The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

Paperback, 167 pages

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2002 by Harper San Francisco.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-054388-4

(228 reviews)

"My Heart Is Afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky."Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come.The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.

29 editions

Rik reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Read this at just the right time

5 stars

I have read many critical reviews of this book and I can absolutely see the reasons why so many people dislike it. For me, however, the book came at just the right time of my life, and it had a huge impact on me.

You see, The Alchemist is about following your dream. In my case, I felt stuck in a life that didn't suit me at all, unable to move. This book comes with a certain naivety that is liberating. The kind that says, it doesn't matter, just go for it. Yes that sounds like a recipe for disaster for some people, especially since some events in the books might seem to have a rather dubious meaning. But for me it was a lifesaver. And most of the more rational books that I read as well did no remotely have the same effect. The book might suggest to stop …

You critics are all right, but I will recommend this book to anyone.

Yasir Bilgic reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Bu kitabın bende bir anısı var. 8-9 yaşlarında sürekli evimizin kitaplığında görür ama bir türlü okumak istemezdim. O zamanın kitabında kapak çiziminde bir bedevi vardı. Dini bir kitap olduğunu ve sıkıcı olacağını düşünürdüm. Şimdi tam 15 yıl sonra kitabı okudum ve keşke kitaplara bu kadar önyargı ile yaklaşmasaymışım diyorum.

Kitap tam anlamıyla okuyanı geliştiriyor. İnsanın hedefine sıkı sıkı bağlanmasını ve bu uğurda feda edilecek şeylerden bahsediyor.

Kesinlikle tavsiye ediyorum.

outofrange reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

As a parable this felt a little over-idealized and preachy to me, while the part of my brain that craves this kind of story gobbled it right up. No harm done, and possibly some inspiration despite my skepticism.

ManyRoads reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was a super fast read... one airplane flight of 3 hours. It was engrossing and interesting. The tale has been told many times and in many ways, but it never gets old.

Manu reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Well, I cant write a review in few words on this book. Its an outstanding one. I dont think most readers will find it understanding. Its more of a spiritual world. Want to re-read some day!

horiaconstantin reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

At its core, a fantasy, pseudo-spiritual book about a shepherd deciding to follow his dream.
It got me hooked because I'm into middle easterner stories. It has some valuable (abstract) life lessons that are worth restating and remembering. The most important one for me: follow your dream fully, without being afraid of the failure.
Only no-s0-good part of the book: some of the concepts were really thrown in my face (e.g. favourability).
Overall, a short, easy-to-read story about life. I really liked it.

Ben E P reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'GoodReads'

3 stars

Recently, I'd seen the title making the rounds (as it had apparently doing for years) as a fiction-cum-self-help book. I figured I'd give it a shot.

This is a short, feel-good book written in a style that recalls the straight-ahead prose of certain Murakami passages (perhaps a result of the translation?) and nearly every paragraph contains a nugget of pithy wisdom from the mind or mouth of a character that could be picked up as a mantra for readers looking for that sort of thing. There's a vague, pan-deist spiritual undercurrent here that comforted the characters, and, I assume, some readers. That said, I couldn't get a grasp on the layout of the book as allegorical, or even find evidence of an overarching conceit, which made me skeptical of each philosophical point. Did Coelho intend to write a book full of enough sloganeering mystics that something thrown at the proverbial …

ghostchaser reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was a re-read I am not sure why it never was listed here.

Chelle reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I feel like I should go back and bump basically everything down to at least 4 stars except this book. Because it doesn't feel right it should share the same rating...

This book is... life changing. I'm finished, but I am going to go back and start it again right away. It is INCREDIBLE.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Lora for telling me to read it!

gtc-one reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

The book begins as an enjoyable magical-realism travel story, but it bogs down in the last quarter as an all-knowing character shows up and removes all the spirit of wonder and discovery.

surya reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is the first of Paulo Coleho books I have tried.
I read this at the point of my life when I was too depressed, it sort of soothed me then.

drizzy reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I'd say this is Little Prince for grownups, but it wouldn't do it justice. The Alchemist made my cry, laugh and experience moments of pure happiness. It will either make you happy because you are following your heart, sad because you are not or excited about your destiny. For me at least, this is the best book I have ever read.

Andrea reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on Goodreads

1 star

HAHAHA no.

Michael @ Knowledge Lost reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I would consider Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist a light read as the language in the book is simple and easy to read. I’m not saying this is a bad thing and I understand that because it was translated from Portuguese it may have lost some of the elements. I know Paulo Coelho likes to write in a simple way, he does this so well that you don’t often notice as you are too busy wrapped up in the spirit of the book. The story is quite simply about love, opportunity and chasing your dreams, done in an inspirational way. Well worth reading when you need something light.

What did you think of this book? What did you get out of it?

Sharyl reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

"When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true".

The Alchemist has been called "an exciting novel that bursts with optimism; it is the kind of novel that tells you that everything is possible as long as you really want it to happen," but I must stand up and confess that I did not find it exciting. Perhaps the book is just too religious for me to grasp, but although I thought it a charming tale, I did not really know what to make of it. The simplicity of the writing has also been praised, but I found the story teller's style tiresome to read, too choppy. I realize that Coelho did not write this book in English, but I suspect that the staccato nature of the writing was not lost in translation.

So, if you read this and adored it, feel …