Book Of The Week: The Alchemist

The book of the week features the an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. First published in 1988 and originally written in Portuguese by its Brazilian-born author, it has been translated into at least 56 languages

The allegorical novel follows the story of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within.

Coelho wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks. He explained he was able to write at this pace because the story was “already written in his soul”. An old king tells Santiago, “when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”. This is the core of the novel’s philosophy and a motif that plays all throughout Coelho’s writing in The Alchemist.