The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I’ve always wanted to pen my review on this book which catapulted an obscure author into prominent limelight. This very book endorsed by so many starlets, dignitaries, kings, princes, princesses and yadda yadda yadda…ok, I made the kings, princes and princesses up.. How am I supposed to know what they read? :-P

All I know is, Madonna read it, Oprah read it (or did she?) and countless other celebrities read it...

The book I’m talking about is none other than “The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho”.

The book is essentially a long line of self discovery book written by Paulo Coelho and this being the first made it more meaningful because it helped Paulo to become a well known author the world over.

It is a story about a young Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago whom had recurring dream and he firmly believes that it is a prophecy and decided to travel to Egypt to find the treasures. As usual in every story, he encounters both bad and good things (including love :-P). This boy Santiago refuses to give up his dream even when the going gets tough. So he ended up enriching himself with his own experiences.

That’s about it boys and girls :-) this book is special (at least to countless of people out there), because of its sheer simplicity and the smooth flow of its storyline. No brain wrecking plots here. Just direct “self-actualisation” or “self-discovery” kind of book.

One thing’s for certain is that, 6 months after you read the book, the impression is no longer there because you would have moved on with other more pressing things in your life. So the point here is, even if it’s the most translated and one of the best selling books in history; you will still little or no recollection after a while about the self-discovery thingy. Period.

As for me, I’ve moved on the moment I closed the last page. :-)


Personal rating: 7 out of 10

Cons:
1) Trust me, you won't be able to remember the storyline

Pros:
1) Simple and straightforward story