This is the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams of travelling the world in search of a treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the exotic markets of Tangier and then into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him. The Alchemist is a transforming novel 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.
This book has become something of a modern classic but I have the impression that it’s a book people either love or hate.
The story is simple. A shepherd boy is sent on the trail of some treasure and his search takes him from his home in southern Spain across the sea to Tangier where he stays for a while figuring out his next move, and then across the Sahara Desert to Egypt. The overall message is that we should trust our hearts and follow our dreams.
The story is unhurried, and it takes us through each step of the boy’s journey. However, it began to grate on me that the life lessons are spelt out at every juncture. I would have preferred Coelho just to leave us to figure them out ourselves, not least because by the time he explained each lesson I felt it was already obvious from what I had just read.
I also did not feel that any of the life lessons was groundbreaking. Perhaps if I had read the book ten years earlier than I did, they would have been newer ideas to me and I might have enjoyed the book more, but by the time I read The Alchemist I had read a lot of other books whose life lessons were much more subtle and, I felt, better written.
I am conscious that The Alchemist is a lot of people’s favourite book and as a result I went in with high expectations. Unfortunately, though, it just didn’t do it for me.
Comments