularly liked this Favour Bank concept and also another small gist in the book where the author talks about a small story.

Two men returning after a hard day’s work. One man’s face is absolutely dirty and the other has a clean face. Who would be the first person to wash his face. A lot of us would feel that it would the person with a dirty face, but the fact is it will be the person with a clean face. The clean face person on looking at the dirty face would feel that since he is so dirty, he might also be dirty and rushes to wash the face; but the dirty face person on seeing the clean face, feels that since he is clean , there is no need to clean himself.

Life has a lot to offer, it depends on the individual’s attitude and the way of looking at things. Only then each of us can find our Zahir.

Review by Anita S at Mouthshut.com

Review of The Zahir

The Zahir is a novel about losing someone the author later finds out he can't live without. The book began with the author describing himself being detained in a police station for the investigation of his wife disappearance. The author was a journalist and was staying in Paris. Before his wife (Esther) went missing, she had been withdrawing a regular sum of money from her bank account. This gave the possibility that his wife had been planning on running away all along. Besides, his wife had 'vast network of contacts in the terrorist underworld".

This meant there was also a possibility that his wife was being held hostage by a certain group of terrorists who wanted to shut her mouth. The author was freed when one of his wife's friends came forward to present herself as his alibi. The author had married twice but his relationships with his two previous wives had not gone well and thus ended up in two divorces.

His relationship with Esther suffered a similar problem as both of them desired freedom. Since she left him, his life had been in disarray. He began to think back what wrong he had done to her. He recalled how he came home one day to receive a ticket to Spain from Esther. She had asked him to go to Santiago and he did. He soon recovered his writing ability and went back to Paris with Esther. Without his permission, Esther took his drafts to a publisher who was her ex-boyfriend.

At this point of the story, the author described the role of Favour Bank which was said to be the most powerful bank in the world. According to the book, Favour Bank worked this way: For a writer to be successful, he/she had to demand contacts from those influential people. Once the writer had established trust in other people, more and more contacts would be deposited into his/her account, making him/her an influential person. However, he/she had to repay by doing favour for those who had helped them.

There are loads of brilliant quotes that I wish I could write in this review. But if I were to do so, I might as well copy the whole book. It certainly has some life-enhancing effects on me. It makes me realize the human condition which steers us into sharing only the best of ourselves because we are always seeking for love and approval. This book is highly recommended to those who enjoy reading a good book. It is certainly 10 out of 10.

Review by Dreamcatcher.

Story Bank

Encounter with a stranger in Paris by Roisin.

For the Smallest of Favours by Mary Deal.

Life’s Other Rewards by Sean Moriarty.

Capitalism With A Buddhist Twist by Jane Genova.

'Miracles' due to the Favour Bank Principle by Phil Evans.

May we all have plenty of deposits to make by Elle Smith Fagan.

Recycling Favours, a Favourbank Story by Shirl T.

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