The Alchemist
The Alchemist
Written by: Paulo Coelho
Genre: Fantasy & Adventure fiction
It is a story of a shepherd , Santiago, who leaves his flock and his land to pursue his dream. A boy who is on a journey of discovering his destiny gand realising his dream of finding a treasure. This story tells us that the happiness , contentment, peace & joy of one’s life lies within his journey towards his dream of life. When a person strives to live his dream , nature helps him out to seek his dream; as written in The Alchemist;
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
While reading this novel , the reader enjoys the journey of Santiago and learns a lot of things which Santiago learns from his journey.
He learns how to deal with yourself when you have nothing in your pocket and nothing on your mind.
“He had not a cent in his pocket, but he had faith.”
He learns from his journey that when you listen to what your heart says , you learn to live with strength. The only thing that restrains you from moving ahead is fear; as the boy said:
“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer.”
His guide in the desert, the Alchemist, replied him:
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”
He learns the beauty which resides in enjoying simple yet deep things in life.
“It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary;only wise men are able to understand them.”
He learns that there is a language of world without words;
“If I can learn to understand this language without words, I can learn to understand the world.”
And most importantly , the idea of living in present and investing all your strength and energy in your present is really helpful for a better future. Two of my favourite paragraphs from the book are;
“Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present . If you can concentrate always on the present , you’ll be a happy man. …. . Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.”
“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present , you can improve upon it . And, if you improve on present , what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings…Each day , in itself , brings with it an eternity.”
He learns that life means constant change because;
“Everything on Earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive … and it has a soul.”
All the ideas and concepts which Santiago learns in his journey were perfectly inspiring but to me, the most important one was the idea of love without ownership , the concept of love as distinct from possession. He loves a girl of dessert, Fatimah, who proves that true love is the one which encourages you to pursue your dreams and destiny because true love does not demand possession or ownership. It’s always there no matter where you are.
Overall, the book tells us that we must not run away from our destiny. This book is full of ideas about spirituality, destiny & dreams. A highly recommended book for people aspiring for high aims and chasing their dreams
