Has anyone ever read The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho? It's a really amazing book. I highly suggest seeking it out.
i really like it. it has a good message of oneness and i liked that everything has life to it, esp the wind part. there are a lot of small hidden messages in the book if u read it close enough
It's about a shephard boy who has these dreams about a treasure in the pyraminds in Egypt. He commits himself to getting this treasure, and it takes a long time, and he meets a lot of really amazing characters. Going too in depth would give away a lot of the discovery of the characters. It definetly has a lot of symbolism, but it really has a lot of good lessons about life.
hi i am currently reading the heaven series by v.c andrews and i find them very touching i love the way she writes it always seems so real
I was given this book as a present. It took me a year before I bothered to read it because I was just uninterested. But once I started reading it, it ended up being really good. I've read it 3 times. Its nice and short. Its cool to read everonce in a while. It kind of helps me get back on track.
i think Coelho is a very good writer, but very simple, because he just gives everybody what they want to read, and this is really dificult, that's why i say that he is a good writer, but you cannot defend on a book like Veronika decides to die that to be on schizophrenia is fantastic because the man in the mental hospital is inside his own world, NOT, schizophrenia is a real hard disease, i mean he gives such an ideal sight to the whole world that makes you think that he must be the most happy men in the world.And I've read three of his books, The Alchemist, Brida, Veronika decides to die, it is i like how he writes but i don't think of his books as a real point. The Alchemist is good but read Herman Hesse's Siddharta and compare.
Yes, I've read that book. It's awesome. It have the same feel as Alladin and the forty thieves or something similar. I first read that at the Composition class back in highschool. My teacher assigned that book to me. She wants me to do a book report about it. At first, I was like: "Oh, shit. Another boring book." But after I finished reading it I felt like giving her a hug. Now I owned a copy of my own. I stll read it once and awhile.
The Alchemist was a good book. I think it was just very general idea... but a good general view to generally EVERYONE who could use a good general view. <-- very repetative w/ the generality, but thats what i think
I cant wait to read that book.. Paulo Coelho is a great writer in my opnion, makes me proud of being Brazilian Has anyone read his other book, "By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept"? I found it quite interesting too, though a bit repetitive. I also completely love Veronika Decides to Die, made me think a lot about my own life and who really is insane and whos not? Here are some of my fav parts from both books "Insanity is the inability to communicate your ideas.. It's as if you're in a foreign country, able to see and understand everything that's going on around you, but incapable... of being helped because you don't understand the language they speak..." Veronika Decides to Die (This one might be a bit long) "I remembered my parents, my grandparents and many of my old friends. I recalled how much time I had spent fighting for something I didn't even want. Why had I done that? I could think of no reason. Maybe because I had been too lazy to think of other avenues to follow. Maybe because I've been afraid of what others would think. Maybe because it was hard work to be different. Perhaps because a human being is condemned to repeat the steps taken by the previous generations until a certain number of people begin to behave in a different fashion. Then the world changes, and we change with it. But I didn't want to be that way anymore. Fate had returned to me what had been mine and now offered me the chance to change myself and the world. I thought again of the mountain climbers we had met as we traveled. They were young and wore brightly colored clothing so as to be easily spotted should they become lost in the snow. They knew the right path to follow to the peaks. The heights were already festooned with aluminum pins; all the had to do was attach their lines to them, and they could climb safely. They were there for a holiday adventure, and on Monday they'd return to their jobs with the feeling they had challenged nature - and won. But this wasnt really true. The adventurous ones were those who had climbed there first, ..., and their eyes were the first to take in that view, and their hearts beat with joy. They had accepted the risks and could not honor - with their conquest - all of those who had died trying. There probably some people down bellow who thought, "there's nothing up there. It's just a view. What's so great about that?" But the first climber knew what was so great about it: the acceptance of the challange of going forward. He knew that no single day is the same as any other and that each morning brings its own special miracle, its 'magic moment'... The first one who climbed those mountains must have asked, looking down at the houses with their smoking chimneys, "All of their days must seem the same. What's so great about that?" Now all mountains have been conquered and astronauts had walked in space. There were no more islands on Earth - no matter how small - left to be discovered. But there were still great adventures of the spirit and one of them was being offered to me now. It was a blessing. They don't understand. Fortunate are those who take the first steps." By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept PS: The only reason I typed this last part was in hopes that this will make somebody go and pick up this book, it's great but most people don't really know about it.
Migle has a good point I think. All famous writers make a living from their art and so have to succumb to the reading public's whimsies, ie. the poor guy wins, the mass concept of morality, not too many big words, etc. Coelho is a fantastic writer, however, and even though he has to conform to the same guidelines as all mainstream authors, he has an impressive subtle way to get his point across. In the years to come, I believe that he will be classed as a philosopher who used the medium of novel writing to pass on his wisdom. 'The Alchemist' is by far the best introduction to his work and a highly recommendable read.
The Alchemist is a book of wisdom and beauty far far deeper than it appears at first glance. The boy's entire journey is a perfect representation of the path of a spiritual seeker and the discoveries that he makes on the way, such as learning the language of he desert and the wind, culminating in oneness, an all encompassing love. Also he travels everywhere searching for a treasure that was in fact with him, right where he started. Also Coelho emphasises the beauty of the spiritual quest itself, for he got to see the pyramids. A book of great depth indeed.
i enjoyed readin that book but yea, its like a tale, it has no real meaning to it, its just nice to read it quick and enjoy the quest.. so yea, i read it while i was on the train one day, and it kept me busy for those 3 hours. =)
