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Let’s dive into an adventure world, a fiction world full of magic, and people set out on a quest to find their destiny.
Introduction
Author – Paulo Coelho
Book – The Alchemist
Category – Adventure/Fantasy fiction
Language – Portuguese, English
About the author
Coelho grew up in a middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become an engineer, but after expressing his desire to become a writer, Coelho was in and out of the mental hospital for three years. He became a hippie traveler, joined a cult in Italy for a time, and was arrested and tortured by Brazilian police after writing a period of "subversive" lyrics for rock bands.
Coelho is one of the world's best-selling authors. "The Alchemist" was inspired by a story in "Arabian Nights" and has sold 20 million copies (its first publisher abandoned it after selling fewer than 1,000 copies, but Coelho managed to find another copy).
Review
The Alchemist by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho is one of the best-selling books in history. It was first published in Portuguese in 1988 and has now been translated into many languages internationally. This novel is a fable about the journey of a young Andalusian shepherd to the pyramids of Egypt after repeatedly dreaming of finding treasures there. In 1987, Coelho wrote "The Alchemist" in just two weeks. He explained that he can write at this speed because the story "has been written in [his] soul".
The story begins with a description of a shepherd named San Diego, who took his flock to an abandoned church. Santiago has always dreamed of the treasure he found near the pyramids of Egypt. The fortune-teller interpreted the dream as a prophecy. Before setting off on the journey, San Diego met an old king named Melchizedek, King Salem, who told him to sell his sheep to go to Egypt and introduced the idea from a personal legend.
Your personal legend "is what you've always wanted to achieve. Everyone knows what their personal legend is when they are young." Subsequently, the plot of this book focuses mainly on San Diego following his dream and working hard to realize its Personal Legend. He embarked on a journey to Tangier and Egypt, where he had to face many obstacles to discover his treasure.
The theme of this book is finding one's destiny, although according to the New York Times, "The Alchemist" is "more of a self-help than a literature." The advice to Santiago ("When you really want something to happen, the entire universe will work together to make your wish come true") is the core of the novel's philosophy and the theme that runs through the novel.
Another interesting theme in the novel is related to the harmful consequences of fear. If people let fear control their lives, they will live miserably. If Santiago lets the fear of chasing dreams dominate his life, he will not find the treasure, the most important thing is the meaning of his life, his personal legend.
Much self-help literature is about chasing our destiny, but dreams don't always carry us forward; They speak persistently and calmly without much effort to kill the inner voice. Who wants to risk comfort, daily life, security, and existing relationships to pursue something that seems like a mirage to others? It takes courage and the tinted copies of Coelho's classic folded ears have become the eternal companions of people who need to make bold decisions every day to stay true to the bigger picture.
Best quotes from the book
“One’s Personal Legend(destiny) is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. “At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream and yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives.
But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend…. whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth."
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. 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.”
“If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
“Love is not to be found in someone else but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But to do that, we need the other person.”
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.”
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” That makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
You can buy this book easily from Amazon: The Alchemist
Written By - Nachiket Kekre
Edited By - Anamika Malik
“One’s Personal Legend(destiny) is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. “At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream and yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives.
But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend…. whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth."
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. 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.”
“If someone isn’t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
“Love is not to be found in someone else but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But to do that, we need the other person.”
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.”
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” That makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
You can buy this book easily from Amazon: The Alchemist
Written By - Nachiket Kekre
Edited By - Anamika Malik
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