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The Alchemist - 10th Anniversary Edition
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| Editorial Reviews: | | |  | | Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sniff a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." --Gail Hudson | | | | Amazon.co.uk Review Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sense a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalucian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity." | |
| Custom Reviews: | |
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| | This is a great book to help the world-weary soul. I helps open your heart again and see beyond the everyday problems that crust your heart with worry and toxic sludge. A very easy read.
| | Charming Fable and Adventure | |
| | In a way this book mirrors Paulo Coelho's own life. Early in his life he left a career as a lawyer in Brazil to travel throughout South America, North Africa and Europe and explore mystical and spiritual philosophies as well as the different countries. The hero in this book is a poor boy living in Andalusia who has a dream that tells him to go to the Egyptian pyramids where he will find treasure. A gypsy interprets his dream and encourages him to go the pyramids. A man calling himself the King of Salem presents him with the Urim and Thummin stones to be used for divination. Thus the adventure begins, one that leads him to North Africa where he confronts perils in the desert and finds true love on an oasis. His journey pits him against both physical and spiritual challenges that change and enlarge his world view. The story has the charm, magic and spirit of adventure of many classic stories and well deserves it place as one of the best selling books of all time.
| | | I admit its unfair to write this review when I haven't even finished the book yet (I have about 20 pages left to go, and I'm not even sure if I will finish those), but every time I try and pick up this book to finish it, I get rather annoyed with it. I needed something to read while traveling, had heard all the hype so I picked it up, and needless to say I was very disappointed and rather confused as to why it became an international bestselling "phenomenon". Simplistic, weak storyline with equally weak characters (which are often never named) are used as wrappers for the author's spiritual ideas and beliefs. I realize that Paul Coelho is a spiritual writer, but I felt as if I was having a moral crammed down my throat with every sentence, and suppose to have small epiphanies about my goals and dreams every paragraph. I don't think the author even knows the meaning of the word 'subtle'. I kept on trying to see if there was going to be some great lesson to be learned at the end, but sadly no, its just the same ideas repeated every page but related to different situations. To be honest, cut out the weak storyline and you've got a spiritual self-help book.
I suppose you have to be into this kind of genre to enjoy it. And I guess 2 million people are.
| | | I loved this book. So simple, a really quick read, and yet great philosophy to live your life by.
| | It sounds better than it reads. | |
| | I just finished reading this book and to my surprise, the book isn't as good as I thought. A very simple, but beautiful story. Although one may say the story is rather thought provoking or would change one's life, I think the book is more suitable for children's bed-time story. I can see how the author tried to make a point of following the dreams and other themes, but I believed these would be most interesting for children. As an adult, I find this book is more of the usual types and not so much of chanaging my life. Perhaps it's because I already realized the point of view that the author is trying to give away before I even heard of this book. It is still worth reading and the book is very short, but it is not something as good as many others would say. If you don't expect too much, you'll get something out of this book. And you can always tell your kids about this story, it is definitely worth telling rather than reading.
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