On The Alchemist...

Hey All,

Before I start this post, I think I should make something clear: I am not a book reviewer. This blog contains my very subjective responses to books. While my writing may stray into objective - or objectifying - language, this is, overall, a fun exercise in reading and writing, and one I hope you, too, may enjoy.

Ah, The Alchemist. I`ve seen many people reading it over the years, and I suppose it sparked a bit of interest for me by virtue of that fact. Yet nothing about it ever pulled me to read it. And I think I now know why.

It’s, well, hard to say why that is, without offending too many people. First, the book is about the physical and spiritual journey of a young Spanish shepherd, or what Paulo Coelho calls a Personal Legend. Lame. He is in search of a treasure that is located in the Pyramids in Egypt. Lame. There’s a lot of talk of God and Allah. Lame. The writing style is simplistic, and stunted. Lame. I can see the appeal of The Alchemist, and Paulo Coehlo’s style of writing, but it’s not for me. Young people should read and enjoy it (They should also, however, read more challenging and intellectual books). But a thirty-two year-old man has other things he`d rather read. At least this one does.

There is one thing about the book, though, that really struck a chord with me, and it`s something that I`ve been thinking about a lot lately: enjoying the journey. I recognize that I’m not good at doing that, and that I too often get impatient and caught up in simply getting to or achieving an end goal. I know that’s not what Sasha was after when he suggested there is something in this book of particular value to me at this point in my life, but I’ll take it. I’ll try to slow myself down and take a look around me from time to time. I find that my propensity to do so comes in waves throughout my life, and perhaps I’m entering into one of those periods again.

I will grant that the book is uplifting and positive, and was a nice reminder of the interconnectedness of life on earth. But more than that, it was a great warmup for this project of mine, like skipping rope for ten minutes before hitting the heavy bag. It took me all of four days to read the book, which is a good thing, because quite frankly, with thirty-two titles to read in twelve months, I`m in trouble. That means I’ll have, on average, about one and a half weeks to read each book if I`m to complete this in a year. I am a slow reader, and some of these books are pretty hefty, so I have to make sure I keep to that schedule, or ahead of it.

Thanks for the recommendation, Sasha. No sarcasm intended.

-Bryan