The Winner Stands Alone is a novel by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, first published in 2008 under the Portuguese title O Vencedor está Só.
Author | Paulo Coelho |
---|---|
Original title | O Vencedor está Só |
Translator | Margaret Jull Costa |
Language | Portuguese |
Genre | Novel |
Publication date | 2008 |
Publication place | Brazil |
Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
Pages | 375 pp (paperback edition) |
ISBN | 978-0-00-731868-1 |
Followed by | Amor (Love) |
The story is set at the Cannes Film Festival and roughly based upon the growing rise of what the author calls The Superclass.[1] While the reviewer in the Financial Times admitted that the book's background was well researched, he complained that its plotting was weak and the writing over-indulgent: "Coelho alights on all the obvious clichés…and repeats them at inordinate length".[2]
Plot
editThe loosely connected plot tells the story of several individuals: Igor, a psychopathic Russian mobile phone mogul; Ewa, formerly Igor's wife but now married to Hamid, a Middle Eastern fashion magnate; Jasmine, an African woman on the brink of a successful modeling career; American actress Gabriela, eager to land a leading film role; and an ambitious criminal detective, hoping to resolve the case of his life. The tale narrates the tension within and between the characters in a 24-hour period.
References
edit- ^ "The Winner Stands Alone: A Novel by Paulo Coelho". Archived from the original on 2010-05-31.
- ^ Kieron Corless, Financial Times, 13 April 2009 Archived 4 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine