Book Review: The Alchemist
January 25, 2021
Looking for a book to read with deeper meaning and valuable life lessons? Well, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a great read with both of these things- and more! It is a #1 Best Seller in Mysticism and Spirituality with only a whopping 208 pages that leaves you with a whole new, beautiful outlook on life.
The book is about an Andalusian Shepard boy named Santiago that soon realizes he has a personal legend to follow that calls him to the Egyptian Pyramids. Personal legends are mentioned many times in the book, implying that everyone had a personal legend or destiny that can be fulfilled- and Santiago does, in fact, succeed in achieving his. He accomplishes this through
many life changing decisions and realizing the fact that he has a personal legend in the first place. Not until later on in the book do we see The Alchemist’s, in which the title suggests, purpose in this book even though he plays a major role in helping the boy achieve his goals. An alchemist is someone who transforms things for the better, many with the odd objective to learn how to turn lead into gold. The Alchemist is also a book consisting of true love. Santiago finds a woman on his journey that he falls deeply in love with. Though, she is a woman of the desert and knows that she has to let Santiago fulfill his personal legend despite the consequences that might come of it. If she does not allow him to follow through with his destiny, she knows that he will long to accomplish it for the rest of his days…
More books by Paulo Coelho: Hippie, The Pilgrimage, Veronika Decides to Die, Eleven Minutes