book review - the alchemist 1

8/8/2019 Book Review - The Alchemist 1

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Presented By:Digant S. Desai - 057

Ajay G. Bairy - 098



Paulo Coelho

y born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

y In 1980, he walked the 500 plus mile Road of Santiago in

northwestern Spain where he achieved a spiritual

awakening that he later described in The Alchemist

y He published The Alchemist in 1988.

y His style of writing is inspirational and motivating.

y Sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and has been

translated into at least fiftysix languages

y Other books ±

y The Pilgrimage,

y The Zahir,

y Brida, etc



T

he Alchemisty "WHEN YOU REALLY want something to happen, the whole

universe conspires so that your wish comes true."

These words echo throughout this novel. The author

inspires that one should not shy away from his dreams.

y The Alchemist, is written in a fable format.

y What is a fable?

y Generally speaking, fables use recognizable, simple

characters and settings in order to illustrate a simpletruth about life or human nature.



The Plot«y The story begins with a poor Andalusian shepherd boy named

Santiago tending his flock in the countryside. He stops forthe night beneath a sycamoretree in the courtyard of anabandoned church and dreams

of great treasure.Curious as to the meaning of hisdream, Santiago sets to meet an old

gypsy woman in Tarifa.Santiago enters the town ofTarifa where the gypsyinterprets his dreams. Then he

meets a mysterious stranger,Melchizedek, the king of Salem,

who speaks to him of his dreamand the location of the treasure.Melchizedek convinces the boy to

embark upon a physical and spiritualjourney in search of both self and



y Santiago sets out on a journey from his homeland in Spain

to the Egyptian pyramids (where

Melchizedek suggests he will find his

treasure). He goes to Tangier in Africa

where he is robbed of the money he raised by

selling his flock. He is forced into working at acrystal shop where he learns that

everyoneÑs fate is written and that there is

an unspoken Language of The World which he

must learn to speak.

The Plot«

y After a year in the service of the crystal sellerSantiago has to decide whether to return to

Spain and purchase another flock of sheep or toreturn to fulfill the journey towards histreasure.

y Deciding to continue his journey, Santiago joins acaravan that will take him across the desert.While in the caravan, Santiago meets an

Englishman who is in search of the secret ofalchemy. Santiago reads the EnglishmanÑs books



y In the middle of the desert, the caravan arrives at an

oasis and cannot proceed further due to the danger of

tribal wars. While at the oasis, Santiago falls in love with

Fatima, a young desert girl and meets an old alchemist and

he must choose between remaining with his love or strike

out once more on his personal journey.y Convinced by the Alchemist, Santiago leaves for the

dangers of the desert. After short

journey, they are captured by one of the

warring tribes.

The alchemist attempts to convincetheir captors that Santiago possesses

the power of the wind. Unconvinced, the

captors demand demonstration and Santiago is forced,

over a three day period, to learn to speak with

the elements of the natural world and to harness their

power.

The Plot«



y Three hours from the pyramids, the alchemist gives him apiece of gold and leaves him. Santiago then continues on tothe pyramids. Arriving at his goal, Santiago seeks to realizehis treasure and begins to dig in the sand (after recognizingan omen that he is in the right spot). While digging for histreasure, Santiago is over come by thieves who steal the

piece of gold and leave him for dead.

yHowever, as they are leaving, one of the thieves mentions adream he has had of a treasure hidden under a sycamore treeby a church in the Andalusian countryside and Santiagorealizes that his true treasure is at the location where hebegun his journey, completing his cyclical transformation.

y Santiago then travels back to the Spain wherehe finds his treasure and reflects upon thejourney. Finally, as the breeze picks up, he isreminded of the oasis and Fatima, to whom hevows to return.

The Plot«



List of Major CharactersSantiago He is a shepherd boy, who because of

a recurring dream, decides to find his treasure

at the pyramids in Egypt. Along the way, he

meets a Gypsy woman, an Old King, a crystal

merchant, an Englishman, and an alchemist, all of

whom teach him something about fulfilling his

Personal Legend and striving to find his treasure.

He is a very wise young man and yet one who has

much to learn. Because he holds fast to hisdream, he becomes a better man.



y The Gypsy Woman She is the first one Santiago

consults about his dream.

y The Old King He is the second to help Santiagoand gives him the stones named Urim andThummim and some money in exchange for hissheeps. He also advises Santiago to never stopdreaming and follow the omens.

y The Crystal Merchant He is a man for whomSantiago begins to work and who profits fromthe boyÑs aptitude in improving sales. He teaches

Santiago how important it is to follow throughand not give up on his dream.

y The Englishman He is a young man who hasspent ten years of his life reading about alchemy

with the hope of discovering the Master Work.



yThe Alchemist

He is rumored to be over 200 years old and lives onthe AlFayoum oasis. He has an advanced sensethat Santiago is coming to the oasis and knows itis his responsibility to lead him to the pyramids.Along the way, he teaches the boy much aboutlistening to his heart and reaching out for hisdream no matter what the cost. He never doesanything for the boy except guide him and allow

him to learn for himself.

The alchemist has the Elixir of Life and thePhilosopherÑs Stone, which allow him to make any

metal into gold.T

hat is his Personal Legend,which he had achieved many years before.



Minor Charactersy Fatima She is the beautiful young woman whom

Santiago meets at a well on the oasis. She directsthem to the alchemist, but in the process of thatfirst conversation, Santiago falls in love with her and

she eventually falls in love with him.A

s a desertwoman, she is willing to wait for him to find histreasure and fulfill his Personal Legend.

y The Camel Driver Santiago meets him on the caravanjourney to the oasis and from him learns all about the

importance of the present. He had lost everything tothe flooding of the Nile, but now he is content towork as a camel driver and take one day at a time.

y The Tribal Chieftain He demands that Santiago turnhimself into the wind and in the process, discovers

that the boy has seen the glory of God.



LEARNINGSy The Alchemi st i s a novel that appeal s i nst antl y,

bec ause we c an easil y i denti fy with Santi ago: as

all of us have dreams, and are dyi ng for

somebody t o tell us or i nspi re us, that they may

c ome t rue.

y T hi s book has a cent ral theme that i f you do not

foll ow your dreams then you will be wasti ng

your li fe afrai d of t aki ng a chance, when you

c oul d be enc ounteri ng an emoti onal , spi rit ual , andli fe changi ng experience.

y MinorThemes:

Perseverance, Faith, and the Need to overcome the

Obstacles of Life

book review - the alchemist 1

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