Jamie reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Considering for Book Club.
Paperback, 167 pages
English language
Published Dec. 17, 2002 by Harper San Francisco.
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
3 stars
(282 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. …
"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.
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?
Chris reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
None
1 star
Why in the darkness of time did I give this three stars. If you wanted to read about a character called Santiago you would read The Old Man and the Sea. That is indeed a story. This is not.
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 …
"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 free to scold me. Perhaps I had unreal expectations.
btuftin reviewed The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Quasi-philosophical claptrap.
Subjects
- Literary
- Fiction - General