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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't let the snobs make you miss this wonderful book!, Jun 7 2003
If you are considering reading this book based on the comments of this page, you will find the following:
1) At this moment, 471 people have taken the time to write a review about it.
2) Out of those 471 readers, 308 gave it 5 stars, and 71 gave it 4 stars.
3) Many of those readers (including myself) identify this book as one of those which can actually change your life, or open your mind to a new way of thinking. Not every book in this world receives that type of comment.
However, there are 41 comments that give this book just one star. The sad part of this is that those bad comments are always marked as the "most useful". I feel sorrow for those who did not read this book based on the anger and bad judgement of the negative reviewers. They really missed something valuable.
Most of the negative reviews come from three kinds of people:
1) Arrogant snobs, who always care more about the form than about the content; people who adore what they don't understand and call "children reading" anything that their minds can really process. They like to consider themselves separated from what they call "the masses", or "the shallow people", but in reality their are the shallowest of all. They are looking for fancy words and constructions, not for interesting questions. When you tell to one of this persons "Run! Save your life!" they don't pay attention to you. They analyze if "Save your life" could be expressed in a more elegant manner. While they think of that, the avalanche comes over their heads.
2) Phsicologysts or other counselors, who want to save you from going crazy after you read the book. They think that you will throw away your whole life under the influence of this book. They don't realize that the book actually promotes serenity, wisdom, balance and moderation. "The Alchemist" does not talk about leaving everything to pursue your dreams. It just says that you should have dreams, and make moves towards them. To this type of reviewer I recommend to read again the part about the spoon with oil in the castle.
3) People without imagination, who take things literally. Persons who strongly believe that God made the world in six days and slept on Sunday. This type of person says that "The Alchemist" associates "meaning" with "wealth". Nothing could be more wrong! The "treasure" is just a metaphore, and actually what matters is the trip, not the result. These reviewers concentrate their attention in things like "the treasure is just some gold", "he falls in love with a woman the first time they meet" or "the story talks about elixirs of life and phylosophical stones". They don't realize that this book is about the meaning of life, about the complexity of things that look simple, about the way our universe is built and all its parts are connected. The key concepts of the book are:
a) Every life has meaning. Each of us is the star of a story that is worth living.
b) There are messages everywhere. There is a logic behing everything. If you open your eyes, you will see interesting things in simple events or objects that others would ignore.
c) The standards of our society fill our souls with fear. They make us believe that we have to follow known patterns. They make us feel small, isolated and meaningless, but each of us has a place in the universe, and a function to acomplish.
d) Balance is essential in life. If you leave everything behind, thinking that God or "the universe" is going to give you everything, life will prove you wrong; but if you stay where you are and don't pursue your dreams, you will not live at all.
Out of the negative reviews, there is one that I respect very much. It says something like "if you like this book, you deserve it". This book is what you want to make of it. If you are looking for the shape of the words or for an explicit confirmation of your beliefs, you will be disappointed. If you read this book with an open mind, you will enjoy it.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truth is beauty, beauty truth, Aug 29 2006
This review is from: The Alchemist - 10th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)
After you're through reading the recommended list of books that the New York Times and everyone else says you're supposed to read (Brown's "Da Vinci," McCrae's "Katzenjammer" and Martel's "Life of Pi," might I suggest you tackle this book---"The Alchemist." It is simply superb. Easy to read, it is nevertheless somewhat complex in meaning. The content of this novel is remarkable in its telling. I kept me up at night, but not in that thriller kind of way. Rather by its deep meaning and insight into human nature. I highly recommend it.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Herman Hesse Wannabe, July 2 2004
If nothing else, The Alchemist provided stimulation for me to search out more authentic sources on the topics it endeavored to attack (Buddhist philosophy, Arabian desert lifestyle, etc). And because it WAS a source of stimulation, and because I could not allow myself to group it with the 1-starred Stephen King or Danielle Steele 'novels', I give Coelho 2 stars for his effort.Basically, this is a simple story of a man on a journey through Arabian deserts; on his way he meets mystics, women, takes up odd jobs in glass blowing, caring for sheep, and such soul searching enterprises. Suppossedly by the end of his adventurous journey (which leads him to a "treasure") he 'learns'/attains the meaning of life. I do believe Coelho was a little theologically confused at the time he wrote this story. His main messages are:
"Follow your heart", and "Learn the Language of The World"; but see, Coehlo and his main character are Christians; the boy travels through a (mainly) Muslim land, and though he ends up at the Egyptian pyramids, the preachings seem to be quite "eastern" in take (buddha comes to mind). But of course, the whole POINT of Eastern philosophies is that they cannot be described in words (Coelho constantly preaches about how things cannot be told, they must be experienced). For all that, Coelho does a lotta telling. The language is quite simple, which can be beautiful (read: Herman Hesse); however it comes off as quite redundant and sermonic. Every other sentence contains at least one reference to either "The Soul of the World", or "The Personal Legend", or "Follow Your Heart" with a big fat capital H. By the end of the novel I am skimming most passages. The characters are flat (I didn't really "feel" them, what they were going through, and there was no character development), and the storyline resembled that of a children's folktale (I like folktales). Overall, it was a worthwhile read given that it only took a couple hours, presented some interesting ideas (albeit, without illustrating any of them satisfactorily), and removed me to the Spanish countryside/Arabian desert for a bit (I am a sucker for folktales, and if this book is nothing else, it would make a BEAUTIFUL illustrated children's book-- I like that). NOTE TO ALL Reviewer-Reviewers: Please consider rating the reviews as helpful if they contain pertinent information on the item under discussion, not if you agree with what the reviewer has to say. I've noticed unhelpful one-liners get "helpful" votes (when the reviews were positive), and other, more full/explained (but more negative) reviews get NO helpful votes -- this IS NOT A VOTE on how much you agree with the other reader! Be FAIR :o)
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