Book Review: The Alchemist, 25th Anniversary: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is the most realistic fairy tale. I felt lucky to read this book when I was the most confused in my life. The first thing that struck me deeply – was when Santiago decided to travel the world to be a shepherd, his father agreed to the wrong choice.
After all, the shepherd had no future, and the future of traveling around the world was uncertain, but his father still did not stop him. When saying goodbye, Santiago saw the loss in his father's eyes, because he chose his father's ideal.
Imagine if you told your parents that you were going to be a hairdresser, a vegetable seller, or a shoe repairer... You'd be stuck with a bad label. Although you still have nothing to do in the end. We learn to deceive ourselves when we were young until we grow up and grow old, we have to teach the next generation to deceive ourselves.
Love, when it is not obtained, is the most solemn and greatest thing in life; later, when there is love, it will fade some colors but still wonderful things; later, it will become a dispensable thing. Santiago's love at first sight for the businessman's daughter is brutal when he discovers that a popcorn seller is more likely than him to win the woman of his dreams - the truth is, you can't satisfy her, others can.
But there is a woman in an oasis in front of him waiting for him - wishful thinking, not love, and making others unhappy with his own efforts, let go when it's time to let go. You can go as far as you can see.
Santiago finally reached the pyramid and got the treasure, but looking back, he decided to give up many times, it was a chance - that is, God's omens made him re-energize and go to Egypt. People so easy to give up, a small failure can make people lose all the courage to continue.
If you don't have the King of Salem jumping out from time to time to help you guide the maze on the road of your life, then you must be brave and don't be easily discouraged. Failure is the mother of success, and it's not always that boring. Life is the biggest theme of this book.
Everyone wants to experience the magical journey of a shepherd boy, but as the old gypsy woman who interprets dreams said, most people can't find the treasure because they think the story of the treasure is a joke from the beginning.
Only when you treat life honestly can you discover your touchstone. Others laugh at me as too crazy, and I laugh at others who can't see through. People who thought the treasure was a joke didn't make it to the end or even set out, only Santiago went to Egypt and found the treasure.
With the help of God, he strengthened his faith step by step. Too many illusions in front of you can make people make wrong decisions. And where is our God? God is ourselves.
Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
About the Author: Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the city where he now lives. His own life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his internationally acclaimed novels. Like them, Paulo Coelho has followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment.
His own dream, to be a writer, was met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he worked in various professions, some of them materially rewarding but spiritually unfulfilling. "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." He was 38 when he published his first book.
In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as a popular songwriter. In 1974, he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil.
In 1980, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from France to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage.
Paulo Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you will make mistakes but you will get there in the end. In 1988, he published The Alchemist, a novel that explores this theme, and it launched him as an international bestselling author.
Specifically, Paulo Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound spiritual insights he blends seamlessly into his parables. Since then, The Alchemist has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 41 languages.
In addition to The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has written luminous novels about the different streams of our lives, including By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept The Valkyries,
The Fifth Mountain and Veronika Decide to Die. A winner of numerous literary prizes, Paulo Coelho is also a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes. In 1999, he received a Crystal Award for Artistic Achievement at the Davos Economic Forum Conference.
Quoted from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
"Why don't you go to Mecca now?" the boy asked.
"Because Mecca is the hope that sustains my life, that allows me to endure the mediocre years, the silent crystals in the cupboard, and the lunch and dinner in that awful restaurant. I'm afraid to live out my dreams, After that, I have no motivation to live anymore."
"Your dreams are flocks and pyramids. You are different from me because you want to achieve your dreams, and I just want to keep the dream of going to Mecca. I have imagined countless times how to cross the desert to reach the plaza of the holy stone, circled around it seven times before touching it. I had imagined some people standing beside me, some people standing in front of me, and our conversation and common prayer. But, I'm worried about a big disappointment, so I'd rather just keep a dream."
---Quoted from page 74
Book Summary: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
I have always been grateful for best-selling books. I always feel that most of the best-selling books are fast-food literature. It is a moment of entertainment. If you really want to get some insights from it, it is tantamount to panning for gold in the sand. So when the shepherd boy's fantasy tour was advertised with a lot of awesome labels, I deliberately selectively became blind...
Although I was blind, the light of the hype still came in from my closed eyelids. Makes me upset. Then, with the attitude of taking a look at it, I got this book. It is said that "The Alchemist" will be better than the new version of the translation.
I was dizzy when I saw the preface of a certain scholar, and it was completely pointless, so I simply ignored it.
Struggling like this, I finally started watching. I sighed suddenly, as expected of everyone's writing style, it is much better than many novels I have read before - not that the novels I read before are bad, but in comparison, it is really far behind.
The language of the novel is simple and unpretentious, and the story is so simple that one can see through it at a glance, but it is so philosophical to read, with a deep taste that penetrates the back of the paper and hits the soul directly.
Every time I read a passage, I had to stop, as if I could chew and absorb it better, but it just slowed down my reading progress. It was really hard to tell if I really understood it.
1. About "Destiny"
When you desire something, the whole universe will work together to make your wish come true.
Destiny is what you have always wanted to do. All people know what their destiny is when they first enter their youth.
At that moment in life when everything is clear, everything is possible, people dare to dream, dare to yearn for whatever they like to see happen in their own lives. However, as time passed, a mysterious force began to prove that fulfilling destiny was impossible.
This power may seem harmful, but it is actually teaching you how to fulfill your destiny. It trains your spirit and tempers your will because there is a great truth on this planet: no matter who you are, or whatever you want to do when you really want something, it's because This desire arises from the cosmic soul, which is what you came to earth for.
This is always the case, and we call this the "helping principle." If you are playing for the first time, you will win almost 100% of the time, which is novice luck. Because life wants you to fulfill your destiny.
To find treasure, you must follow the omens. God has written for everyone in the world the way he should go, you just have to read what he has written for you.
"Don't forget that all things are one, don't forget the way omens are manifested, and especially don't forget to follow your destiny to the end." The
The closer a person is to his dream, the more destiny becomes the real reason for his existence.
The mind only helps those who follow their destiny. However, they are more willing to help children, the drunk, and the elderly.
Whoever is following his destiny knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that keeps dreams from coming true, and that is the fear of failure.
It is true that everything has its own destiny, but this destiny will be fulfilled one day, so it needs to be transformed into something better, and have a new destiny until the soul of the world is truly the only thing.
When we strive to be better than we are, everything around us is also better.
2. About the "language of the universe"
There is a language in the world that everyone can understand. It is the language of passion, the language of things made with love and will, the language of finding something you wish or believe.
Because people are obsessed with pictures and words, they finally forget the world language.
Everything in life is an omen. There is a language in the universe that everyone understands, but it has now been forgotten. "Luck" and "coincidence", the language of the universe is written from these two words.
Premonition is the moment when the soul dives into the torrent of life in the universe, in which the experiences of all people in the world are connected to each other, and we can know everything because everything is destined to be so.
That's what drives everything. In alchemy, it is called the world soul. When you desire something new wholeheartedly, you are closer to the soul of the world. It is always a positive force. This is not just a talent unique to human beings. Everything in the world has a soul, whether it is minerals, plants, animals, or even a simple thought.
Listen to your heart, it knows all things. Because it came from the world's soul and will return there someday.
No one can escape their own mind, so it is best to listen to what it has to say. That way, the blow you didn't expect won't happen.
3. Follow the present
I am still alive. When I eat, I eat with all my heart; when I walk, I just walk; and if I have to fight, this day, like any other, is a good day for me to die. Because I live neither in the past nor in the future, all I have is present, and I am only interested in the present.
Join you can always grasp the present, and you can become a happy person. You will find that there is life in the desert, there are stars in the night sky, and the warriors all fight because it is an integral part of human life. Life is a festival, a great feast because it is always and only the present time we are living.
I make a living by predicting the future, and I know the science of toss and answer, know how to use it and enter that space where everything is written, where I can read the past and discover what has been forgotten. things, and understand the omens of the present.
The mystery exists in the present. When people ask me for advice, I don't read the future, I guess the future. Because the future belongs to God, who alone can reveal it to people in special circumstances. How can I guess the future? It is through the present omens.
The mystery exists in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve it. If you improve the present, then what will happen will be better. You have to forget about the future, live your days according to the doctrine, and trust that God will take care of his children.
Every day itself contains eternity. God rarely reveals the future, simply for one reason: that future is destined to change.
4. Dream-seeking
fear of suffering and suffering is worse than suffering itself. No soul suffers in the pursuit of its dreams, because every moment in the pursuit is a moment of encounter with God and eternity.
Before realizing a dream, the world soul always decides to put to the test everything the dream seeker has learned along the way. It does this not because it has bad intentions, but because it allows us to be with our dreams and to be able to grasp what we have learned in the pursuit of dreams, which is a moment when most people give up. In the language of the desert, we call this the "death of thirst when the date palms are already on the horizon".
Every dream begins with the luck of the founder and always ends with the test of the conqueror.
5. The eternal topic of love
This is the purest language in the world and needs no explanation. Because the universe continues its course in infinite space without explanation.
At this moment, all the boy can understand is that he is in front of the woman in his life, no words are needed, and the girl should also understand this. The boy is more convinced of this than anything else in the world, even though his parents and his parents' parents have said that marriage must come after love, engagement, understanding, and money.
Those who speak such words may never know the language of the universe because if they did, it would be easy to understand that there is always one person in the world waiting for another, whether in the desert or in the big city.
When two people like this meet and their eyes meet, all past and all future lose their importance, and there is only the moment itself, and the uncanny conviction that all things under the sun are created by the same Handwritten.
It is a hand that awakens love, a hand that has forged the same soul for those who work under the sun, rest, and find treasure. Without all of this, human dreams have no meaning.
I love you because the whole Universe worked together to bring me to you.
Love never stops a man from following his destiny. In case that happens, it's because it's not real love, not the kind of love that the language of the universe speaks of.
6. The power of action and others
There is only one way to learn, and that is through action.
The wise know that this natural world is nothing but an image and a replica of heaven. The simple existence of this world, but there must be a more perfect world than it. God created it so that, through what is visible, man can understand his spiritual teachings and his miracles of wisdom. I call these "action effects".
When we have a great treasure in front of us, we never realize it. Because people refuse to believe that these treasures exist.
What happened once may never happen, but what happened twice will happen three times.
The world learns the principles of life very early, and perhaps because of this, they also give up these principles very early. That's how things are.
If you promise something you haven't got yet, you lose the desire to work hard to get it.
Book Reviews: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Friends said that if you like "The Little Prince", you will also like this book - "The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho". When I saw "The Little Prince", I was already old, and I knew to look with heart, not with eyes, but roses withered in those days that I didn't cherish, I could have a rose garden,
but again there is no such a rose; when I saw "The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho", I had finished most of the journey, and I remembered the beginning a long time ago.
"In pursuit of the same dream repeated two nights, this shepherd left his flock."
1. At the beginning of the travel
In the story, Santiago was a shepherd boy in the Andalusian plains of Spain. Every day he drove a flock of sheep. Sheep travel everywhere in search of places with rich pastures and water.
Originally, his parents wanted him to be a priest. However, he dreamed of understanding the world, so he became a shepherd, a poor child who could only travel as a shepherd. Now he has seen many castles and met many women (but none quite like the girl who had been waiting for him for two days).
He has a coat, a book that can be exchanged for another, and a flock of sheep. Most importantly, however, he lives his life's dream every day: travel. Once tired of the Andalusian wilds, he could sell his sheep and become a seaman instead.
By the time he got tired of the sea, he must have been to many cities, met many women, and experienced many happy moments. It's possible to realize dreams and make life interesting, he thought.
This book is called "The Magical Journey of the Shepherd Boy", and it was sent to me by a friend from afar. He said the book was similar to "The Little Prince," but not as sad, and it was for you.
That night, the boy and his flock rested in a collapsed and abandoned church with a huge Egyptian banyan growing in the sacristy. Before going to bed, he kept thinking about the daughter of the businessman he met last year, the girl with long black hair.
During the night he had a dream, exactly the same as he had at the same time last week - a child took him to the foot of the pyramid and said to him that if you come here, he will find a hidden treasure.
A gypsy woman who is said to be able to interpret dreams said, you should go, it is real. The boy said I don't need to waste time listening to such words. He decided to never believe in dreams again.
The first time I only saw this, I was delayed by something else. The thin open book lay quietly on the bed until two weeks later when I was tortured by insomnia, I picked it up again.
When a person sees some familiar faces every day, those people eventually become a part of your life, because they become a part of your life, so they start to want to change your life if you are not as they expect Act like that and they'll hate you. Travel always makes new friends without needing to be with them day in and day out.
That's why he likes to travel, the boy thought. After leaving the gypsy woman, he came to a city. In order to avoid rushing in the hot sun, he sat on a bench in the square and opened a book he had just exchanged. At this time, an old man sat down beside him and said to him, "You have the ability to fulfill your destiny." He is the king of Salem.
From this, the shepherd boy started his treasure hunt trip, crossed the sea to an African town, was defrauded of money, worked in a crystal shop, joined a caravan across the desert, arrived at an oasis, met Fatima and an alchemist, and finally arrived At the foot of the pyramid.
I experienced those experiences together with the teenager, experiencing the destiny, the omens, the soul of the world, all things are one, the essence of life, the elixir of life, and the philosopher's stone, Mark Tubo...
2. Destiny
The King of Salem said Destiny is what you have always hoped for things to do. All people know what their destiny is when they first enter their youth.
“At that moment in life, when everything is clear, everything is possible, and people dare to dream, dare to yearn for whatever they like to see happen in their lives. However, as time goes by, a kind of Mystical powers are beginning to try to prove that it is impossible to achieve your destiny.
This power may seem harmful, but it is actually teaching you how to achieve your destiny. It can exercise your spirit and temper your will, thinking that on this planet There is a great truth, no matter who you are, no matter what you want to do, when you really want something, it's because that desire comes from the soul of the universe. That's what you're here for."
Sometimes I think I see destiny, more often I feel the mysterious power. It has haunted me for a long time, separating me from the sun and water, and the gloomy heart withered all the roses. I feel like those passions have left me. It took more than 20 days from opening the first page of this book to closing the last page (174 pages).
The actual reading time is probably less than three hours. After reading a thin book, is this one of my wishes, and also a kind of destiny? - It's so hard to make it happen. What is stopping me?
The author of the book, Paulo Coelho, is a Brazilian, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947, and he has studied alchemy for 11 years. There is such a legend about alchemy that a piece of metal, after being smelted for many, many years, will eventually get rid of all its inherent properties, and what remains is only the soul of the world.
Alchemists call this discovery Yuanjing, the liquid part of Yuanjing is called Longevity Liquid, which can make people immortal, and the solid part is called Philosopher's Stone, which can turn a stone into gold.
For many years the alchemists sat in their laboratories, watching the flames of smelting metals, and because they observed so intently, all the vanity in the world was gradually forgotten. They will find on a good day that the result of refining the metal is to purify themselves.
Paolo Coelho said, "The elixir of life has fascinated me the most: the idea that all things will perish one day before realizing and feeling the existence of God is despairing." Like the alchemists, he was unsuccessful. , but learned something else more important.
The boy said, "I learned that the world has a soul, and whoever understands this soul can understand the language of all things." When you approach something wholeheartedly, you are closer to the soul of the world.
The fox said to the little prince that the essential things cannot be seen by the eyes, but can be seen clearly by looking with the heart. The alchemist said to the boy, listen to your heart, it knows all things, because it comes from the soul of the world, and will return there one day.
When reading this book, I often think about the path I have traveled. A long time ago, in a bumpy car, in a far-off place, I heard a call. At that time, I was looking at a row of poplar trees in the distance, and the horizon in the distance was dyed red by the setting sun.
The call came suddenly, and my heart was erratic like a feather leaving the ground. That's the omens, the mysterious chains that connect one thing to another. It was this chain that made Santiago a shepherd boy, made him have the same dream twice, made him come to a city near Africa, and met the king of Salem in the square... Soon after, I left my hometown and left a peaceful life day after day. That day, the day I heard the call, was my twenty-eighth birthday.
Said the old crystal shopkeeper, "Mark Tuber." It's an Arabic word that means, it's meant to be.
I followed destiny, but now I'm lost. I feel old and I think about giving up a lot of times, most people give up, and Santiago also thinks about giving up, such a moment, in the language of the desert, is "death of thirst when the date palm has appeared on the horizon."
The boy came to a city close to Africa. He meets the Holy King and has to choose between the flock and the treasure of his dreams, one that he is used to, and the other that he wants to have. He sat on the city walls and felt the Levant winds blowing more and more violently, with the dampness of the Mediterranean, with the smell of deserts and veiled women, with the quest for the unknown, gold, adventures...and the sweat and dreams of men who set off from the pyramids.
The young man realized that he could be like the wind, and nothing could stop him except himself. The sheep, the merchant's daughter, and the Andalusian wilderness were just his steps toward destiny.
The King of Salem said, don't forget that all things are one, don't forget the way the omens are manifested, and especially don't forget to follow your destiny to the end. I think he's talking to me.
I'm in a city by the sea, waiting for the Levantine wind.
3. Treasure
Everyone in the world has a treasure waiting for him. But I don't know what mine is.
On the treasure hunt, Santiago finds something more precious than treasure. Finally came a young girl who was not dressed in black, with a water jug on her shoulders and a veil on her head, but her face was exposed. Santiago stepped forward and asked her about the alchemist.
"Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and the soul of the world appeared in front of the boy with all his strength. When the boy looked at the girl's dark eyes and hesitant lips between smile and silence, he understood what the world was talking about. The most important and wise part of language, that part of the hearts of all people on earth, is what is called love."
The girl's lips finally decided to give a smile, which was an omen. An omen that a boy has been looking forward to for a long time in his life, an omen that a boy has looked for in sheep, books, crystals, and the silence of the desert. There is always one person in the world waiting for another.
After filling the jug, the girl left. The young man sat by the well for a long time, and he realized that one day, the fragrance of this young girl left on his face and that he had fallen in love with her even before he knew her existence, and he also knew that with his love for girls, he can find all the treasures in the world.
Every day Santiago went to the well to wait for a girl named Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. He talks to Fatima for fifteen minutes a day and tells her about his experiences. He said, "I'm just here to tell you one thing, I want you to be my wife, I love you."
One day Fatima said, "I've been waiting for you by this well for a long time. Since childhood, I dreamed that the desert would bring me the greatest gift in my life, this gift has finally come, this is you."
The boy was very sad, he wanted to stay in the oasis, and love required staying with the one he loved.
Fatima said, I am a part of your dreams, a part of what you often call your destiny, so I want you to keep going in the direction you were after when you came. "The desert takes our men and doesn't always bring them back. So we're so used to it that these men become living in pointless clouds, living on animals that hide between stones, living In the springs that flow generously from the earth. They become part of all things, the soul of the world."
A desert woman wants her man to travel as freely as the wind that moves the dunes.
The alchemist said that love never stops a man from following his destiny. In case that happens, it's because it's not true love.
The boy finally reached his destination. Under the light of the full moon and the whiteness of the desert, the towering pyramids of Egypt are majestic and majestic. He wept, a scarab crawling where the tears fell. The mind told him to dig here.
He kept digging, got hurt, and started to tire. A group of robbers came, took a piece of gold from him, beat him, tortured him, and finally, the young man said, I am looking for a treasure here, which was told to him by the same dream twice.
The leader of the robbers said, "Two years ago, in the same place where you are now, I had the same dream twice, that I should go to the Spanish fields and look for a collapsed church, and the shepherds often took them with them.
The flock spends the night there, and in the sacristy grows an Egyptian focus, and if I dig through the roots of this focus, I shall find a treasure trove of buried treasure. But I am not stupid, not just because one Dreamed twice and crossed a desert."
After speaking, he left.
Under that Egyptian banyan, Santiago found his treasure. The King of Salem said that when you desire something, the entire universe will work together to make your desire come true.
The wind picked up again, the Levant wind from Africa. It brought a scent that the boy was all too familiar with, and the sound of a kiss—a kiss that came slowly, slowly, until it stopped on his lips.
I couldn't help but excerpt a few words that I liked
The book excerpts are as follows:
1. When you desire something, the whole universe will work together to make your desire come true.
2. Destiny is what you always want to do. All people know what their destiny is when they first enter their youth.
3. At that moment in life, when everything is clear, everything is possible, people dare to dream, dare to desire everything they like to see happen in their own lives. However, as time passed, a mysterious force began to prove that fulfilling destiny was impossible. This power may seem harmful, but it is actually teaching you how to fulfill your destiny. It trains your spirit and tempers your will because there is a great truth on this planet: No matter who you are, or whatever you want to do when you really want something, it's because This desire arises from the cosmic soul, which is what you came to earth for.
4. This is always the case, and we call this the "helping principle." If you are playing for the first time, you will win almost 100% of the time, which is novice luck. Because life wants you to fulfill your destiny.
5. Whoever is following his destiny knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that keeps dreams from coming true, and that is the fear of failure.
6. When we strive to be better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.
7. There is a language that everyone can understand. It is the language of passion, the language of things made with love and will, and the language of finding something you wish or believe.
8. Listen to your heart, it knows all things. Because it came from the world's soul and will return there someday.
9. No one can escape his own mind, so it is best to listen to what it says. That way, you'll never suffer an unexpected blow.
10. I am still alive. When I eat, I eat with all my heart; when I walk, I just walk; and if I have to fight, this day, like any other, is a good day for me to die. Because I live neither in the past nor in the future, all I have is the present, and I am only interested in the present. Join you can always grasp the present, and you can become a happy person. You will find that there is life in the desert, there are stars in the night sky, and the warriors all fight because it is an integral part of human life. Life is a festival, a great feast because it is always and only the present time we are living.
11. Fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. No soul suffers in the pursuit of its dreams, because every moment in the pursuit is a moment of encounter with God and eternity.
12. Before realizing a dream, the soul of the world always decides to put to the test everything the dream seeker has learned along the way. It does this not because it has bad intentions, but because it allows us to be with our dreams and to be able to grasp what we have learned in the pursuit of dreams, which is a moment when most people give up. In the language of the desert, we call this the "death of thirst when the date palms are already on the horizon".
13. Every dream starts with the luck of the founder and always ends with the test of the conqueror.
14. The reason why I love you is that the whole Universe worked together to bring me to you.
15. Love never stops a man from following his destiny. In case that happens, it's because it's not real love, not the kind of love that the language of the universe speaks of.
16. There is only one way to learn, and that is through action.
17. When we have a great treasure in front of our eyes, we never realize it. Because people refuse to believe that these treasures exist.
18. What happened once may never happen, but what happened twice will happen three times.
19. If you promise something you haven't got yet, you lose the desire to work hard to get it.
20. The secret of happiness is to see the rare treasures in the world and never forget the two drops of oil in the spoon.