I like to comprehend life from fiction. Characters, plots, and backgrounds which attract imagination, but are full of meaning. The last book I read was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, a Brazilian writer who has tasted the salt of life which became his main strength of inspiration in writing stories. This novel was first published in 1998 and has been translated into 83 languages in the world. Incredible!
In short, this book tells a story of a shepherd who got multiple dreams of finding treasure among the Egyptian pyramids. At first he was skeptical of his dream, but various signs around him appeared until he finally set out on a journey to find the treasure. The journey he passed was so winding from meeting a Gypsy fortune-teller, meeting an old king in disguise, being robbed, becoming an assistant at a crystal shop, to a journey that led him to meet the mysterious Alchemist. Alchemists in this story are illustrated to have the ability to turn any type of metal into gold.
In this book, Paulo Coelho equalized humans to alchemists who are constantly transforming in their lives. However, in the process of transformation, there are so many challenges, obstacles, and winding roads that make some people doubts and finally stop on pursuing their dream. Many humans end up becoming Alchemists who fail because they want an instant process without being burdensome. But Santiago, a boy who is the main character in this book, finally managed to find the treasure even though the process was so steep and often made him think about giving up.
This story is so popular all over the world until now. Although at first glance it looks like a simple story, this book contains a storyline that spoils the imagination of the reader. Finally, I will close this article with a quote that I think is the most interesting from this book:
“We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our lives, our possessions, or our land. but this fear evaporates once we understand that the stories of our lives and the history of this world are written by the same hand.” – Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
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