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    The Alchemist
    The Alchemist
    The Alchemist
    Ebook186 pages2 hours

    The Alchemist

    By Paulo Coelho

    4.5/5

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    • Self-Discovery

    • Love

    • Adventure

    • Dreams

    • Personal Legend

    • Journey

    • Call to Adventure

    • Wise Old Man

    • Prophecy

    • Wise Mentor

    • Mentor

    • Power of Nature

    • Power of Dreams

    • Journey to Find Oneself

    • Love Triangle

    • Destiny

    • Personal Growth

    • Treasure

    • Travel

    • Alchemy

    About this ebook

    AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • OVER 80 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

    “Translated into 80 languages, the allegory teaches us about dreams, destiny, and the reason we are all here.”—Oprah Daily, “Best Self-Help Books of a Generation”

    “It’s a brilliant, magical, life-changing book that continues to blow my mind with its lessons. [...] A remarkable tome.”—Neil Patrick Harris, actor

    A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new foreword by Paulo Coelho.

    Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom, and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

    Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

    “A magical little volume.”—San Francisco Chronicle

    “[This] Brazilian wizard makes books disappear from stores.”—The New York Times

    “A sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike.”—Publishers Weekly

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 24, 2015
    ISBN9780062416216
    Author

    Paulo Coelho

    One of the most influential writers of our time, Paulo Coelho is the author of thirty international bestsellers, including The Alchemist, Warrior of the Light, Brida, Veronika Decides to Die, and Eleven Minutes. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Paulo is the recipient of 115 international prizes and awards, among them, the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor). Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, he soon discovered his vocation for writing. He worked as a director, theater actor, songwriter, and journalist. In 1986, a special meeting led him to make the pilgrimage to Saint James Compostela (in Spain). The Road to Santiago was not only a common pilgrimage but a turning point in his existence. A year later, he wrote The Pilgrimage, an autobiographical novel that is considered the beginning of his literary career. He lives in Geneva, Switzerland.

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    Reviews for The Alchemist

    4.5/5

    3,833 ratings769 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. Many reviewers praise the book for its inspiring and thought-provoking content, describing it as exceptionally well-written and a great read. They appreciate the metaphors and the way it awakens the imagination. However, there are also negative reviews that criticize the book for being overhyped, boring, or disappointing. Some readers find the second half difficult to get through and feel that certain aspects of the representation of Islam are problematic. Overall, the book is recommended for young people finding their path in life and those seeking inspiration and motivation.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book is very interesting. I love the twists and turns of "The Alchemist." The book gets a little confusing at the middle to the end. Overall this book is decent.
    • 4/5
      Paulo Coelho is one of those writers whom you must read. Like Richard Bach, and "Johnathan Livingston Seagull." You can read so much into this book, but on the surface it's simply the journey of a shepherd boy who follows his dream. There's enough schmaltz to go around, which detracts a little, but to me, the journey is the adventure.
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful book. Coelho's simplistic writing style provides insights and spiritual ideology to live by.
    • 5/5
      The Alchemist is all about pursuing your dreams, no matter what. The story is about a shepherd boy from Spain going on a journey to find the treasure he believes is hidden near the pyramids at Egypt. To do this he must sell his sheep meaning giving up his livelihood and basically his life in order to follow his dream. This book is one big metaphor for what is takes to accomplish your goals in life. Along his journey the shepherd meets people who have given up hope and let their dreams die, those who are to scared to chase their dreams, and those who will actually fight to make their dreams happen. Though it is a short novel that is an easy read I really liked the overall message of never giving up on our dreams. So for any looking for meaning in life or for those mustering up the courage to actually pursue their dreams this is the book for them.
    • 2/5
      I really can't stand this book. I have never quite understood what all the fuss is about with Paulo Coelho.
    • 4/5
      The Alchemist is a fable about not giving up on your true self and your true purpose in life. I loved this book the first time I read it, because I was at a really low point in my life and I really felt like it SPOKE to me about striving to achieve excellence for yourself and not settling for mediocrity. The premise is that each of us has our own universal truth—that if we follow our utmost desires we will contribute to the soul of the universe and ultimately be happy. I hate cliché or overly-sentimental crap, but this book really hit me when I read it.
    • 3/5
      This Brazilian writer has written several bestselling books popular around the world. His books have had a life-enchanting effect on millions of people. The young boy Santiago searches for his treasure revealed in a dream. It turns into a journey to discover the treasure within. He meets many characters who point him in the direction of his quest. It could be considered a religious book as he searches for God. I enjoyed this quiet, enchanting novel.
    • 3/5
      So many inspiring lines in this novel.

      "When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

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

      "Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

      "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."

      "Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart."
    • 3/5
      I hated this book. It was like a slightly more toreable Sophie's World. It was a lot of mumbo jumbo nonsense that seemed to contradict itself too.
    • 5/5
      Simple... beautiful... inspiring... one to re-read over and over.
    • 4/5
      Reminds me of Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It has a fluffy, feel-good prose, as if in a dream, but lacking a certain substance for my tastes. Nevertheless, I completely get how The Alchemist grew to become one of the most popular books of its time. It pushes all the right buttons—an exotic landscape, believe in yourself, follow your dreams, etc.
    • 3/5
      Very much a fable, a very straightforward one about the importance of following one's dreams. I am against preachiness as a rule, but I do like fables, and this was so nicely told I couldn't dislike it.It seems a very popular book at the library. It is a bit odd to think of all those armchair travellers I see at the reserves desk identifying with and cheering on the Andalusian boy as he crosses the dessert. Like me. How many of us would leave our home and life for a dream?
    • 2/5
      Almost certainly I came to this book later than when it would have made the biggest impression. There's something to be said for gathering commonplace themes in a neat & compelling package (like, say, Who Moved My Cheese?), but in this case the visceral kick was lacking.
    • 2/5
      Over rated. The author preaches, lectures and explains too much, instead of letting the story teach us. Also, the plot is totally unoriginal. The main story is found in a famous hasidic folk tale. I don't know if that specific version was the inspiration of Coehlo's story but I have no doubt the same story is found in other folklore as well. The original is short and can be told in two minutes. Coelho drags it out without adding more power or depth to the story.
    • 4/5
      I have resisted reading this book for many, many years. It has been on the Modern Classics! tables and Great Books for Grads! tables of every bookstore I've been in for the past twenty years. But I was pretty "meh" on alchemy until quite recently, and the book description always just sounded so twee to me that I couldn't.

      But then... The Egyptian pyramids. Maybe not my obsession with djinns, but some common story elements. Ginny recommended a different book by Coelho that I couldn't find. This very very pretty anniversary edition. I fell in.

      From page one I had all my walls up against this book turning out to be some The Secret bullshit. But despite this story's renown simplicity, it's not as simple as that. Santiago's journey is never easy. He is mugged and gives up and is held up by war and basically arrested and is mugged again.

      It's the alchemist who is probably my favorite, who is probably my favorite, who reads and reads and studies and harasses so-called masters, trying to find the secret, then when he finally meets The Master, he basically says, "OMG. Do the work, already."

      I'm coming to this book a little late in life to make this book my manifesto and sell all my sheep to head to the desert. But I like the remind to leave my glass shop behind once in a while. Go check out Mecca.
    • 2/5
      Quaint and simplistic. A fable to inspire finding and pursuing one's own destiny. Likely not as effective in translation.
    • 5/5
      The storytelling is simple, but the message, while basic, affected me deeply. I read this at a time when I was unhappy with a lot of things in my life, and it inspired me to get out of the rut I was in.
    • 5/5
      A fun and brief read. Finding one's personal legend might set all of us on a journey of self discovery. This would be a fun book to read with secondary students.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book, honestly well written and intriguing.
    • 4/5
      A enlightening parable.
    • 1/5
      Dull and pointless
    • 1/5
      Let me first off explain my rating. I rate writing skills and general enjoyment. I can understand why people might be inspired by this book-I wasn't. I trudged through a book that should have taken only an afternoon to read. I was disappointed after hearing so much good feedback by the lack of depth to the characters and plot. It was more like a parable which isn't bad, but it claims to be a novel which it really isn't.
    • 2/5
      Good plot, lyrical, loony book.
    • 4/5
      I understand the scorn that's heaped on this book - the omens were a bit portentous, the narrator's always being "the boy" was perhaps less fitting than in Cormac McCarthy's work, and the ending was a letdown (what's that old story with exactly the same ending?). But reading the book as more of a parable than a historical fiction novel, I found it to be excellent reminder of what's important in life: to have a dream and to pursue it. Obviously the message itself is trite, but I enjoyed and was inspired by the story which Coelho constructed to deliver it. I see myself in the boy and hope I can live life in as interesting a way as he does.
    • 2/5
      Okay story, but alot of familiar concepts and nothing really new. A some of writing is clunky, perhaps because of the translation? At least it's short.
    • 3/5
      Sweet and touching, a fun read. It is simplistic (as many reviews have said) but I think that's because the author is trying to write a book that will speak to everyone who reads it, his message is simple: pursue your dreams, but realize the journey is just as important as your destination.
    • 5/5
      Really good! Leans toward the philosophical genre but everyone should read it.
    • 2/5
      As a fable, this could have been good. Wasn't.
    • 4/5
      A bit overrated, but still makes for a very good, quick read. Can easily be read in a few sittings and is definitely hard to put down. Four out of five.
    • 5/5
      This book's premise was simple, yet so much fun and an instant picker upper. Yeah, it a was a little "new age," but it's defiantly worth having in your collection and also worth passing it around to friends and family who are book lovers.

    Book preview

    The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

    The cover of the book, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho shows the title imprinted at the center of the sun. The rays from the sun spread throughout the cover, with a pair of hawks flapping their wings at the top left and the top right corner of the cover. A text at the bottom of the sun reads, “Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition.”

    The ALCHEMIST

    PAULO COELHO

    TRANSLATED BY ALAN R. CLARKE

    An image shows the logo of HarperOne, with a stylized H embossed on a black circle. A text below the name reads, “An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.”

    Contents

    Cover

    Title Page

    Foreword

    Prologue

    Part One

    Part Two

    Epilogue

    A Preview of Paulo Coelho’s: Warrior of the Light

    Warrior of the Light: Prologue

    About the Author

    International Acclaim for Paulo Coelho’s: The Alchemist

    Also by Paulo Coelho

    Back Ads

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    Foreword

    When The Alchemist was first published twenty-five years ago in my native Brazil, no one noticed. A bookseller in the northeast corner of the country told me that only one person purchased a copy the first week of its release. It took another six months for the bookseller to unload a second copy—and that was to the same person who bought the first! And who knows how long it took to sell the third.

    By the end of the year, it was clear to everyone that The Alchemist wasn’t working. My original publisher decided to cut me loose and cancelled our contract. They wiped their hands of the project and let me take the book with me. I was forty-one and desperate.

    But I never lost faith in the book or ever wavered in my vision. Why? Because it was me in there, all of me, heart and soul. I was living my own metaphor. A man sets out on a journey, dreaming of a beautiful or magical place, in pursuit of some unknown treasure. At the end of his journey, the man realizes the treasure was with him the entire time. I was following my Personal Legend, and my treasure was my capacity to write. And I wanted to share this treasure with the world.

    As I wrote in The Alchemist, when you want something, the whole universe conspires to help you. I started knocking on the doors of other publishers. One opened, and the publisher on the other side believed in me and my book and agreed to give The Alchemist a second chance. Slowly, through word of mouth, it finally started to sell—three thousand, then six thousand, ten thousand—book by book, gradually throughout the year.

    Eight months later, an American visiting Brazil picked up a copy of The Alchemist in a local bookstore. He wanted to translate the book and help me find a publisher in the United States. HarperCollins agreed to bring it to an American audience, publishing it with great fanfare: ads in the New York Times and influential news magazines, radio and television interviews. But it still took some time to sell, slowly finding its audience in the United States by word of mouth, just as it did in Brazil. And then one day, Bill Clinton was photographed leaving the White House with a copy. Then Madonna raved about the book to Vanity Fair, and people from different walks of life—from Rush Limbaugh and Will Smith to college students and soccer moms—were suddenly talking about it.

    The Alchemist became a spontaneous—and organic—Phenomenon. The book hit the New York Times bestseller list, an important milestone for any author, and stayed there for more than three hundred weeks. It has since been translated into more than eighty different languages, the most translated book by any living author, and is widely considered one of the ten best books of the twentieth century.

    People continue to ask me if I knew The Alchemist would be such a huge success. The answer is no. I had no idea. How could I? When I sat down to write The Alchemist, all I knew is that I wanted to write about my soul. I wanted to write about my quest to find my treasure. I wanted to follow the omens, because I knew even then that the omens are the language of God.

    Though The Alchemist is now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, it is no relic of the past. The book is still very much alive. Like my heart and like my soul, it continues to live every day, because my heart and soul are in it. And my heart and soul is your heart and soul. I am Santiago the shepherd boy in search of my treasure, just as you are Santiago the shepherd boy in search of your own. The story of one person is the story of everyone, and one man’s quest is the quest of all of humanity, which is why I believe The Alchemist continues all these years later to resonate with people from different cultures all around the world, touching them emotionally and spiritually, equally, without prejudice.

    I re-read The Alchemist regularly and every time I do I experience the same sensations I felt when I wrote it. And here is what I feel. I feel happiness, because it is all of me, and all of you simultaneously. I feel happiness, too, because I know I can never be alone. Wherever I go, people understand me. They understand my soul. This continues to give me hope. When I read about clashes around the world—political clashes, economic clashes, cultural clashes—I am reminded that it is within our power to build a bridge to be crossed. Even if my neighbor doesn’t understand my religion or understand my politics, he can understand my story. If he can understand my story, then he’s never too far from me. It is always within my power to build a bridge. There is always a chance for reconciliation, a chance that one day he and I will sit around a table together and put an end to our history of clashes. And on this day, he will tell me his story and I will tell him mine.

    — Paulo Coelho, 2014

    Prologue

    Translated by Clifford E. Landers

    The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.

    The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.

    But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.

    He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

    Why do you weep? the goddesses asked.

    I weep for Narcissus, the lake replied.

    Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus, they said, for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand.

    But . . . was Narcissus beautiful? the lake asked.

    Who better than you to know that? the goddesses said in wonder. After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!

    The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:

    I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.

    What a lovely story, the alchemist thought.

    A black-and-white sketch shows Narcissus kneeling beside the bank of a lake in a forest and weeping while looking at his own reflection in the water.

    Part One

    THE BOY’S NAME WAS SANTIAGO. DUSK was falling as the boy arrived with his herd at an abandoned church. The roof had fallen in long ago, and an enormous sycamore had grown on the spot where the sacristy had once stood.

    He decided to spend the night there. He saw to it that all the sheep entered through the ruined gate, and then laid some planks across it to prevent the flock from wandering away during the night. There were no wolves in the region, but once an animal had strayed during the night, and the boy had had to spend the entire next day searching for it.

    He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just finished reading as a pillow. He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books: they lasted longer, and made more comfortable pillows.

    It was still dark when he awoke, and, looking up, he could see the stars through the half-destroyed roof.

    I wanted to sleep a little longer, he thought. He had had the same dream that night as a week ago, and once again he had awakened before it ended.

    He arose and, taking up his crook, began to awaken the sheep that still slept. He had noticed that, as soon as he awoke, most of his animals also began to stir. It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to that of the sheep, with whom he had spent the past two years, leading them through the countryside in search of food and water. They are so used to me that they know my schedule, he muttered. Thinking about that for a moment, he realized that it could be the other way around: that it was he who had become accustomed to their schedule.

    But there were certain of them who took a bit longer to awaken. The boy prodded them, one by one, with his crook, calling each by name. He had always believed that the sheep were able to understand what he said. So there were times when he read them parts of his books that had made an impression on him, or when he would tell them of the loneliness or the happiness of a shepherd in the fields. Sometimes he would comment to them on the things he had seen in the villages they passed.

    But for the past few days he had spoken to them about only one thing: the girl, the daughter of a merchant who lived in the village they would reach in about four days. He had been to the village only once, the year before. The merchant was the proprietor of a dry goods shop, and he always demanded that the sheep be sheared in his presence, so that he would not be cheated. A friend had told the boy about the shop, and he had taken his sheep there.

    * * *

    I need to sell some wool, the boy told the merchant.

    The shop was busy, and the man asked the shepherd to wait until the afternoon. So the boy sat on the steps of the shop and took a book from his bag.

    I didn’t know shepherds knew how to read, said a girl’s voice behind him.

    The girl was typical of the region of Andalusia, with flowing black hair, and eyes that vaguely recalled the Moorish conquerors.

    A black-and-white sketch shows the back view of Santiago holding his shepherd stick and standing in front of an abandoned church, with his herd of sheep.

    Well, usually I learn more from my sheep than from books, he answered. During the two hours that they talked, she told him she was the merchant’s daughter, and spoke of life in the village, where each day was like all the others. The shepherd told her of the Andalusian countryside, and related the news from the other towns where he had stopped. It was a pleasant change from talking to his sheep.

    How did you learn to read? the girl asked at one point.

    Like everybody learns, he said. In school.

    Well, if you know how to read, why are you just a shepherd?

    The boy mumbled an answer that allowed him to avoid responding to her question. He was sure the girl would never understand. He went on telling stories about his travels, and her bright, Moorish eyes went wide with fear and surprise. As the time passed, the boy found himself wishing that the day would never end, that her father would stay busy and keep him waiting for three days. He recognized that he was feeling something he had never experienced before: the desire to live in one place forever. With the girl with the raven hair, his days would never be the same again.

    But finally the merchant appeared, and asked the boy to shear four sheep. He paid for the wool and asked the shepherd to come back the following year.

    * * *

    And now it was only four days before he would be back in that same village. He was excited, and at the same time uneasy: maybe the girl had already forgotten him. Lots of shepherds passed through, selling their wool.

    It doesn’t matter, he said to his sheep. I know other girls in other places.

    But in his heart he knew that it did matter. And he knew that shepherds, like seamen and like traveling salesmen, always found a town where there was someone who could make them forget the joys of carefree wandering.

    The day was dawning, and the shepherd urged his sheep in the direction

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