| Name of the Book | The Alchemist |
| Author | Paulo Coelho |
| Publisher and Year of Publishing | Harper Collins Publishers, 1988 |
| Price | ₹228, Paperback |
CHECKLIST RATING: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Tsukjemkala, 2nd Semester, Department of Psychology
It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, he thought as he looked again at the position of the sun, and hurried his grace.
– An excerpt from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
“The Alchemist” was originally written by the author Paulo Coelho in his native Brazilian language which was later translated to English by Harper Collins Publishers in 1988 and soon became a best-seller.
I had first read this book back in 2018 and have read it quite a few times since then. Though there are many other books which I could consider as a favorite, “The Alchemist” is by far one of my most loved book. To give a little context about the book, the story is about a young shepherd named Santiago, from the south of Spain who has a recurring dream about finding a treasure. Believing that finding his treasure is his ‘destiny’, he leaves the comfort of home and everything he was familiar with and travels into the African desert to find his ‘treasure finding his treasure is his ‘destiny’, he leaves the comfort of home and everything he was familiar with and travels into the African desert to find his ‘treasure’.
A fascinating aspect of this book that it deals with psychological, religious and spiritual topics which we can easily relate to and understand. The idea of following one’s dreams is constantly pushed onto the reader as one goes about following Santiago through his journey of reaching the pyramids. There are mentions of parables from the bible which have been so easily infused into the simplistic stories telling which made me easily entranced with the plot.
Each and every character in the book is unique and each character plays a vital role in helping the main character fulfilled his destiny. This book focuses on learning about omens and how one should go about finding one’s own treasure.
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
In a general sense, one would think that finding the treasure was the main destiny of our young protagonist. But as the story develops and goes about, we follow the main character as he goes about learning the ways of the world as he ventures from one place to another. In the beginning of the book, we find that our protagonist had a dream of travelling the world and as the plot deepens and finally reaches its climax, we realized that he was able to travel beyond the lands he knew by searching for his treasure.
From this journey, both the protagonist and us, the readers, learn to listen to our hearts and to live with strength. The only thing which deters one from moving ahead is fear but as the Alchemist in the book said, “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself”, we learn the beauty which results in enjoying the simple yet deep things in life and that one should never let fear coming the way of our dreams.
Overall, this book teaches us not to run away from our destiny in to go forward, investing in the present, celebrating life for what it is while continuously believing in the beauty of one’s destiny and dreams. A highly recommended book for all the young and even old, who aspire for high aims and continued to chase their dreams.
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