'The Alchemist' - Paulo Coelho

[Stewart]

The Alchemist, (Coelho, Paulo)


The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is billed as a modern classic, yet I find it difficult to discern why. It has the feel of a fable; from a time as hazy as the desert in which it is set, and carries the lessons on life one would expect from such a parable. The feelings of distant memory that it creates, however, fashion a gap between the book and the reader.

It begins with Santiago, a shepherd boy, who gives up his customs to follow a dream he has, a vision of treasure found at the Egyptian pyramids. Along the way he meets a king, a crystal merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist; all of whom, with their passing involvement, provide him with a piece of the spiritual jigsaw that is his life. Finally, when he arrives at the Egyptian pyramids, he learns a lesson in life that brings him happiness.

The novel is short, and, while it gets its message across, a number of other things suffer. The characterisation is lean; everyone is faceless, ageless, and speaks with the same voice, a voice of implied wisdom. Most characters are also nameless; even Santiago, the protagonist, is simply referred to as ‘the boy’ throughout. Setting, also, is a casualty of the book; while we follow Santiago through the desert, we never truly get the feeling of being there. We don’t feel the heat, thirst for water, or shiver when night falls.

The prose in the book is extremely simple, giving The Alchemist the feel of a children’s book. Adjectives, especially when necessary, are rare, so that most things are described as ‘the desert’, ‘a horse’, or ‘some wine’. The desert has no texture, the horse no character, and the wine no flavour. Repetition, also, lengthens the book so that, once wisdom has been spoken, it echoes through the narrative so that each action can be credited.

The Alchemist is a quick read, but it’s not a good read. It has the feeling of a bonding session in the workplace where you discuss the implications of pseudo-situations, only moved from the office to the desert. It’s a self-help book disguised as a novel, the “secrets” of life, though hardly life-changing, are listed as stages in one boy’s discovery. I hope you discover this review before the novel.

[m-spider]

Doh!
But I have to disagree!
You make it sound as if The Alchemist tried to pass as anything but a self-help book. I think it never tries that. The short sentences, the clear images it gives you: it all but hopes to be a simple way of explaining what you should do with yourself, what kind of things you should believe.
That is, from Coelho's point of view. I don't know if you think as he does.
It's just a poetical, pretty book, that you might like better or worse: that all depends on whether you're a romantic or a cynic. But it never wanted to pass as anything but- I doubt that Coelho was trying to do an adventure book and failed, I just think he did what he wanted to do: bear a simple message in simple words.
Now, Eleven Minutes... that's another terryfing thing. I would steer clear fro that!

M

[Stewart]

But I have to disagree!

By all means.


You make it sound as if The Alchemist tried to pass as anything but a self-help book. I think it never tries that. The short sentences, the clear images it gives you: it all but hopes to be a simple way of explaining what you should do with yourself, what kind of things you should believe

As one reviewer on Amazon said:


Sick, morally depraved garbage [Ed.: !!!!!], September 26, 2004
Reviewer: Thinker, Liver "Sam" (Massachusetts, USA)

I find trash like "The Alchemist" to be guilty as the impetus of social decreptitude in the modern world. I do not find it difficult to malign a book that advocates utter greed and contempt for life and that does so with a 100 page heap of cliched crap. A novel that lauds the choice to leave loved ones in search of personal, monetary gain, "The Alchemist" left with me with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

[blp]

It's just a poetical, pretty book, that you might like better or worse: that all depends on whether you're a romantic or a cynic. But it never wanted to pass as anything but- I doubt that Coelho was trying to do an adventure book and failed, I just think he did what he wanted to do: bear a simple message in simple words.

But is any of this actually compatible with being a self help book? It seems unlikely to help a cynic for a start.

[musi]

i heard someone say that after reading the book the person felt like living!
hmm, i didn't. i didn't enjoy the book at all. the main line is probably a good one, but why the hell did he have to repeat it ten times???
i have also read "11 minutes" by him and "Devile and Siniorita Prim". the first one was a bit like a book on sexology, but the stupid happy ending killed the effect, that might have been created by it. that was totally like "Pretty Woman" movie, which i can't stand at all. and the "Devile and Siniorita Prim" novel had a very good beginning of plot (what is that literary word for it?), but the ending was ruined again.. Paolo must be having problems with endings of his books..
i am not likely to read any more books by him..

[m-spider]

I know I am not going to read anything else by him... well, okay. Never say never, but I mean, unless he becomes the next best thing, or somebody recommends him to me with tears in his/her eyes, or I get it as a present, or it's the last book in the desert island I happen to be stranded on... you know what I mean... I'm not planning to read more by the man. I read Eleven Minutes because it was some sort of inside joke with a friend, she loves the book. But I hated most every second of it.

On the other hand, blp: I doubt cynical people read self-help books, or find them helpful at all, in general. I doubt that they try to be helped by these books. Personally, I don't believe in self-help books. Guess what I am. ;)

Btw, what does blp stand for?

Suggestion: bookreading lithuanian platypus :D

M

[gijmaj]

stupidity! :)

But i'd like to know, if so many ppl dislikes Alchemist, why is it bestseller :)

[jane]

eheehe!
Hasn't anybody heard about Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī and his famous work Masnavi-ye ? It is his major work, a six-volume poem.
As far as I see, everybody likes the plot of this novel but the other aspects are blur.The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is not an original work regarding its plot. It was taken from Masnavi-ye. That's why everybody in-between appreciating and depreciating the book; plot is perfect, however, characterization, setting etc. are poor.
There are many fables like that one in his work. I know some of them and I hope I 'll read them all.

[pingu]

I haven't read The Alchemist but I have read some other Coelho's works like 11 minutes, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept and Veronika Decides to Die and I have to say that I didn't like them at all. I've heard people say that there's nothing special in Coelho because he's writing (using his simple style) about things that we have already read before and I totally agree. Also, I heard that some critic said that Coelho's books are for people who haven't read fairy tales as a child and so they find his stories magical :D

[Durga]

Did You know that a long time ago Jorge Luis Borges wrote a short story that is exactly the same as "Alchemist"?So, or Coelho copied the idea (shameful!) or it's a very popular motive in South America...

[Winifred]

m-spider wrote:

Btw, what does blp stand for?

Suggestion: bookreading lithuanian platypus :D

Hmm, good question. I always thought blp were his initials, coincidentally short for blip (pointless, etc.) Could be short for BibLioPhile, too, or Broadly Literate Person, Boy Loves Poetry, etc.

OK, blp, are you really from Lithuania?

[Winifred]

On a different note, I read The Alchemist and was not all that impressed, either, but I probably missed a lot of mythological background - have not read much Rumi.

However, perhaps Coelho writes for himself, to reinvent the world. Check out the biography, from his official websitel for what that is worth, but nevertheless, an amazing story of triumph:

http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/bio.shtml

[blp]

Hello. I've only just noticed the what does blp stand for question. It doesn't stand for anything, which is why it's not capitalised, though Winifred's suggestions are all good and, no, I'm not from Lithuania (?) blp is a word invented by the artist Richard Artschwager to describe the small objects, usually wall pieces, that he uses to sort of punctuate the other work in his exhibitions. They look a bit like punctuation marks.

here are some.

[blp]

Bugger it. Why can't I get the actual images to appear?

[Winifred]

blp wrote:

blp is a word invented by the artist Richard Artschwager to describe the small objects, usually wall pieces, that he uses to sort of punctuate the other work in his exhibitions. They look a bit like punctuation marks.

That clears it up, thanks. I guess the porthole in your avatar is a sort of blp, then!

[Star_Anise]

Bugger it. Why can't I get the actual images to appear?

I can see them just fine.

[blp]

I can see them just fine.

Really? You mean, they're embedded as images in the post, not as little jpeg icons you have to click on?

[blp]

blp wrote:


That clears it up, thanks. I guess the porthole in your avatar is a sort of blp, then!

Porthole? There are some little black spots that could be blps I guess. But nothing intentional. For some reason, I liked the idea of being called blp, but not being represented as a blp. So, as a great writer once nearly said, I called myself blp and came to be called blp. But the image is from Godard. I was very sure I wanted an image from Godard.

[Star_Anise]

Really? You mean, they're embedded as images in the post, not as little jpeg icons you have to click on?

Oh, sorry, I thought you meant it wasn't working as an attachment. I can see them if I click and it loads into the browser. I'm pretty sure to get thumb nails you'd have to upload them to a host (such as pixfolder) and then paste the code in.

[blp]

Oh, sorry, I thought you meant it wasn't working as an attachment. I can see them if I click and it loads into the browser. I'm pretty sure to get thumb nails you'd have to upload them to a host (such as pixfolder) and then paste the code in.

Weird. I didn't do anything like that when I posted the picture of me. Can't remember quite what I did do, but I thought it was the same thing I did here.

[genuis_tariq]

Can anybody explain any mystical or transcdental elements in "The Alchemist"?

[lamadham]

i absoultely HATED the alchemist, it came highly recommended and was the best seller which intersted me, but i was very surprised when i read it, and i regreted wasting 5 hours on reading it :S ( very simple book, large font, few pages )...it was over-rated, and i hated the author for writing it. but somehow i decided to read " veronica decides to die" by paulo cohleo also, and i hated the guy even more :S.... it was not what i expected either :S
i don't see myself reading another book by paulo cohleo..

[Hope]

Is the Alchemist you meant by Ben Jonson ? because I have studied it but I don't see in it anything intresting .. It moves around the idea of hiding the identity & being decieved by the masks of others..

Good day!

[Dreamqueen]

Is the Alchemist you meant by Ben Jonson ? because I have studied it but I don't see in it anything intresting .. It moves around the idea of hiding the identity & being decieved by the masks of others..

Good day!

Haha, no, this isn't Jonson they're discussing - it's a 20th century writer of pure schlock named Paulo Coelho.

[skye]

Pure schlock? :D

[Dreamqueen]

Pure schlock? :D

schlock: something of cheap or inferior quality; junk.

[skye]

schlock: something of cheap or inferior quality; junk.

Thanks. It sounded interesting. I had to ask.