The Alchemist: A Masterpiece of Fiction by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was the first book I started and completed in 2022. Despite its small size, this book is a work of art in terms of symbolism and inspiration. This novella takes the reader on a journey that prompts them to consider their true calling in life and whether they are striving to fulfill it. In today’s world, we are preoccupied with making the right choice; the clever choice, but not necessarily the choice we are ostensibly “meant” to make, or that we are truly satisfied with.

This book (The Alchemist) is more than just a fable; it contains many good life lessons about self-belief, perseverance, and taking charge of our destinies. Several times, I had to take a break while reading this book to absorb and reflect on the wisdom I was reading.

This piece of Coelho’s work has made me want to read more of his work; it is a truly memorable story, well written and developed with the beautifully interwoven theme of destiny; different for each of us, but something that few of us can truly claim. Coelho makes us question the existence of such designs, which I believe proves Coelho has written a fantastic book.

The plot revolves around Santiago, a shepherd who has recurring dreams about finding treasure in Egypt’s Pyramids. He meets a wise king who bestows him with magical stones and advises him to follow his dreams. During his travels, he meets a beautiful girl who becomes the love of his life. And his encounter with an Alchemist on his quest to discover the treasures educates him on alchemy and philosophy. An Alchemist is someone who changes things and this is seen through Santiago’s struggle and difficulties on the journey make him stronger and more courageous.

Here are a few of my favorite passages from the book:

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

- Paulo Coelho

My thoughts about this Book:

The book (The Alchemist) is fantastic, and it has served as a wake-up call for me to discover what I am passionate about it. It makes me feel more positive and has taught me to look at life from a different angle. When you decide to pursue your aspirations, the entire world conspires in your favor, which the author refers to as "beginner's luck," something we have all observed at some time in our lives. Also, he talks about a stage in our journey toward realizing our dreams when everything just goes haywire and everything is working against us, almost driving us to the point of abandoning everything and returning to what was so familiar and comfortable, (i.e. the usual daily life that we get used to) however, this is the final time we will be tested, which also means we are getting near to our goal. The example presented was excellent and, while not novel, we often overlook simple truths in our lives, such as "the darkest hour of the night is immediately before dawn." Many of us indeed abandon the fight when things get tough and the chips are down, even though we were so near to the goal that if we had a little more patience, we would have arrived.

Although I do believe the book drags on a little, which isn’t a big deal, I consider it worth mentioning. Overall, the book is one of my favorite fiction novels and should be on everyone’s bookshelf, for I appreciate how the author emphasizes the significance of faith and trust.

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