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Dancing with Sophia
If you love a story with a powerful message that can challenge your worldview and hold your attention from beginning to end, you will love this book. Dancing with Sophia is the heart touching story of Baingana, a young man trying to run away from his problems, till the moment he meets Sophia and realizes that the only way to get close to her is by facing himself; however, what he had to go through was far away from his expectations.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 19, 2017
‘What makes it so hard to accept the truth is that if we do, we have to live our life according to that truth.’
Ramalho Almeida offers no biographical information from which to inform his readers about his writing background, though the name appears to be Portuguese, and this appears to be his writing debut. Other than that we must simply depend on the content and satisfaction of reading his novel DANCING WITH SOPHIA.
The brief plot synopsis reads ‘DANCING WITH SOPHIA is the heart touching story of Baingana, a young man who was trying to run away from his problems, till the moment he meets Sophia and realizes that the only way to get close to her was by facing himself; however, what he had to go through was far away from his expectations.’
Ramalho has created a story about self-discovery in a unique fashion. He relates the disillusionment of his male character Baingana who is rather self-centered, loses his job and his girl and when all else seems to crash around him he encounters the strange Sophia.
‘As Baingana entered the next carriage, he saw the woman and the child leaving the coach from the other end. The old man was sitting right in the middle of the carriage, and as Baingana approached, he made eye contact with him, a serious expression on his face. “How are you, old friend?” the man asked. “Do you know me?” Baingana replied, surprised. The old man frowned, staring into his eyes. “You are human, right?” “Of course I am,” Baingana replied, thinking the old man must be crazy. The old man smiled. “In this case, we’ll have a very long friendship.” “Where are we?” asked Baingana, suddenly uneasy. “You should know, kid – after all, this is your world!” “I don’t understand,” said Baingana, frowning. “My world? I… I don’t understand,” he repeated. “You will,” said the old man. “You just have to dance with Sophia.” “Who is Sophia?” Suddenly standing up, the old man took a few steps towards Baingana, who in turn took two steps back, a fearful expression on his face. “Easy now, I won’t hurt you; you have yourself to do that, OK?” said the old man. “Answering your question, Sophia is the woman you saw leaving this coach, and she is my daughter – the girl with her is my granddaughter. You’ll have the opportunity to meet them both soon enough.” Baingana walked over towards the door Sophia had left through; he was so desperate to see her that for a moment he forgot to be scared. He tried the door but it was locked, and he looked to the old man, who was apparently undisturbed by Baingana’s actions. He just seemed so calm, and Baingana soon found himself becoming mesmerised by his calmness; it reminded him of the ocean on days without any wind – very peaceful and very friendly, but also extremely frightening when one knows that within a matter of seconds it could take you away forever. Baingana tried to control himself as he asked, “So, who are you?” “I am Abner,” replied the old man. “And you need me to dance with Sophia.” Baingana didn’t know what to say – none of this made any sense to him; the only certainty he felt was that he wanted to meet Sophia more than anything else in the entire world. From the moment he’d entered the coach he could feel her presence, and the way she’d looked into his eyes had made him understand he couldn’t hide from her, not even if he wanted to…. “You have no patience at all, and your mind is disorganized and impulsive. It will take you a lot of effort to be able to dance with Sophia. Be aware that you’ve never played this game before; you’re lucky Sophia is the ruler and she likes you.”
But enough of the unique pieces of this puzzle. Ramalho relates this edifying story with poetry, mystery, and very human touches of need and love. It is a strong first novel.
Ramalho Almeida offers no biographical information from which to inform his readers about his writing background, though the name appears to be Portuguese, and this appears to be his writing debut. Other than that we must simply depend on the content and satisfaction of reading his novel DANCING WITH SOPHIA.
The brief plot synopsis reads ‘DANCING WITH SOPHIA is the heart touching story of Baingana, a young man who was trying to run away from his problems, till the moment he meets Sophia and realizes that the only way to get close to her was by facing himself; however, what he had to go through was far away from his expectations.’
Ramalho has created a story about self-discovery in a unique fashion. He relates the disillusionment of his male character Baingana who is rather self-centered, loses his job and his girl and when all else seems to crash around him he encounters the strange Sophia.
‘As Baingana entered the next carriage, he saw the woman and the child leaving the coach from the other end. The old man was sitting right in the middle of the carriage, and as Baingana approached, he made eye contact with him, a serious expression on his face. “How are you, old friend?” the man asked. “Do you know me?” Baingana replied, surprised. The old man frowned, staring into his eyes. “You are human, right?” “Of course I am,” Baingana replied, thinking the old man must be crazy. The old man smiled. “In this case, we’ll have a very long friendship.” “Where are we?” asked Baingana, suddenly uneasy. “You should know, kid – after all, this is your world!” “I don’t understand,” said Baingana, frowning. “My world? I… I don’t understand,” he repeated. “You will,” said the old man. “You just have to dance with Sophia.” “Who is Sophia?” Suddenly standing up, the old man took a few steps towards Baingana, who in turn took two steps back, a fearful expression on his face. “Easy now, I won’t hurt you; you have yourself to do that, OK?” said the old man. “Answering your question, Sophia is the woman you saw leaving this coach, and she is my daughter – the girl with her is my granddaughter. You’ll have the opportunity to meet them both soon enough.” Baingana walked over towards the door Sophia had left through; he was so desperate to see her that for a moment he forgot to be scared. He tried the door but it was locked, and he looked to the old man, who was apparently undisturbed by Baingana’s actions. He just seemed so calm, and Baingana soon found himself becoming mesmerised by his calmness; it reminded him of the ocean on days without any wind – very peaceful and very friendly, but also extremely frightening when one knows that within a matter of seconds it could take you away forever. Baingana tried to control himself as he asked, “So, who are you?” “I am Abner,” replied the old man. “And you need me to dance with Sophia.” Baingana didn’t know what to say – none of this made any sense to him; the only certainty he felt was that he wanted to meet Sophia more than anything else in the entire world. From the moment he’d entered the coach he could feel her presence, and the way she’d looked into his eyes had made him understand he couldn’t hide from her, not even if he wanted to…. “You have no patience at all, and your mind is disorganized and impulsive. It will take you a lot of effort to be able to dance with Sophia. Be aware that you’ve never played this game before; you’re lucky Sophia is the ruler and she likes you.”
But enough of the unique pieces of this puzzle. Ramalho relates this edifying story with poetry, mystery, and very human touches of need and love. It is a strong first novel.
September 25, 2017
Reviewed for Readers' Favorite by Grant Leishman
Baingana was a lost soul, wandering through life, unsure of himself and his place in the world. Whatever could go wrong in his life seemed to have gone wrong; he’d lost his job, his parents were furious with him, his friends seemed superficial and self-centred and his girlfriend, Zoe, had broken up with him. To Baingana it seemed that life truly had it in for him and he decided the only solution was to run away to his best friend Besim’s town and try and start anew. In Dancing with Sophia by Ramalho Almeida, the author takes Baingana, along with us fortunate readers on a journey that will forever change his attitude and his view of life, humanity and his place in the world.
I love it when an author weaves a personal philosophy into a fictional tale and that is exactly what Almeida has done with Dancing with Sophia. Whether you accept or believe the philosophy is irrelevant, it is the journey that is important and the examination of Baingana’s motives and views. What the author has done beautifully in this book is to entwine a philosophy that appears to have some of its roots in the Law of Attraction into a mystical journey through several stages, where Baingana meets first the old man Abner, the child, Inesa and finally the young woman Sophia. At each level, he learns and understands more about himself and his relationship to the rest of humanity, until finally, he is ready for the ultimate experience – to dance with Sophia. This book is beautifully written and perhaps the best part of all is the ten wonderful poems that underscore the prose throughout the story. I loved this story and the way Almeida told it. I highly recommend this book. If you liked the Life of Pi, you’ll love Dancing with Sophia.
Baingana was a lost soul, wandering through life, unsure of himself and his place in the world. Whatever could go wrong in his life seemed to have gone wrong; he’d lost his job, his parents were furious with him, his friends seemed superficial and self-centred and his girlfriend, Zoe, had broken up with him. To Baingana it seemed that life truly had it in for him and he decided the only solution was to run away to his best friend Besim’s town and try and start anew. In Dancing with Sophia by Ramalho Almeida, the author takes Baingana, along with us fortunate readers on a journey that will forever change his attitude and his view of life, humanity and his place in the world.
I love it when an author weaves a personal philosophy into a fictional tale and that is exactly what Almeida has done with Dancing with Sophia. Whether you accept or believe the philosophy is irrelevant, it is the journey that is important and the examination of Baingana’s motives and views. What the author has done beautifully in this book is to entwine a philosophy that appears to have some of its roots in the Law of Attraction into a mystical journey through several stages, where Baingana meets first the old man Abner, the child, Inesa and finally the young woman Sophia. At each level, he learns and understands more about himself and his relationship to the rest of humanity, until finally, he is ready for the ultimate experience – to dance with Sophia. This book is beautifully written and perhaps the best part of all is the ten wonderful poems that underscore the prose throughout the story. I loved this story and the way Almeida told it. I highly recommend this book. If you liked the Life of Pi, you’ll love Dancing with Sophia.
October 3, 2017
Somewhere between Waterhouse’s “Billy Liar” and Dante’s “Inferno”, set instead the head — perhaps the dream — of Baigana, who must find the mental robustness to stand up to the trials placed before him in his quest for love.
Such are the language aspects that I somewhat expected to find the book had been translated from another language; perhaps Portuguese based on the author’s name, or Hungarian based on the poetic depth and the feel of the book spanning Europe from East to West; this could have been set anywhere; Madrid, Warsaw, you name it. Indeed, as a train features prominently in the category of setting, it could also have been between places — which would be appropriate enough, of course.
Each chapter also contains an impromptu poem recital from a character; personally I did not care for these poems so much as the more prosaic work that surrounded them, but as ever, it is difficult to objectively assess such things so I can only relate my experience as a reader in that regard.
All in all, though, this is most certainly a commendable work that will stick with me, and I’m sure it’ll do so with other readers too.
Such are the language aspects that I somewhat expected to find the book had been translated from another language; perhaps Portuguese based on the author’s name, or Hungarian based on the poetic depth and the feel of the book spanning Europe from East to West; this could have been set anywhere; Madrid, Warsaw, you name it. Indeed, as a train features prominently in the category of setting, it could also have been between places — which would be appropriate enough, of course.
Each chapter also contains an impromptu poem recital from a character; personally I did not care for these poems so much as the more prosaic work that surrounded them, but as ever, it is difficult to objectively assess such things so I can only relate my experience as a reader in that regard.
All in all, though, this is most certainly a commendable work that will stick with me, and I’m sure it’ll do so with other readers too.
September 19, 2017
A story of life and it's many tests
This is a story about a guy named Baingana who takes a journey through the many trials of life. Baingana begins by spending so much time with his friends that his girlfriend Zoe feels unwanted and thus begins the start of a series if bad events. When our main character decides it is time to leave and start fresh he meets a family with an amazing woman named Sophia. This is a great story of life and it's many choices along the way, the good and bad along with the unknown. The author does a good job with telling a good story with very believable characters that the reader can relate to. I enjoyed this read. I found it a good distraction and an easy read with quality characters.
This is a story about a guy named Baingana who takes a journey through the many trials of life. Baingana begins by spending so much time with his friends that his girlfriend Zoe feels unwanted and thus begins the start of a series if bad events. When our main character decides it is time to leave and start fresh he meets a family with an amazing woman named Sophia. This is a great story of life and it's many choices along the way, the good and bad along with the unknown. The author does a good job with telling a good story with very believable characters that the reader can relate to. I enjoyed this read. I found it a good distraction and an easy read with quality characters.
March 28, 2018
Uplifting
The poetry is outstanding and the book as an entirety is a great devotional. Read this and reflect on your life, can you make yourself better? I believe we all can.
The poetry is outstanding and the book as an entirety is a great devotional. Read this and reflect on your life, can you make yourself better? I believe we all can.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews