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A review by bill369
Alchymista by Paulo Coelho
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My librarian recommended me this book and so I read it.
I didn't grow to like the characters, I don't have a favourite. They just felt so unrelatable, however, I did like many thoughts of the Alchymist, I think they are inspiring and truthful. I'll talk about them more later on though. It was nice having some portraits of them, it made the whole experience better for me personally and there were some interesting characters. For instance, the glassblower, who gave up on his dreams, reconciled with life in the glass shop. Even though things could change for him after Santiago's arrival, he chose to keep them the same way. That made me see things from a different perspective and helped me realize some people will never start truly living because it's too challenging for them. I hope I won't end up like him.
The theme of the book is finding your own path in life. It's written in a readable way and it has quite a few good thoughts. It's closely connected with alchemy, which, from what I learned, is about finding the purpose of things too. It's an interesting and edifying theme for sure and I did enjoy it. The book puts it well, however, I think a book with the same theme with a story set in the present and in some more known location, like a city, would be more understandable and enjoyable.
There were quite a few parts I liked, from all these I chose just two. First one is on page 143, it's talking about situation Fatima's in and I find these lines sad and reletable. In my opinion, they're the most tragic lines in the book. The lines are:Fatima zašla do stanu. Za chvíli mělo vyjít slunce. Až nastane den, půjde ven a bude dělat to, co už dělá řadu let; všecko se však změnilo. Santiago už nebude v oáze a oáza nebude mít týž smysl jako ještě krátce předtím. Už to nebude místo s padesáti tisíci datlovníků a třemi sty studní, kam po dlouhé cestě přijíždějí spokojení poutníci. Oáza teď pro ni bude prázdným místem.
The other lines are right on the page 144, they are between Stantiago and Alchymist and are about the situation mentioned previously. There's a big difference though, because while the first few lines are quite sad, these are wise and enlightening. The lines are:„Jestli to, co jsi nalezl, je z čisté látky, nikdy to nepodlehne hnití. A ty se jednou budeš moci vrátit. Jestli to byl jen okamžik světla jako výbuch hvězdy, pak po návratu nenajdeš nic. Viděl jsi však výbuch světla. A už to stojí za to.“
The ending was nice, it didn't make me feel anything really, but it sure was nice. I am glad things turned out well for everyone.
The theme and the content of the book are great, however, I didn't get to love the characters and I miss that here. Having loveable characters is important for me and this book is no different. I suppose the wise words make up for it and that's why the rating is so high. In the end, I liked the book, but it's just not going to be my all-time favourite, however, it might be a book that made a change in my point of view on the world and that surely counts for something.
I didn't grow to like the characters, I don't have a favourite. They just felt so unrelatable, however, I did like many thoughts of the Alchymist, I think they are inspiring and truthful. I'll talk about them more later on though. It was nice having some portraits of them, it made the whole experience better for me personally and there were some interesting characters. For instance, the glassblower, who gave up on his dreams, reconciled with life in the glass shop. Even though things could change for him after Santiago's arrival, he chose to keep them the same way. That made me see things from a different perspective and helped me realize some people will never start truly living because it's too challenging for them. I hope I won't end up like him.
The theme of the book is finding your own path in life. It's written in a readable way and it has quite a few good thoughts. It's closely connected with alchemy, which, from what I learned, is about finding the purpose of things too. It's an interesting and edifying theme for sure and I did enjoy it. The book puts it well, however, I think a book with the same theme with a story set in the present and in some more known location, like a city, would be more understandable and enjoyable.
There were quite a few parts I liked, from all these I chose just two. First one is on page 143, it's talking about situation Fatima's in and I find these lines sad and reletable. In my opinion, they're the most tragic lines in the book. The lines are:
The other lines are right on the page 144, they are between Stantiago and Alchymist and are about the situation mentioned previously. There's a big difference though, because while the first few lines are quite sad, these are wise and enlightening. The lines are:
The ending was nice, it didn't make me feel anything really, but it sure was nice. I am glad things turned out well for everyone.
The theme and the content of the book are great, however, I didn't get to love the characters and I miss that here. Having loveable characters is important for me and this book is no different. I suppose the wise words make up for it and that's why the rating is so high. In the end, I liked the book, but it's just not going to be my all-time favourite, however, it might be a book that made a change in my point of view on the world and that surely counts for something.
Content Warnings
Minor: War