Mr. Coelho’s books are very popular in Russia. For many Russians, Paulo Coelho is a lot more than just a writer. They perceive him as an enlightened guru, a teacher of life.

Russians first got acquainted with Paulo Coelho’s work in 1996. The book was “The Alchemist”, which is probably Mr. Coelho’s most famous novel. Then, his other books were translated into Russian – “Veronica Decides to Die”, “The Fifth Mountain”, “The Manual of the Warrior of Light”, “The Devil and Miss Prym,” “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”, “Eleven Minutes” and others.

The peak of Paulo Coelho’s popularity in Russia came somewhere around 2005. However, besides many admirers, the writer has many critics as well.

The head of the international department of the AST Moscow-based publishing house, which has the exclusive right to publish Paulo Coelho books in Russia, Ekaterina Panchenko, tries to explain why his books are either very much loved or very much disliked:

“Our publishing house has been publishing Mr. Coelho’s books since 1996, and thus, I have read nearly all his books. However, I should say that I liked only some of them, and disliked others. I have openly confessed this to Mr. Coelho himself. Still, it happened several times that at first, a certain book by him produced no impression on me – but later I came to realize that this book still somehow taught me to understand life better. I believe that probably the best thing about Paulo Coelho’s books is that it should take some time for a reader to understand them.”