The Alchemist: End

This book is pretty predictable, so there is nothing to really spoil in this post. The basis of story seems like a fairy tale almost. I don’t know where the story originates from, but the author is Brazilian, and the shepherd is Brazilian. So maybe it comes from a Brazilian tale. The shepherd goes through with a plan to travel to Egypt to find the treasure. The old man from my last post says that it is his Personal Legend to find this treasure. “Personal Legend” is essentially the meaning in life for a person. Everyone’s Personal Legend is different.

He eventually saves enough money to make his journey from Brazil to Egypt. However when he arrives, the only way to get to the pyramids is via camel, so the journey takes several days. Along the way he meets the Alchemist, who is famed for being 200-years old. He can turn lead into gold and can make the Elixir of Life. The shepherd’s relationship with The Alchemist reminded me of Mr. Miyagi and Daniel in The Karate Kid. The Alchemist makes the boy do things that seem insignificant and don’t serve a purpose beyond teach patience, however there is a lesson behind everything. Like Daniel-son waxing the car, teach him how to swipe away basic punches, the shepherd boy learns about his own Personal Legend along the way.

I was wrong in predicting that the boy would only learn moral lessons. In the end, he actually finds a treasure with diamonds and stuff to my surprise. He ends up marrying a different girl that isn’t the merchant’s daughter. I suppose this teaches him the lesson that some things are only steps toward your true Personal Legend, this being one of the lessons in the story that the shepherd learns. Overall, this was a very relaxing and interesting story to read.

The Alchemist: Mid-Pt

This book is such a refreshing change of pace following The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, my last book. The language was so difficult to interpret, making the book tedious to read. Also it seemed that like in most “classic” books or ones we read for school, everything down to the pattern of the leaves on the trees in the background of a scene have some sort of underlying meaning to it that the reader has to decode. With The Alchemist, to this point the language has been very simple and easy to understand. The central meaning in the book is also simple to identify.

To this point, the story has been about a Brazilian shepherd finding meaning in his life. He has a recurring dream that he can’t find meaning in, so he goes to a Gypsy to have the dream interpreted. She says that he will find hidden treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. The shepherd is skeptical because his father warned him of gypsies being deceptive when he was a boy. However, a wise old man meets him later and also tells him that he should journey to Egypt to find the treasure.

I can predict that the boy (shepherd) will go on to Egypt and not find a treasure with diamonds and gold, but something will happen where he learns the meaning of his life. The whole story is centered around very philosophical ideas to this point. The old man tells the boy, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie” (18). I think the whole story will revolve around the boy learning life lessons such as this. Also, in the beginning he falls in love with a girl, so I’m just speculating that they will get married in the end. Even though the book is so simple and even predictable, it’s a great change of pace for me following non-fiction and classic readings so I look forward to the second half.

The Alchemsit: Intro

I actually know nothing about this book coming into reading. All I know is that everyone says how good of a book it is. The back cover is crammed with positive reviews. Instead of “International Bestseller,” the cover reads, “International Bestselling Phenomenon.” But as far as the author or even the basic plot overview of the book, I have no idea what to expect. I’m considering reading something online just for context. I’m pretty sure it’s a fictional story, and it might have something to do with an Alchemist.