The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

Do you feel that you may be on a journey or a spiritual quest in this lifetime? If so, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho just might resonate with you.

In mid-August of 2020 I made a long three day journey in my 13 year old Chevy Colorado pickup truck while pulling a 2,000 pound cargo trailer, loaded with my essential belongings from Colorado Springs to the Fox River Valley in Wisconsin where I was born.

Since the CD player in my truck no longer worked, I decided to sign up for Audible on Amazon. When you sign up they give you two free audiobooks to start with. There are many to choose from, but I decided to listen to a classic written in 1988, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, along the way. I thought it might be an appropriate choice since the book is about the journey of Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago, who believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, asks a Gypsy fortune teller in the nearby town about its meaning. The woman interprets the dream as a prophecy telling the boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids.

Along the way the young man eventually decides to give up the safety and security of being a sheep herder, and had the urge to ask a local woman to be his wife and to settle into that lifestyle. However, the Universe had other intentions for him. After meeting with a gypsy fortune teller, he met an old king named Melchizedek, the King of Salem, who tells him to sell his sheep, travel to Egypt, and introduces him to the idea of a a ‘Personal Legend’ – or what you have always wanted to accomplish. “Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is."

”Early upon his arrival to Africa, he meets a young man who claims to be able to take Santiago to the pyramids. Unfortunately, being a country bumpkin, he finds out that he has placed his trust in the the wrong person and you can probably guess how that turns out. Being broke and destitute in a faraway land is not the ideal situation any of us would relish, however he is then forced to dig deep into his spiritual reserve to find a way to recover.

Somehow he meets the owner of a glass crystal shop and volunteers to clean all of the crystal glasses in the window, and in exchange he earns a little money and eventually helps the man expand his business. After about a year he has enough money to either return to the familiar security of his home and purchase twice the amount of sheep that he originally had and start over there, or to continue on his journey to seek his Personal Legend and Fortune.

I think you get the gist of the story. As he goes along he has a series of similar adventures where he is compelled to make an intuitive decision about what to do and which direction to take. He does eventually meet up with The Alchemist and another wise advisor or two.

I won't reveal the rest of the story because part of the joy in reading this book, or in my case listening to it, is that you will most likely recognize parts of Santiago’s story with some of your own experiences in life. The book has also been made into a movie which you can find on YouTube for free if you want to experience it in that form.

I found The Alchemist to be enlightening and was the perfect book for me at this stage of my life as I was journeying to an entirely new experience from what I have been used to for the last 20, or even 40 years!

As one reviewer stated, “The Alchemist is a fantastic book and the storytelling is beautiful. The choice of words are impeccable, full of wisdom and philosophy. I totally loved it. The story is very enchanting and bursts with optimism which I think is very important in our lives. The book shows that the journey to your destiny is as important as the destiny itself. I love how the book emphasizes on the importance of faith, hope and spirituality through the story of an ordinary boy. I think this book appeals to everyone because we all have dreams and sometimes we just want someone to tell us that they may come true. Overall,” The Alchemist”is a very exciting fiction novel and it deserves a space on everyone’s bookshelf.”

”Other reviewers said... It’s a brilliant, magical, life-changing book that continues to blow my mind with its lessons. [...] A remarkable tome.” (NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, ACTOR) “it changed my whole life. I realized of all of the people who had conspired to get me to this place.” (PHARRELL WILLIAMS, MUSICIAN AND SONG-WRITER) “A wise and inspiring fable about the pilgrimage that life should be.” (M. SCOTT PECK) “A beautiful story with a pointed message for every reader.” (JOSEPH GIRZONE, author of Joshua)