Insider Book Club: Book Recommendation: The Alchemist By Paul Coelho

The Book ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho is an intriguing story of adventure, spirituality, persistence, and the inevitability of Destiny.

It tells the tale of Santiago, a shepherd who dreamt of a pyramid with treasures. He hadn’t seen a pyramid before, but his nights often include the dream. So he set out to find the treasure.

The writer described a very interesting plot on how he began the journey and the motivation behind his adventure. Although the author made use of spiritual terms in the description, no confusion was left and the book gets clearer as you read. 

The author made sure that each part of the journey had detailed descriptions of surroundings and settings, making it easier to picture how all those places must have looked like.

These are personal quests, the soul of the world, and the idea of listening to one’s heart as a guide are points that Mr. Coelho talked about that naturally skip mankind’s attention.

The 74-years old Brazilian author leaves a great influence on what he wants to describe on his readers. The main idea that the writer has highlighted throughout the story is destiny and universal language. 

Destiny, according to the writer, is a predetermined course of events. It is the driving force that guided Santiago on his journey.

The writer stated,

“When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. One must follow through with his/her destiny and never give up.”

From the story’s point of view; the writer is talking about Santiago’s treasure but in literary terms, Destiny. The book is a great novel that touches emotion and attracts attention.  

The story is impactful. For this reviewer, the favourite part of the book was when Santiago decided to move onwards in his journey towards his destiny rather than living his life as a shepherd.

After working one year at a crystal merchant’s shop, he finally decided that he is going to discover his treasure waiting for him near the pyramids.

In the end, he got to his destination and realised that his real treasure or his destiny was not to find the buried treasure but to get closer to the soul of the world and find his true love for himself.

This depicts how one should just not give up on his/her goals after going through some challenges, one should look beyond what they see.

One should look at the things, which mostly go unnoticed but are the guiding stars towards their destiny. Our destiny is not always what it seems to us; sometimes we are just so concerned with things happening around us and forget what’s important to live in true peace. 

The book is worth reading, especially for those who are optimistic in nature.