The Alchemist is an easy book to finish in one sitting. Although there are only 172 pages, the book is packed with profound thoughts. That’s nothing unusual, given that this is a work by Paulo Coelho.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an alchemist is a person who practices alchemy, and the definition of alchemy is:
1: a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life;
2: a power or process of transforming something common into something special;
3: an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting.
The Alchemist is a story of Santiago, a boy who dreams of travelling the world to seek his treasure. One way to achieve his dream is to tend sheep, so he becomes a shepherd. Along the way, he met with a few characters, both good and bad. He had an encounter with the gypsy woman who interprets dreams, an old man who is actually Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a thief, a crystal merchant, an Englishman who is also looking for the alchemist, Fatima, who is the love of his life, and ultimately the alchemist. His experiences throughout the journey prepare him for his quest.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it” seems to be the story’s main theme.
This is another book that requires open-minded reading because it has elements of philosophy, magic, religion, and spirituality. Bible verses are sprinkled throughout the story, but it never mentions the Bible directly. If you are a Christian (or not) and you know your Bible well, you can spot those verses without difficulty.
Some thoughtful lines from The Alchemist:
The passage below is when the boy suggests that the crystal merchant branch out into selling tea in crystal glasses, and they launch into a dialogue about changing their way of life and the reluctance to do so. What the merchant said triggered something in me: I hope I won’t become complacent or averse to change. Sometimes, it takes another person to bring out that realisation in us.
“Today, I understand something I didn’t see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse. I don’t want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don’t want to do so.”
And this one below was when the boy pondered the decisions he had made when he first set out to look for his treasure.
“… making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”
The Alchemist will be on my annual re-read list. I recommend it!
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