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Summary: A Personal Favorite
Review: Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is a personal favorite of mine. By using a simple fable and compelling story, Coelho effectively forwards his evocative philosophies on life and living. To cast his books as too simplistic or not practical is to totally miss the point of the work. I think that there is a reason I, as a 16 year old, and all my friends have enjoyed the book. We are still young enough and malleable enough to appreciate the beauty and power of Coelho's prose and message in such a simple parable. So if you are the type of person who despises the busy-bodied, goal oriented society we live in and yearn for the simplicity of bygone era, or you just need three hours of compelling, life changing philosophy, I recommend you pick up a mug of hot chocolate and curl up with The Alchemist.
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Summary: happiness for dummies
Review: This is an infantile book that seems to be written at a fourth grade level. There's nothing profound or deep about the book, in fact I found it so boring that I struggled to finish it despite the fact that it's really short. Doctor Seuss has better, more thought provoking material.
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Summary: The Gift of Foresight
Review: The Alchemist is a fairy tale - a new fable reminding its reader of the simple lessons of life along the way. The young shepherd is a boy in search of his Personal Legend, his dream, and his place in this life. He learns to pay attention to the world around him, and to use this attention to detail to help him make his own decisions. Above all, he listens to his heart. He understands that foresight is not a gift.It's an awesome novel that will take just a few hours of your time, but remind you that life is easier to understand when you pay attention and you follow your heart. I will read The Alchemist again.
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Summary: A nice little story but the climax is a rip-off
Review: A very good friend recommended this book to me as a life-changer. Yeh I could see the value of it, maybe moreso when I read it again. However the night before I finished it I read a story to my kids about a guy named John Chapman, the peddlar of Swaffham, an English legend of sorts from the 15th century. The next night, I finished the alchemist and was pretty disgusted to find that the conclusion was nothing but an exact rip off of the legend. This book's supposed to be a stand-out, and as such you expect quality and moreso, *originality* throughout. Overall its probably a reasonably good read, but in the end I feel completely cheated by such a blatant piece of plagarism.
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Summary: Much ado about nothing..on both sides
Review: It is amazing that this book has caused such an uproar. I was told to buy this book by quite a few people who told me it changed their life and how they live it. So I bought it. I found it quaint, easy to read and that was about it. And before anyone gets all excited..yes I got the point of the book...search out your destiny, dare to dream, action is better than inaction, our treasure lies within and so on. I believe much of that myself...and have been inspired by books with much the same message. I love fables(ie: The Little Prince). I am not a "book snob". My reading tastes are all over the map. All I look for is whether or not the book did what it was trying to do. "The Alchemist" did not do that for me. It left me almost angry. The boy was a dreamer with no real dream other than "treasure". He didn't feel worthy enough to go back for the girl until he found that "treasure". He really didn't accomplish anything at all..he just sort of bumped his way into any and all successes or failures he had. Now it is true that sometimes we do just sort of bump our way into stuff but you know most of the people I know who have achieved all or part of their dreams in this life not only had the courage to go on the journey to their dreams...they also had the courage to define them, and WORK for them. Now I know that "The Alchemist" is not a book against hard work but it does not even mention working for one's goals...that is sad and misleading to me. It takes courage to dream, it takes courage to follow that dream and it takes even more courage to work, really work at that same dream even after the universe doesn't always seem to just conspire to make it happen. "The Alchemist" seems to leave that out of the equation for whatever reason.
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Summary: Nice little inspirational story
Review: As stated in the title of the book this is a fable about following your dreams. It is fairly short and an easy read. It is set long ago, but it is completely familiar. It makes some obvious points (follow your dreams) but also some more subtle ones. The more subtle ones have to do with observing omens and believing that the universe (or god or whomever) helps you in the beginning of your journey and challenges you in the end. While there is probably some logical explanation it helps to think of it in these mystical terms. All in all a worthwhile read.
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Summary: Well written.
Review: I thought this was a very well written book in terms of the way PC wove and micro-managed the book's details. But wasn't sure about the content, which seemed to me to be a wide collection of material gathered together from sources you're sort of familiar with, yet can't quite put your finger on, as to where you heard or read it before. PC is a good writer, but, at the end of the day, I can't really see what the fuss is about.
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Summary: Paulo Coelho is the best
Review: I always read Paulo Coelho's books, and I love them all! He is from my country, Brazil, and he's got a very singular style. The alchemist is very, very good.
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Summary: One Will Either Appreciate or Hate the Simplicity
Review: This novel reflects a simple truth that what you're usually looking for is right in front of you all along. Paulo Coelho makes use of an uncomplicated character a young man named Santiago who is an Andalusian shepherd. He has a dream about finding his personal treasure at the Pyramids in Egypt. He displays courage and determination to find out what this treasure is by selling his sheep and travels to Africa. Along the way he will meet several people who will direct him toward that treasure. The Alchemist is the last person he meets who inspires him to complete his journey. He comes to believe in omens, fate and "personal legends". My favorite quote from the book is "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." Readers will either love the simplicity of this story or be bored to tears. One has to read with an open mind.
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Summary: Inspiring little fable
Review: This book, by Paulo Coelho, is, like all fables, written on many levels. Ostensibly the story of a shepard in Spain who, unlike so many people, follows his dreams. He does get a little help from the supernatural, but many of the stories most intersting thoughts come from his musings on nature. His travels take him across the Mediteranean into Africa, where he meets several archetypal characters (the Man Afraid of Change, the Waiting Woman, the Wise Shaman, the Warrior Chief, the Cynical Fool), learns about himself and his dreams, and finds his destiny. An interesting way to look at this story is to ask the question: who is the title character? Alchemy is such a potent idea--the changing of one element into another has had a grasp on the human mind for as long as we have known about elements. But, of course, alchemy has secondary meanings--an alchemist transforms. Is the boy an alchemist, for transforming himself and the lives of those around him? Is God the alchemist, for transforming the destinies of humanity? Is the reader the alchemist, for taking the fable and transforming its words into something personally meaningful? My favorite part about this book was its gritty reality. I like epics, but there were no sweeping vistas and no ubermensch heros in this book. Everything the boy does (and we never learn his name) is something you and I could do. I guess that's the point of the book. Update: As ihath commented on my weblog, you do learn the boy's name. It's revealed on the first page. But, as I remember, it's not used much throughout the book, maintaining the everyman nature of the story.
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