Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is such a book With over a million and a half copies sold in Latin America and Europe, The Alchemist has already achieved the status of a modern classic. Now this charming fable has been translated into English to enchant and inspire an even wider audience for years to come.
Here is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers into the Egyptian desert where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him.
This is a story that teaches us, as only few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path and, above, all follow our dreams.
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[The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had bought]***
(HarperCollins, 3 January 1999, first published 1988, paperback, 177 pages, loaned by a friend)
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I've read a few of Coelho's book and have never particularly enjoyed them. The one's I have read have never really blown me away. I've found them tedious and long-winded for the most part. This book is no different. The Alchemist is one of his highest rated books and the worst one I've read so far. There's so much about the book that's pretentious. It's unrealistic. The ridiculous message in the book is that if we recognise our own Personal Legend and obsessively pursue it the world will bend over backwards to help us achieve it. What utter nonsense! The writing really put me off. I felt quite distanced from the book. The author's style comes across as contrived. Also, some supernatural elements shoe-horned in which was ridiculous. A work colleague gave me a loan of this and assured me I would love it. I'm not looking forward to telling them I hate a book they adore.
