BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Best-selling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho said Friday he plans to next year repeat his pilgrimage to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, 20 years after the journey which inspired his first book.
But instead of walking the some 800 kilometres of the Road to Santiago through Spain's northwest, Coelho said he intends to make the 2006 trip by car.
"I never again want to make the pilgrimage on foot," said Coelho, who was in Budapest as the guest of honour at the Budapest International Book Festival. "There are experiences you can only go through once and you either live them or you don't, but they can't be repeated."
The Pilgrimage, first published in 1987, was based on Coelho's spiritual awakening during his walk to Santiago de Compostela, a destination for pilgrims since the Middle Ages. The remains of St. James the Apostle are said to be buried in the city.
"My life changed on the Road to Santiago, and it is the road itself which induces the journey," Coelho said.
Coelho, the best-selling author in Brazilian history, is best known for The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes. He has sold 65 million books in his nearly 20-year career.
The Rio de Janeiro native was also in Budapest for the Hungarian release of his new novel, The Zahir, about a renowned author who writes about his inner feelings.
The Canadian Press, 2005
Source: CJAD 800
But instead of walking the some 800 kilometres of the Road to Santiago through Spain's northwest, Coelho said he intends to make the 2006 trip by car.
"I never again want to make the pilgrimage on foot," said Coelho, who was in Budapest as the guest of honour at the Budapest International Book Festival. "There are experiences you can only go through once and you either live them or you don't, but they can't be repeated."
The Pilgrimage, first published in 1987, was based on Coelho's spiritual awakening during his walk to Santiago de Compostela, a destination for pilgrims since the Middle Ages. The remains of St. James the Apostle are said to be buried in the city.
"My life changed on the Road to Santiago, and it is the road itself which induces the journey," Coelho said.
Coelho, the best-selling author in Brazilian history, is best known for The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes. He has sold 65 million books in his nearly 20-year career.
The Rio de Janeiro native was also in Budapest for the Hungarian release of his new novel, The Zahir, about a renowned author who writes about his inner feelings.
The Canadian Press, 2005
Source: CJAD 800