The Alchemist

Hi everyone, so I FINALLY read "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. A friend of mine gave me the book about 5 years ago and I looked at it with interest, but the time just wasn't right for me to read it and I put it away. I felt that it would be a big deal when I finally did get to it, but I just wasn't in the right space. Well, I was in the airport last week and was shopping for a book and saw The Alchemist on the rack. I didn't want to drop $16 on a book I had at home, but I was compelled to do so. So I did. And I didn't read it on the plane. What is up with the avoidance of this book? I finally read it last night. It's short and quick read. I was blown away at the Prologue.

This book was a confirmation for me of many things I have taken in (or spewed out) over the past few years. Really affirming of my path. I'm not going to ruin the story if you haven't read it, but for those who have...I wonder. As I read it, I wondered if I had chosen to read it five years ago when it first entered my life, would I have understood it? I'm standing in a very different place now. I feel like I got most of the nuances in the story and I connected with the characters completely. Having said that, if I read it again five years from now, will I reflect on my present understanding as merely fundamental? Did I really grasp the nuances or is some of it still completely over my head? It always entertains me how we don't know what it is that we don't know, but sometimes we can suspect we don't know. I guess I'll let you know how this goes in about five years!

My question to you all is whether some of you have read it...what impact did it have...and if you re-read it when you were further along in your path, were you able to discern more from it? Books are so great - they are static but your experience of them changes over time.

I'm also interested in book recommendations...so if you know of something that might be a good, quality read then please chime in!

Joy,
Robin