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The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream | 
 enlarge | Author: Paulo Coelho
Publisher: Thorsons
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
New (36) Used (82) Collectible (7) from £0.01
Rating:  256 reviews
Sales Rank: 403
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 192
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0722532938
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780722532935
ASIN: 0722532938
Publication Date: September 6, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Like the one-time bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. And though we may sense a bestselling formula, it is certainly not a new one: even the ancient tribal storytellers knew that this is the most successful method of entertaining an audience while slipping in a lesson or two. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalucian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 251 more reviews...
 Disappointing, overhyped and a touch childish October 1, 2008
John M (UK)
I read this because it appeared on the BBC 100 Best Reads list and had some good reviews. I was rather disappointed to say the least. The writing style is simple and lacking in depth, although it may just not translate well. The story is a parable with a message about 'following one's dream'. Although this message is repeated frequently the story line is a bit forced and ends as something of a shaggy dog story. It's a bit like a cross between an Aesop's fable and a self-help book, with a bit of half-baked philosophy in the mix. I think it would appeal to older children and those who like something cheerful and unchallenging.
 A simple beautiful tale in a complex world September 27, 2008
Jack Baxi (Leeds)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is brilliant. Ignore the religious do-gooders giving this a kicking, and read it for what it is. A simple, extraordinary tale, which is uplifting and spiritually breath taking. In a complex, over analysed world, this book simply reminds us all that, there is genius in simplicity and beauty wherever we choose to find it. On a very simple level those who always think the glass is half full will understand it and love it, those who think its half empty will hopefully realise there is another way to view things. I've read it many times, and it never fails to be an uplifing experience.
 new age drivel August 9, 2008
Ms. C. P. O'brien (London)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I doubt I would have been so offended by this book had it not been for the pretentious fawings of so many people who claimed it had changed their life. I was intrigued. I was then very disappointed. What a load of new age drivel. Change my life my foot. This book is pretentious and seems to have been lifted from an array of other superior novels and fables. I felt cheated by the rave reviews and am still somewhat dumbfounded by it.
must read at least once August 7, 2008
Rashi (London,UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The books just puts you at peace. For all you cynics out there it is a must read, positive and magical, still makes you believe there is hope out there you've just got to believe in it :)
 an old, short story manipulated for the modern love of spiritual spin August 3, 2008
L.Moore (Isle of Man)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've given this book three stars partly out of respect for the fact that so many others have clearly appreciated the book, and partly for one or two passages which were, to me, like snippets of poetry: evocative and memorable. As a whole, though, I can't say I'm a fan.
The Alchemist follows the same basic plot as The Pedlar of Swaffham (an old English folk tale based on a local legend and/or myth) and other related tales. The difference is that the book is written with the obvious intention of a "spiritual message". I'm not criticising those who have found such a message, but it didn't have this effect on me for several reasons:
the root story doesn't have a spiritual element, and there simply isn't room for one in that plotline: it's neutral, with no glory or censure either in the advantages of staying at home, or the initiative of going on an adventure. Both are shown to have their advantages, and it's the delight in the twist to the end of the story - a key element of folk tales - that's the real purpose of telling it ...
Coelho spins a *long* tale which is seriously dull in places...
the style is a very conscious attempt at the "naivite" of stories such as the Little Prince, but these don't seem to work when they're used in a deliberate way (it's like trying to paint the bloom onto a grape). In fact I found this element slightly manipulative, and hence offputting.
I know this review won't be popular as The Alchemist has a lot of fans, but it just wasn't a very rewarding read for me on either a literary or instructive level. Taking old tales and trying to build a big "message" out of them is *very* hard to get right, and I'd have preferred something more along the lines of the old concept of storytelling - i.e. a version that allowed the reader to come to his or her own conclusion about the spiritual significance of the story, rather than having the whole thing constructed specifically to spell it out.
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