The Alchemist – by Paulo Coelho

I have always known that though I enjoy reading books, some of them are simply not my cup of tea. I read and sort of liked Paulo Coelho’s “Brida” but I am not sure what it gave me in the end. I mean, some books give you a glimpse into a field other than your own like e.g. medicine or forensic, some bring about fascinating insights into human nature which you could find useful in your day-to-day life while some take you to a totally fictional world e.g. the Harry Potter series. This wasn’t the case with Brida – although I did find something on the net on the Tradition of Sun and Moon, I couldn’t make myself seriously believe it.

So with this background it would come as a surprise that I chose to go for “The Alchemist” by the same author. But I have always wanted to read this one. It’s about a shepherd boy who has a recurring dream about a treasure near the Pyramids. It’s the story about his confusion over whether to follow the dream or not and his journey when he finally makes up his mind about it. I liked the book – especially the twist in the end.

Of course, there were some weird lines like “Lead, copper and iron have their own destinies to fulfill”. I wonder what the commodity traders will have to say about this ;-) But then there were gems like:

All the time he had to carry his jacket. But when he thought to complain about the burden of its weight, he remembered that, because he had the jacket, he had withstood the cold of the dawn.

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve – the fear of failure.

People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.

And of course the thought that binds the whole book together:

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

Remember that line from the movie “Om Shanti Om”? :-) Alas, I have wanted many things many times in my life and the universe hasn’t been of much help. :-(