Dec 22, 2004 06:54 PM
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(Updated Dec 22, 2004 06:54 PM)
Coehlo's Alchemist is a superb treatment of the effectiveness of human dreams, and the constant struggle to achieve it.
The beauty of the book is that it can be read by anybody and people, depending on their level of mental maturity, will ''interpret'' the book. For example, a child may read it as a fairy tale of a humble shepard boy who travels to Egypt in search of a treasure. An extremely successful manager may be prompted to be a visionary and to zealously follow the vision. In other words, the book is a life statement, and anyone, irrespective of the mental maturity, can benefit.
The journey of the shepard is the journey of life itself. The author urges us to voyage the world, and see what is around. There will be obstacles, like the boy's money being stolen, and yet we should not be put down by obstacles. One remarkable aspect of the book is that we all can, in one way or another, relate to the life of the shepard. People, who are writing reviews on internet, are mostly urban-dwellers, with the life very different from that of a shepard. Yet, the author demonstrates that there is very little fundamental difference between human beings. Like Tagore had said, there is no difference between the clerk and Akbar badshah.
The Alchemist also said: ''..every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.'' In this way, he helped to enhance a sense of self-worth of the shepard, (and also us) for ''The boy smiled. He had never imagined that questions about life would be of such importance to a shepherd.''
