communication breakdown

Book Review: The Alchemist (1988)

[ 5 / 10 ] Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is a charming little story about a boy with big dreams. The protagonist, a young shepherd who decides to forsake everything and pursue a treasure and thereby achieve his "Personal Legend", is a role model for all those seeking identity and individualism. His journey, and eventual achievement, will undoubtedly provide a lift to anyone looking for encouragement. Despite this, The Alchemist is really just a simple motivational story masquerading as a mind-blowing, metaphysical phenomenon. Sure, it's a quick and effortless read, and it contains some timeless wisdom, but it's really no more than a collection of proverbial knowledge wrapped around a simple story. No doubt it is a great read for a teenager, or for anyone looking for an inspirational story, but if your expectations are too high you're likely to walk away wondering if you missed something - even though you probably didn't...

The shepherd boy Santiago has carved out a meager but pleasant living, traveling the world as he always had hoped to do, never realizing that his life had something more in store for him. But one day he had a dream about a treasure buried amongst the Egyptian Pyramids, and it altered the course of his life forever. In pursuit of the meaning of this dream, he seeks out a Gypsy woman who confirms the reality of the treasure and sends him on his way. In the course of his travels he meets a king, an alchemist, and his true love. But as you might expect, finding the treasure is not nearly as important as the journey itself, in which he discovers his true self and his destiny.

If it sounds clichéd, that's because it is. Not that that's a bad thing necessarily; it is just further proof of the book's simplicity. The Alchemist shares many things in common with C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, in that both are allegorical tales with spiritual undertones that are popular with kids and adults alike. The difference is that Lewis' tales are lush and evocative, with exceptional depth for their size. Coelho's tale, by comparison, is a thin shell around a motivational message. The characters are so one-dimensional and straightforward that they make sure to verbalize all of their thoughts into easily digestible nuggets of wisdom, just in case you missed the obvious point already made by their normal conversation. Each person that Santiago comes across is an archetype of someone you are likely to stumble across in real life, such as the person who is afraid of change, or the one that provides the initial spark to help you pursue a dream.

I've probably been a bit harsh on this book, and as such I should mention that there are some really cool parts to the story, not the least of which is the climax in which Santiago's life is put in jeopardy unless he is able to perform a task which seems out of his grasp. What follows is a fascinating metaphysical blend of discourse between man and nature, and is excellently written. Throughout the book Coelho refers to vague topics such as "Personal Legend", "The Soul of the World", "The Universal Language", and others. Obviously these are things left up to the interpretation of the reader, so everyone will get something different out of the book. For me, the most interesting thing was Coelho's stressing of the fact that there is a natural language that serves as the undercurrent between most things; over the course of the story Santiago masters this, learning things about men and nature simply by observing and listening to the ways of the world.

There are definitely some interesting things in The Alchemist, and considering it only took me 3 days to read it, I don't begrudge the effort. I would highly recommend this for a young person starting to think about things such as who they are and what they want to pursue; it is a very uplifting story which will likely help many folks find the strength to chase their dreams. But for those a little futher along in life, there's not enough substance here to expect anything more than a quaint little short story.