Paul Coelho's The Alchemist

The Alchemist is a book written by author Paul Coelho about a young man who dares to leave behind his known life in pursuit of greater happiness.The Alchemist was originally published in the authors ' native language, Portuguese in 1988. The novel was then translated and republished in English in 1993.This enchanting story remains to be one of the most popular novels throughout the years, remaining on several best-seller lists.The book was originally sold to a tiny publishing house in Brazil, printing only 900 copies. It was only after Coelho found a bigger publisher for his next book that he gained popularity as an author which led The Alchemist to become a best-seller. After an american publisher decided to print the book, The Alchemist has

Not long after arriving, a thief steals all his money, forcing Santiago to find a way to make money. He finds a crystal shop and offers to work there in exchange for food, and eventually money. After months of working in the shop he has made enough money to either go home and buy more sheep, or to cross the Sahara in order to pursue his dreams. He decides to join a caravan travelling to Egypt. Along the trip, Santiago meets an Englishman who wants to meet a famous alchemist living at an oasis and learn the secret of alchemy. The caravan had to stop at an oasis in the middle of the Sahara due to a nearby tribal war. Here he meets and instantly falls in love with a beautiful woman named Fatima. While wandering from the oasis to the desert, Santiago sees two hawks fighting in the sky and has a vision of an army entering the oasis. He shares this vision with the oasis 's chieftain and are able to defend against the attack. Not long after, Santiago meets a stranger with a sword riding a white horse, who turns out to be the alchemist. The alchemist offers to accompany Santiago across the Sahara. He learns many things from the alchemist, such as alchemy, Personal Legends, omens, and the Soul of the World. Near the edge of the desert, the alchemist must return to the oasis but encourages Santiago to go forth towards Egypt. Santiago arrives at the Egyptian pyramids and immediately starts to dig, where he

Santiago 's journey all starts of from a dream, which is basically the whole point of the novel. Dreams can be interpreted in different ways, but the choice is left to the person on whether or not they want to follow their dream and start on their journey. In the novel, Santiago had to give up sheep herding in order to start his journey, this shows that sometimes you must give up something you know well and are comfortable with, and take a risk in order to do what you want to do. I feel that Santiago as a character gives a sense of realism in which I am able to relate to. Instead of waiting for our dreams to come true, we must take risks and struggle in order to pursue and realize our Personal Legend.

In conclusion, The Alchemist is an endearing and convincing novel which attracts the readers into chasing their dreams. It is powerful in its simplicity and in its inspiring wisdom. People tend to believe that the universe is against them, but the main idea of this novel is that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it", but sometimes one 's treasure is not somewhere far away, instead it can be found at