L.E.’s comment > Likes and Comments
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Amen! If one has not left his home country/town to live abroad, for the sake of exploring and finding themselves, they for sure cannot relate to the main character (Santiago). Also he used too many Arabic/Spanish folklore as metaphors (maybe people who were not familiar with these stories/tales wouldn’t see the link). I think it was a good book overall.
Paulo Coelho is a famous and beloved writer whose ideas influence so many people all over the world. His ideas are very important specially because there are millions of people who believe in them and influence their life. That is why his books are translated and read by people of all nations on earth.
However, those ideas are so selfish and ego-centered that makes a man with similar characteristics, while build walls between people and takes it out of the society. He supports the competition and fighting, instead of cooperation and peace. He is fan of the “warrior of the light” and believes in alchemy and life elixir. All his books are full of miracles and magic and of fantastic symbols.
So, let's have a dialogue with him and his ideas. As he proposed to those who criticize his books, write a book instead, I listen to him and do so. A book opposite to each book of his, are written by me and have begun to be published as e-books and as hard copies.
Now you have a dialog (from the Greek word “διά-λογος”) in front of you, to read, evaluate and implement in your life. This is a dialogue which is present for the first time ever. Take advantage of it, come to your conclusions and stop believe blind what you read every time.
Oh... really.... if dis ix da case.... I wud definately gv it a read.....
Yes, I had the same experience as L.E. The first reading of many philosophical books can be the most enlightening and poignant; I bought The Life of Pi just after reading several Paulo Coelho and other, so called, spiritual books, and the beginning was so flat by comparison that I put it down. I picked it up again ten years later, the other day in fact, and stuck with it, and found it got better and better, and is probably a better and more deeply meaningful exploration of what it means to be alive on this earth: The Life of Pi, that is, not The Alchemist.
I first read it when I was 14. I didn't understand it much. Then I re-read it 2 years later. Things made perfect sense to me. I completely agree with L.E. You have to be in the right time and place for it to mean anything.
If anyone is "moved" by The Alchemist then I also have a whole stack of children's comics I'm sure you'd enjoy, although you may find difficulty with some of the comic's longer words.
The Alchemist is, without doubt, among the worst of the thousands of books I've ever read.
I actually appreciated the simplicity of the "child-vocabulary" prose, and I thought the way Coelho followed the well-worn plot path was interesting: he handled the tropes well without being obviously cliché (imho). At the end, though, I was disappointed. I had hoped for a fresh take, an unexpected twist, and I thought I might have caught some foreshadowing earlier of a more satisfying ending. But no.
So, it isn't "bad." But neither is it everything it is puffed up to be. The comments about "having to be in the right time and place [of your life] for it to have a profound impact" seem right on target to me.
So this book's enduring popularity tells us something about how very many of its readers either encounter it in a kairos moment of their lives... or how very many of its readers might be stuck in one moment of their lives. It would be interesting to know the percentage of "timely fans" vs. "sessile fans" this book actually has...
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Hamad
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May 14, 2012 11:49AM
Amen! If one has not left his home country/town to live abroad, for the sake of exploring and finding themselves, they for sure cannot relate to the main character (Santiago). Also he used too many Arabic/Spanish folklore as metaphors (maybe people who were not familiar with these stories/tales wouldn’t see the link). I think it was a good book overall.
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Paulo Coelho is a famous and beloved writer whose ideas influence so many people all over the world. His ideas are very important specially because there are millions of people who believe in them and influence their life. That is why his books are translated and read by people of all nations on earth.However, those ideas are so selfish and ego-centered that makes a man with similar characteristics, while build walls between people and takes it out of the society. He supports the competition and fighting, instead of cooperation and peace. He is fan of the “warrior of the light” and believes in alchemy and life elixir. All his books are full of miracles and magic and of fantastic symbols.
So, let's have a dialogue with him and his ideas. As he proposed to those who criticize his books, write a book instead, I listen to him and do so. A book opposite to each book of his, are written by me and have begun to be published as e-books and as hard copies.
Now you have a dialog (from the Greek word “διά-λογος”) in front of you, to read, evaluate and implement in your life. This is a dialogue which is present for the first time ever. Take advantage of it, come to your conclusions and stop believe blind what you read every time.
Oh... really.... if dis ix da case.... I wud definately gv it a read.....
Yes, I had the same experience as L.E. The first reading of many philosophical books can be the most enlightening and poignant; I bought The Life of Pi just after reading several Paulo Coelho and other, so called, spiritual books, and the beginning was so flat by comparison that I put it down. I picked it up again ten years later, the other day in fact, and stuck with it, and found it got better and better, and is probably a better and more deeply meaningful exploration of what it means to be alive on this earth: The Life of Pi, that is, not The Alchemist.
I first read it when I was 14. I didn't understand it much. Then I re-read it 2 years later. Things made perfect sense to me. I completely agree with L.E. You have to be in the right time and place for it to mean anything.
If anyone is "moved" by The Alchemist then I also have a whole stack of children's comics I'm sure you'd enjoy, although you may find difficulty with some of the comic's longer words. The Alchemist is, without doubt, among the worst of the thousands of books I've ever read.
I actually appreciated the simplicity of the "child-vocabulary" prose, and I thought the way Coelho followed the well-worn plot path was interesting: he handled the tropes well without being obviously cliché (imho). At the end, though, I was disappointed. I had hoped for a fresh take, an unexpected twist, and I thought I might have caught some foreshadowing earlier of a more satisfying ending. But no. So, it isn't "bad." But neither is it everything it is puffed up to be. The comments about "having to be in the right time and place [of your life] for it to have a profound impact" seem right on target to me.
So this book's enduring popularity tells us something about how very many of its readers either encounter it in a kairos moment of their lives... or how very many of its readers might be stuck in one moment of their lives. It would be interesting to know the percentage of "timely fans" vs. "sessile fans" this book actually has...
