‘The Alchemist’ is one in a series of novels written by Paulo Coelho. It was only through reading this novel that I learned that each of his novels has an overarching theme, the one for this particular book being “wisdom”. Before I comment on that particular aspect, a quick summary of the book.
‘The Alchemist’ is about “the boy” ( we never do learn his name) from Andalusia who is living out his dream by being a shepherd and is driven by a certain recurring dream to leave his life behind to go in search of a treasure near the pyramids of Egypt. Because he has risked losing everything in attaining his “personal legend”, he is guided by a gypsy woman, a mysterious man who calls himself a king, and omens from the earth itself – everything conspires him to get to his heart’s desire.
At first, my impression of the book was that this was a fairy tale – a magical story, the kind that children are captivated by. But continue reading, and this impression gets blurred. This is because the story is set in very real places and involves a main character that couldn’t be more human. Yet, there is an abstract element to his journey: a recurring dream that tells him he should find a treasure, a man who appears from nowhere and provides him with magical tools to take on his trip, a gypsy woman who encourages him to pursue this course, a hundred-year-old alchemist who teaches him the “language of the world”, and everything from eagles, to the desert, and sun that talk to him and help him along. This melding of magic and realism has never sat very well with me; particularly in this case where some concepts are just too abstract to understand. Perhaps some will call this philosophy, but I don’t and I certainly don’t fancy it. And I’ll go so far as to elaborate on this point and explain why.
Personal Legends. The book suggests on many occasions that when one goes in search of their “personal legend” (destiny), the world conspires to help them attain it. This very idea is just beyond me. What is a personal legend? And normal people like us who are not told by repetitive dreams – where do we even begin to look for it? You may argue that I’m reading too much into this – that a personal legend is just something that one really wants to do; e.g. a passion they could pursue. OK. I’ll encourage that thought. Let’s take Engineer Joe who works a 9-5 job to make ends meet. His passion is painting but he doesn’t think there is any way to lead a comfortable life by doing just that. In this case, if painting is his personal legend, he has a choice to make…risk everything and pursue his passion or stay and play it safe. On one level, the author provokes in us this very thought by making the point of personal legends….that one can truly never be happy unless they pursue their passion and take a risk in making that decision. But this really is a far-fetched concept in today’s world – the idea of just dropping everything to take a certain path. And what of multiple passions, personal legends? Of the fact that time and tide waits for no man?? Today, it is all really an issue of choices.
“Everything is written in the Soul of the World and there it will stay forever”
Soul of the world. Language of the world. Once again, I’m stumped. Maybe you, on the other hand, get it. And get messages from the earth and birds and sands. I certainly don’t. Yes, we can communicate with animals, for example, and know how they feel even though they are not able to verbally express themselves. But the sun?! Enlighten me.
But all is not bad with the book. There are some points that strike a cord, and one can actually relate to them.
” You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense”
Sure. A lot of the times, looking back on our very own lives, we realize (or we should), that it is not where we have arrived but the journey that counts. The friends we made along the way, the lessons that heartbreaks have taught us, and the wisdom gained by just being in one situation or another. Usually, at least in my case, I never actually absorb this during a particularly happy or sad time because I am so consumed by the very emotion itself. It is only after-the-fact, that I realize how valuable the experience was, one way or another. And that is good thing to know and understand.
” If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, and there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.”
Now, I am not sure life will be a party but I know from the few times that I have actually practiced what I am about to preach, that living in the moment and in the present is one of the most rewarding feelings there is. Again, while there is much opportunity to do this, we live in a world that is too fast-paced. We’re either worried about what we just did or worrying about what we should do to secure the future. Stopping to smell the roses every once in a while, however, is precious and I highly recommend it. I especially remember one fine Fall day, when it felt like I had noticed the colors for the first time, when I stopped to actually stare at them and felt a kind of elated peace that seemed an alien emotion to my tired, overworked system. Such are the moments when there is only the present and nothing else.
But I digress. To summarize, while there are valuable lessons to be learned from this book, they are few. The rest of the book is beyond the limits of reasonable imagination, hard to believe and agree with, and long-winded. I wouldn’t put this one on my ‘Books you must read before you die’ list. If you still choose to go there – don’t say you weren’t warned.
