Sep 14, 2006 09:43 PM
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It was two days after my birth day one of my colleague in office gave me a packet I opened and found a book titled ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Celho. I had seen it before many times on red lights in the hands of those book sellers. And while returning to home I thought of reading it so as to pass my 1hr bus journey from office to home. I found it so spell bounding that after dinner again back to it and then I started reading it everyday while going and coming from office. Within a weeks time I was able to complete the story. "The Alchemist" is a novel that may appeal to everybody, because we can all identify with Santiago, the protagonist of the novel. All of us have dreams, and are dying for somebody to tell us that they may come true. The novel skillfully combines words of wisdom, philosophy, and simplicity of meaning and language, which makes it particularly readable and accounts for its best selling status.
Dreams, symbols, signs, and adventure follow the reader like echoes in this novel. With this symbolic masterpiece Coelho states that we should not avoid our destinies, and urges people to follow their dreams, because to find our "Personal Myth" and our mission on Earth is the way to find "God", meaning happiness, fulfillment, and the ultimate purpose of creation.
The novel tells the tale of Santiago, a boy who has a dream and the courage to follow it. After listening to "the signs" he ventures in to the journey of exploration and self-discovery searching for a hidden treasure located near the pyramids in Egypt. During his journey, Santiago meets all kinds of exciting people like kings and the alchemist. However, by the end of the novel, he discovers that "treasure lies where your heart belongs", and that the treasure was the journey itself; the discoveries he made, the wisdom he acquired and lastly the treasure.
The core of the novel's philosophy and a motif that echoes behind Coelho's writing all through "The Alchemist" is what the alchemist himself says, when he appears to Santiago in the form of an old king, "When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true". Perhaps this is the secret of Coelho's success: that he tells people what they want to hear, or rather that he tells them that what they wish for but never thought possible could even be probable. Author also suggests that Fear of failure seems to be the greatest obstacle to happiness.
It is also symbolic that Santiago finds his soul-mate, and the secrets of wisdom in the wilderness of the desert. In the desert, Santiago meets his "twin-soul" in the form of Fatima and discovers that love is the core of existence and creation. As Coelho explains, when we love, we always try to improve ourselves, and that's when everything is possible. The subject of love inspires a beautiful lyricism in Coelho's writing: " I love you because the whole universe conspired for me to come close to you."
"The Alchemist", is an exciting novel that bursts with optimism; it is the kind of novel that tells you that everything is possible as long as you really want it to happen." So guys what are you waiting for, if you have not read it then go and get one copy today and read it.
