This is a very interesting and even strange (in some ways) book. It doesn't fit into any genre standards. "The Alchemist" is what you can call 'a Story' from the capital 'S'. It is not a fantasy (though it's really close), not a science-fiction, not a detective, not a love-story. It is a Story, a Tale that should be told again and again.
This is one of the rarest books I really want to reread, and probably not once, in different languages.
By the way, I read it for the first time on my iPad and in Russian. Now I think that I should read it in English and I would love to buy a paper edition (the one pictured here looks amazing). It is also rare nowadays.
I am sure that after rereading the book I will love the Story even more.
The beauty of The Alchemist lies in its simplicity. We follow a young shepherd boy venture from Spain to the Pyramids of Egypt after he becomes enthralled by the words of a mysterious man who seems to know an uncanny amount of details about the boys life. The words of the wise man resonate with our protagonist and he chooses to follow the old mans advice and start to pursue his “Personal Legend”.
This “Personal Legend” is the core idea of the book. Having a Personal Legend means having the self-awareness to know who you are and what you truly want in life. This is what life is about. Fulfilling a life which is meaningful to you. We have to question our current values and see if they are truly ours and if our actions align to our values. The Shepherd boy understands who he is and he does so by acting on his thoughts.
We are surrounded by mass-consumerism, pursuit of wealth and materialism and our goals consist of getting likes on Instagram. It’s up to us not to judge whether this is good or bad but whether these things fit and give meaning to our lives. Like the Shepherd boy, we should look at the narrative we are trying to create, the one that makes most sense to our hearts and pursue that by enjoying the journey to creating that narrative.
Finding what truly resonates with us though is hard. It’s hard to introspectively look at our lives with sincere objectivity. And maybe that’s where this book comes into play. The fact that the book has sold over 150million copies comes down to the fact that there are only three figurative characters to the book; there are those who live in the now —content with what they have and unattracted to the need to grow, those who chase their dreams or those who wish to chase their dreams but don’t. Each one of us are on one of those three journeys. Understand which of those three journeys you are on. Question as to whether or not you are happy with being on that journey and act accordingly.
Those who like this book might also appreciate The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
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Great and inspiring read! Especially while you're traveling!
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