Bustle ‘Bout Books: Review- The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho

Book Review

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

AUTHOR: Paulo Coelho

GENRE: Adventure Fiction, Fantasy Fiction

YEAR PUBLISHED IN: 1988

MY RATING: 4/5 stars

*NOTE: THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS AS ONLY BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF FEW INSTANCES IS GIVEN. OVERALL SITUATIONS ARE DESCRIBED.

I absolutely adore the theme of this book. The way the importance of believing in our own selves, presented through the incidents imparting life skills is indeed, commendable.

Our protagonist, Santiago is a shepherd. He dreams of finding a treasure in the Egyptian lands. An old woman tells him that his dream isn’t any ordinary dream and that, it is revelatory. Santiago decides to take up the challenge and gets going in search of the treasure.

On his journey, Santiago meets many people. One of them is an old man who calls himself the King of Salem. This old man tells Santiago about good and bad omens and gives him two stones, Urim and Thummim, which may be of help in distinguishing between the good and bad omens. Check out the book to know if he uses the stones or not.

Santiago reaches Tangier and there are incidents which now lead him to work in the shop of a crystal merchant. He earns well there but, after eleven months, he decides to proceed and continue his journey to reach Egypt.

In his quest for the treasure, he discovers the peace-making relationship with nature and himself. He starts listening to the winds and sands, getting more connected with the nature. He meets an Arab girl named Fatima and falls in love with her.

He lands on an oasis where the leader of the caravan in which he was travelling tells the travellers that they would not be able to continue the journey as there is a possibility of war. A lot of things happen which leave you believing in the power of love and to know what exactly happened, you need to read the book!

Santiago finally reaches the Egyptian pyramids. He encounters thieves who rob him. But again, to know if Santiago was successful in finding the treasure or not, you need to dive into the book.

Favorite quote from the book:

Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the soul of the world, and it will one day return there.

~ Paulo Coelho

I even love the line, “You will never be able to escape from your heart. So, it is better to listen to it.”

I did love the book but, I believe that the ending could’ve been better and so, I rate it 4/5 stars.

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Have you read this book? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments section!

Check out my previous post under Bustle ‘Bout Books here.

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With love,

Meher