The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

A fable about undauntingly following one's dreams, listening to one's heart, and reading life's omens features dialogue between a boy and an unnamed being. Reissue.

• ISBN10: 0783811950
• ISBN13: 9780783811956
• Publish Date: 1 March 1995 (first published 18 August 1993)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Cengage Gale
• Imprint: G K Hall & Co,US
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 207
• Language: English

Reviews

[neddieb]

Damn I can’t believe I read this whole book in one sitting. It was an easy read and a very uplifting one. It just talks about a boy who dreams of going to the pyramids of Egypt to find a hidden treasure that he dreamt of.

I think this is a great story that explains how anyone who wants to reach their goals, will, if they don’t give up. The story speaks off sacrifices, challenges, obstacles, and paths that you may cross and have to overcome, but no matter what life brings you, you deal with it, move on and reach your dream/goal.

I think the story was very entertaining and fluid. I liked the characters the main character dealt with. It was a cute story in a way.

[sa090]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I joined a book club earlier this year and this was the first chosen book in the “Fiction” category, which will also include science and fantasy at some point. That aside, I wish I actually read what this book is about before attempting to read it to enter the discussion because it’s one thing disguised as another.

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The Alchemist felt more like a Self-Development or Self-Help book than anything else, and personally I hate those type of books. I find them boring, somewhat pretentious and a waste of my time when I can learn all those lessons and more from novels and actual human encounters. The Alchemist is about a boy named Santiago who is led on a journey to find his Personal Legend and throughout the book continues to meet others who already established their lives or are still searching like him. The concept of following your dreams is an important one for sure, it’s definitely not the most important thing in life, but it’s presented in this book as such with anything less being a lesser choice to make which is definitely not the case.

The way that message was delivered made the book feel pretentious, as if anyone not following their dreams or trying to hinder Santiago in some way (without it actually being a hinderance) is a terrible influence that must be ignored. But to be very honest, not every dream and the way you go about achieving said dream is to be ventured with disregard to the world and those around you. What use is achieving a dream when you can potentially end up losing everything important in the process?

I do wish that this book either went on all fantasy with its attempt at magical realism, or stayed completely magic less because the supernatural aspect to this book felt somewhat unneeded and made it silly with the ultimate message the author wanted to deliver. Although the thing I wish to have been omitted the most in this book is his inclusion of Islam in the plot, there are many many instances in this book where it shows how completely ignorant Paulo Coelho is of that religion. The fact that he is not a Muslim is an easy excuse to use, but with authors like Howard Andrew Jones around, it’s hard to be just as forgiving. I’ll of course be taking this chance to go through my spoiler filled notes in the comments below as soon as I’m done with this.

I mentioned above that following your dreams is an important lesson, although it’s not the most important one. The most important lesson in my not so humble opinion, is teaching and trying to integrate the idea of “Contentment is an inexhaustible treasure” instead. This doesn’t change the importance of perseverance and dreams, but it teaches the more important lesson of being content with what you have if it brings you happiness.

Final rating: 1.5/5

[MurderByDeath]

I bought this book while in Amsterdam for a couple of reasons:  The title first caught my attention, and the friend I was with said he'd read it and thought it was... ok.  But mostly because of the title.    Since buying it I've read a lot of reviews that say it's... ok.  Which is why it sat on my TBR for so long.   Now that I've read it, I understand why a lot of people might think it's just ok.  Reading it, I'm left with comparisons that include fairy tales and Pilgrim's Progress; allegory plays a big part in this tale, although the message isn't all that hidden.  And the author doesn't even try to hide his, or his characters', faiths or spirituality; it's not preachy, but God and Allah are at the root of the plot.   Still, it's beautifully written, and well translated.  The allegorical nature of the story and the third person POV kept me from really being invested in what happened to anyone, but I did appreciate the truly omnipotent and omnipresent role the author gave to God.  He never tried to restrict the deity's role to just a traditional Christian or a traditional Islamic one; when he claims God is everywhere, he doesn't go about contradicting himself.  My appreciation for this refreshing lack of hypocrisy went a long way to overcoming my ambivalence about the fate of the characters, and elevated my appreciation of the book to a notch above 'ok'.     If you prefer your spiritualism to be deity free, you're not going to like this book.  If that's less important to you and you're intrigued by the question of "why are we here?", this might be worth a look.

[journalingirl]

I enjoyed this book a lot, the bits about exploring and reading omens and that sort of thing. That really spoke to me. The bits about god weren't as appealing to me, but that's what the author wanted to express so it was there.

[Bianca]

Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.

[Hillary]

http://www.adventuresinneverneverland.com/2013/02/13/the-alchemist/

[ibeforem]

I thought this was a sweet fable, but not exactly life-changing, as so many other reviews would have you believe. Maybe it’s because the lesson you’re supposed to take from it, essentially “Pay attention and follow your heart”, is nothing new. It really isn’t any more complicated than that.

I did think it was well-written, if repetitive at times, and I was interested in Santiago’s journey. But all-in-all, nothing about it surprised me. I’m glad I finally read it.

"I’m like everyone else–I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does."

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

I would consider Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist a light read as the language in the book is simple and easy to read. I’m not saying this is a bad thing and I understand that because it was translated from Portuguese it may have lost some of the elements. I know Paulo Coelho likes to write in a simple way, he does this so well that you don’t often notice as you are too busy wrapped up in the spirit of the book. The story is quite simply about love, opportunity and chasing your dreams, done in an inspirational way. Well worth reading when you need something light.

What did you think of this book? What did you get out of it?

[inlibrisveritas]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho can be described as inspirational fiction. Also others have called it a life-changer and an eye-opener. Overall the book is very short and very quick in pace, so it's not surprising that you may finish it in one sitting. The length does not detract from the story however as everything is answer and there are no plot holes. The story reads some what along the lines of a fairy tale type of novel but I doubt that the younger readers would really enjoy it all that much (ages 15 and younger I mean). The over all plot is one of a religious and spiritual experience for a young boy who wishes to seek out his of his life's treasure and so he sets out from his home country to those foreign to him. Of course as typical with fairy tales there are trails to over come, love that is found, bad guys to fear, and the treasure to find; and also as typical with modern fairy tales it ends happily.

I gave this book a 3 out of 5. I'm not sure what made me pick up this book really except that the cover nagged me in the back of my mind. I'm not really a religious person and can be what is consider a pessimistic so you can see why it gets only a 3 from me where as many people will give it 5's for it's message. I do agree that the book is very good and well written, and that the message is one that people should take to heart even if they are not all that spiritual. However I guess you can say I was disappointed in it, i suppose I was expecting something different. I think this is the kind of book where you either love it or it is just another okay book. If you do give it a try I'd suggest borrowing it from the library instead of buying it seeing as how short it is, unless you just like to have you're own personal copy.

[jamiereadthis]

Oy, ouch, awful.