3. The Alchemist
Title:The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) here
My thoughts: I've heard a lot about this book from various friends, and so was quite looking forward to reading it. They'd all said it was really philosophical and changed the way they thought. Obviously I had to pester one of them until I managed to get a hold of the book. It's a short read at only 177 pages long (probably an afternoon's worth if you're a quick reader) and takes the form of a quest. The protagonist is a shepard and has reccuring dreams of the pyramids of Egypt. After consulting a gypsy, the boy begins his quest.
I liked the book, but I think it was slightly over-hyped by my friends in that the "life lessons" contained within it are interesting, but I wouldn't say I'm a changed person. However, I really like the format of a protagonist going on a quest for something, and thought the fact the boy was following a dream was more personal that something which may have be entrusted to him by someone else. Having read other reviews, the opinion seems split on whether the simplicity in which the book is written is a good thing or a bad thing. I'd have to go with the former opininon: I think the simplicity is quite good in that it makes the idea the book deals with much more accessable and stops it going off into "woahh...mystic!" territory.
However, it does go slightly off at the end when dealing with ideas of love and the Soul of the World (in my own humble opinion, perhaps I'm a cynic?) I really enjoyed the begining and middle of the book, but thought that what happens when the boy reaches the pyramids is a fantastic twist. I have to admit, I chuckled (literally) out loud at that point. And I'll shut up now so I don't spoil it any more than I already have done.
Overall, a good book to get lost in for a while: it's very absorbing.
Up Next: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (finishing it off for school)
(x-posted to bookish and book_worm)
Author: Paulo Coelho
Synopsis: (from amazon.co.uk) here
My thoughts: I've heard a lot about this book from various friends, and so was quite looking forward to reading it. They'd all said it was really philosophical and changed the way they thought. Obviously I had to pester one of them until I managed to get a hold of the book. It's a short read at only 177 pages long (probably an afternoon's worth if you're a quick reader) and takes the form of a quest. The protagonist is a shepard and has reccuring dreams of the pyramids of Egypt. After consulting a gypsy, the boy begins his quest.
I liked the book, but I think it was slightly over-hyped by my friends in that the "life lessons" contained within it are interesting, but I wouldn't say I'm a changed person. However, I really like the format of a protagonist going on a quest for something, and thought the fact the boy was following a dream was more personal that something which may have be entrusted to him by someone else. Having read other reviews, the opinion seems split on whether the simplicity in which the book is written is a good thing or a bad thing. I'd have to go with the former opininon: I think the simplicity is quite good in that it makes the idea the book deals with much more accessable and stops it going off into "woahh...mystic!" territory.
However, it does go slightly off at the end when dealing with ideas of love and the Soul of the World (in my own humble opinion, perhaps I'm a cynic?) I really enjoyed the begining and middle of the book, but thought that what happens when the boy reaches the pyramids is a fantastic twist. I have to admit, I chuckled (literally) out loud at that point. And I'll shut up now so I don't spoil it any more than I already have done.
Overall, a good book to get lost in for a while: it's very absorbing.
Up Next: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (finishing it off for school)
(x-posted to bookish and book_worm)