Finally I read it and guess what ?. Review on The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

It takes quite a lot for a particular book to stand out from the crowd, be loved by its readers and eventually become a best seller. The best seller club is quite an exclusive one and the authors who make it into this club achieve celebrity status however even this exclusive club is becoming crowded and to be able to stand out of this crowd, an author should have sculpted “David” with his words or painted “Mona Lisa” with his story.

One such book is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. I had heard about it when I was in high school and I got a chance to read it for the first time in the year 2006, however I never went past the first few pages because the book belonged to a roommate.

I got a second chance at reading it in 2010 when I got its e-book, however I did not go past the first 20 pages and again there was a gap of about 2 years and then I picked it up and read half of it and finally determined to finish it, I picked it up last week and completed it from cover to cover in 2 days. And I was left in disbelief. How can this book attain such a legendary reputation is beyond my comprehension.

The story as most of us know is about a Sheppard boy Santiago from Spain who has recurrent dreams of a treasure buried near the great Pyramids of Egypt. He is told by a Gypsy and an old King to chase and fulfil his dream which he does.

On the way he moves through different North African cities, gets cheated by a thief, works for a glass merchant, joins a caravan, befriends an Englishman who is in search of an Alchemist. He makes fortunes and loses them many times in his travels and finally with the help of the Alchemist, he understands that everything is connected in life, he comes close to losing his own life many times but still survives and finally he comes to know after reaching the Pyramids that the treasure was actually buried near his home in Spain - what a bummer.

I do agree that the message in the book is a very good one and most of us would have realized at some point in life that if we really want something and the need for it is so dear that nothing else matters, then by some stroke of luck, divine intervention or the Universe’s conspiracy, we are able to achieve it. Something like this happened to me when I was a child.

There was a new type of pencil box that hit the market; it had a plastic sliding cover. A few kids in my class got one of these beautiful boxes. I on the other hand always wanted to have it but never had the courage to ask my mother to buy me one. That same year, on my birthday a friend gifted me the very same pencil box and for a kid this was treasure. It happened to me a second time in life as well, but only this time it was in a much bigger scale – I am not at liberty of saying what that was but it did change my life.

Now coming back to the book, I really was dejected in the end to find that the treasure mentioned throughout the book was a real treasure of gold, rubies and other artifacts and not of something ethereal or cosmic – like some dark truth or divine knowledge about the formation of the universe or the purpose of life.  It made me think why this book garnered so much attention and why the author achieved such stardom and I still don’t get it. At the same time I also appreciate the author for his original work and good description of small towns in Spain and Northern Africa. Also the description of the desert and the oasis is done well. I did like the part where the author has driven home the concept of the importance of a journey and the power of knowledge.

In the end, I am not able to make up my mind whether I should like this book or dislike it. Whether I should recommend this book or not and whether I am the only one with such an opinion or there are others who think on the same lines. Santiago did find his treasure in his life, but I never found a "Mona Lisa" in the book.