Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist - a review

Paulo Coelho's novel The Alchemist holds a curious distinction of being an excellent example of a genre, while at the same time it is a rather mediocre book. I shall explain.

Whenever I mockingly devise an idea for a fantasy book, which I clearly have no intention of ever writing, one inevitable progression of events makes itself available all too eagerly. The hero, usually of humble background, is charged with a quest that takes him to some rather remote areas of his world. Through timely intercession of a mentor and after enduring a few reversals of luck and circumstances the hero learns several valuable life lessons. With the goal of his journey finally in sight, the hero, to his great amazement, as well as to the mentor's patronizing smiles, discovers that the very thing that he zealously sought had always been, as a matter of fact, hidden in his heart (or thereabouts). Don't get me wrong here, many a great story follows this exact progression of events. The difference is, however, that these stories are crafted so masterfully that even upon finishing them you can barely understand that there was absolutely nothing original about their plot mechanics.

Coelho's novel fails at every attempt to veil this universal story. The author must be under the impression that the main value of his book is in its ability to instill in the minds of his readers some solemnly formulated maxims such as:

I told you that your dream was a difficult one. It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.

When you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It's always a positive force.

Your heart is still capable of showing you where the treasure is.

God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you.

But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them — the path to their Personal Legends, and to happiness.


These quotes from Coelho make my head hurt. One might think that there is something beneficial in exposing modern secular readers to such spiritual notions, no matter what underlies them. Perhaps. In my humble opinion, however, this pseudo-theistic New Age cud fills the vacuum in people's souls just enough to entertain them, at best. It feeds nothing more than good old individualistic religion of Self, romanticized in order to give it some semblance of humanity's greatest spiritual achievement.