Alchemist - Softcover

Coelho, Paulo

3.91

3,050,070 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061233846 ISBN 13: 9780061233845

Publisher: HarperTorch, 2006

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The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho continues to change the lives of its readers forever. With more than two million copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic, universally admired.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found.

The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories can, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.

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Review:

Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sense a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalucian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "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."

Review:

"A wise and inspiring fable about the pilgrimage that life should be."--M. Scott Peck

"An adventure story full of magic and wisdom."--Rudolfo Anaya, author of Bless Me, Ultima

"A touching, inspiring fable."--Indianapolis Star

"A magical little volume."--San Francisco Chronicle

"[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores."--New York Times

"[His] books have had a life-enchanting effect on millions of people."--London Times

"A beautiful story with a pointed message for every reader."--Joseph Girzone, author of Joshua

"As memorable and meaningful as Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince."--Austin American-Statesman

"A sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike."--Publishers Weekly

"A most tender and gentle story. It is a rare gem of a book."--Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., co-author of Change Our Mind, Change Your Life

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