Dreams are what we are!. Review on The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

This is perhaps Paulo Coelho's greatest work-''A magical fable about following your dreams''. Roughly over 150 pages,the book is very well-written in a simple,narrative style,bringing out the subtleties in the life of Santiago,an Andalusian shepherd boy, who dares to follow his dream.

Santiago has a dream,that there is a hidden treasure in the Egyptian Pyramids and though he knows not how,he wants to follow his heart. He meets a king in the rustic market place who tells him-''In order to find the treasure,you will have to follow the omens.God has prepared a path for everyone to follow.You just have to read the omens that he left for you''.

And so the boy starts on his long journey,from his home in Spain to the markets of Tangiers and into the Egyptian desert,on a long tortuous journey of self-realisation. He always remembers what the king had told him ''When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true''. This is a poignant statement,one that immediately instills hope and optimism. In a world where everything seems to be so difficult and winding,Coelho makes a bold attempt,to show us that what we want has always been there,but the fact that we desire to achieve it,we labor to win it,thats what makes life worthwhile.

During this journey the boy is cheated and hope seems to elude him at times. But the alchemist,a personification of happiness,of one that has found his dream and his God, always reappears in the form of several omens that guide him and protect him.Finally,after months and years of nomadic travel,he appears at the pyramids, only to find that there is nothing but sand. He is seized by Arabic bandits who beat him to shreds leaving him there to die. As the rogue bandits leave,one of them leaves a message that gives him the exact location of the trasure he had been searching for so long-''A ruined church where shepherds and their sheep slept ... sycamore growing out of the ruins of the sacrisity..''

Personal Review:

The book tells us to dream and to muster the courage to fulfil the same. It says that people who dont dream are but stagnant,led to a life of unfulfilment,of a bitter void.As the owner of the crystal shop says'''...But I am afraid that it would all be a bitter disappointment.So I prefer to just dream about it.'' The book insists that we should not only dream,but that we should have the courage and the patience to find it. Only then,in the quest for our dream do we see the true destiny that God has planned for us. Santiago sells his flock of sheep,sets out in search of his treasure,is robbed and cheated,and finally he realises that the treasure he'd been searching for so long,lies but in the very place from where he had started in the first place. But during this quest he meets Fatima,his soul-mate,a lass of the oasis,and as he finally beholds the chest of Spanish Gold Coins,he smells the levanter, the wind that came from Africa and he realizes-''..It didnt bring with it the smell of the desert,nor the threat of moorish invasion.Instead it brought the scent of a perfume he knew so well,and the touch of a kiss-a kiss that came from far away,slowly,slowly,until it rested on his lips...''.

The reappearance of the Alchemist in different forms also holds a subtle meaning. He keeps appearing to Santiago,as the old king of Salem in the rusty market place where he gives him the Urim and the Thummim,as the Gypsy Woman,who reassures Santiago of his treasure,as the Englishman in the desert caravan who longes to meet the Alchemist and as the actual alchemist himself. The Alchemist personifies the ''spirit of the world that conspires to help us,provided we believe in ourseleves, our dreams'',and are willing to leave the past behind us-''Dont think about what we have left behind.Everything is written in the soul of the world,and there it will stay forever..''

What I found remarkable was that Coelho believes whatever dreams we harbor,are but born from the very core of the universe,as if out of some dire necessity. And so the entire universe plays an element in helping us out to achieve it. And in that very

pursuit,we realise God.That dream is our one purpose for being alive.

Book Appeal:

The appeal of the book lies in its assuring statements,done in the simplest of words,coupled with fresh optimistic tones. It appeals to everyone, as Santiago lives in all of us. Each of us has some dreams or the other,our own little treasure that we believe is somewhere for sure. But we lack the courage to look for it. And if thats true I am sure Coelho's words will really help us-''Whoever you are,or whatever it is that you do,when you really want something,its because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.Its your mission on earth.And when you want something,all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it''

Go ahead read it and it will make you believe,in yourself and your dreams.