The Alchemist by Paul Coelho

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Recommend by a co-worker
I had decided months ago that I did not want to read this book. But when my co-worker brought it to me at work, I wasn't going to argue with him about it. He's one of those types that are very passionate about what they like and it's pretty hard to argue with someone's passions. Besides what harm was there, it's a pretty short book. So after reading the other books he had lent to me, I began The Alchemist. Almost immediately, I thought, "Great, this is another self-improvement book like The Secret. Well, let's get through it and get it over with." In fact, I ended up really enjoying the book. Santiago is a youg shepherd who is told to find his Personal Legend. He is given omens and help along his journey to achieve this goal, and meets some wonderful characters. Instead of telling us how we can get all the things we want in life, Coelho is basically teaching about a spiritual journey and how we need to find our own paths and learn to listen to what our hearts tell us. While you can't avoid the lessons involved in the book, the story is wonderfully simple and refreshing and Coelho's writing is pretty mesmerizing. Very poetic. Here are some quotes I marked:
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"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."
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"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand,"
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"What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, The Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not beause it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'
'Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested.'
The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It is said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn."
***
I really don't care for self-help books, but this one, couched in a story, was pretty entertaining. The message was repeated consistently so you couldn't lose sight of it, but not really annoying.
Rating: 4.25
Posted by Framed at 8:28 PM

16 comments:
aart hilal said...
hello!I'm a big fan of Paulo Coelho! You will love this! He's the first best-selling author to be distributing for free his works on his blog:http://www.paulocoelhoblog.comHave a nice day!Aart
2/28/2008 11:03 PM
Trish said...
Interesting--I've heard a lot about this book but I didn't realize it was "self-help." By the way, I like the new? look!
2/29/2008 6:38 PM
Jeane said...
I've been curious about this book since I saw a fellow student reading it in class one day, four years ago! The incident stood out in my mind because the student was sorely chastized, and I thought hey, that must be a pretty good book for him to risk running up against this teacher. Glad to know more about it.
2/29/2008 8:24 PM
Literary Feline said...
I tend to think of this book more as a modern day fable than a self-help book, but I guess I can see why you might classify it as such. I really enjoyed this gem of a book and found it very refreshing. I am so glad you gave it a chance and enjoyed it.
2/29/2008 9:26 PM
writer2b said...
I share your feelings about self-help books! I'm glad reading this one didn't end up a waste of time. (The title sounds like it would be more of a fantasy tale.)
3/01/2008 4:53 AM
Framed said...
You can read this book as a fantas. The self-help is subtle and just part of the message Coelho includes about how to find your personal legend. I didn't feel I was being preached at or given a list of things to do.
3/01/2008 10:10 AM
gautami tripathy said...
I did manage to read this. A mad airport buying this was. I liked while I read it. But thinking over it, I found it to simplistic.
3/01/2008 11:28 AM
valentina said...
This book had a big impact on me as a teenager, I even quoted in on one of my essays in school. Sometimes I remind myself not to forget my personal legend because that's all that matters!but I wouldn't want to read any more book of his. Even though I heard Veronika decides to die is even better.
3/01/2008 1:50 PM
Danielle Blogging for Balance said...
I'm not much with self help books either. I will be adding this to my TBR GoodReads list!! thanks.
3/03/2008 7:21 AM
themarvelous said...
I feel exactly the same as Gautami. It's supposed to Bill Clinton's favorite book, and all the more reason to . . . .
3/05/2008 1:52 PM
Stephanie said...
Oh...I loved this book. I think the entire point of it WAS to be simplistic. It was almost like one of Aesop's Fables....a literary representation of one of life's little lessons. I thought it was wonderful!! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. It seems to be one of those books that tends to polarize people. They either love it or hate it!
3/05/2008 5:23 PM
Tristi Pinkston said...
"not really annoying" is good . . .
3/05/2008 6:39 PM
Heather said...
I'm really glad you ended up reading and enjoying this book. It is on my top ten of all time list.
3/06/2008 11:06 AM
Booklogged said...
It was a nice fable with some good lessons woven into the story. I always like it when people share quotes. I especially like the one about recognized the good things that happen. I'm curious as to what passages I marked in this book - must go back and check.
3/06/2008 9:32 PM
sage said...
I'm glad you enjoyed this book--I've read three of his books and this fable is my favorite even though I also enjoyed the Pilgrimage.
3/08/2008 1:14 PM
Ana said...
This is one of my favorite books - I love Paulo Coelho. He is Brazilian as I am, and I have known him since I was a child (he also wrote great songs back in the 70s!) and respect him enourmously.
3/16/2008 2:25 AM