by:
Paulo Coelho Average Rating:
Product Description: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
Rating:
-
Herman Hesse Wannabe
If nothing else, The Alchemist provided stimulation for me to search out more authentic sources on the topics it endeavored to attack (Buddhist philosophy, Arabian desert lifestyle, etc). And because it WAS a source of stimulation, and because I could not allow myself to group it with the 1-starred Stephen King or Danielle Steele 'novels', I give Coelho 2 stars for his effort.
Basically, this is a simple story of a man on a journey through Arabian deserts; on his way he meets mystics, ...
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Rating:
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The illusion of dream fulfillment
Paulo Coelho has become one of the most popular writers worldwide. He has written 9 novels and "The Alquemist" is his second title. Written in a spur of inspiration which lasted two weeks, this novel alone has sold over 46,000,000 copies an has been translated into 55 languages. Because of its optimistic message, its simplicity of meaning and language it is easily read, quite popular amongst youngsters, all together accounting for its status as a bestseller.
It is a fable in which a young boy ...
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Rating:
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Oprah, please!!!!
It it high time Oprah picked a Paulo Coelho. It is so much like the pseudo intelectualism she likes. This is highly recommended for whose have a lot of time to waste. I don't get why people read it with so many good choices to read instead... that's the ugly truth.
