"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky. "Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse that the sufferig itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist invites you on the journey of a life time, full of wisdom, danger, love and lose. Not only does it spark your intrest, but your imagination as well. Begining in Renissance Spain, Coelho introduces our protagoinst, a shepard boy who dreams of traveling the world. He yearns to search for his hidden treasure and fulfill his Personal Legend, but little does Santiago know that his profit will be more than riches untold.
What makes Coelho's novel so unique is not his storyline, but his writing style as a whole. He's not quite kosher with names, only mentioning the main character's once, and tends to use nouns for everyone else. (i.e. 'the alchemist,' 'the Englishman,' 'the King,' and so on.) Also, the author's voice as he narrarates his work is quite different too, almost saint-like or thoughtful through the entire novel; uncomparibale to most authors, who's mood stays parallel with the character's.
Another contributor to this particualr novel is the lack of detail. Although it is not needed, charachter descriptions and the like are vauge, almost left out of the picture completly. This allows the us to imagine the scene, the height and shape of the characters, and the activity taking place around the dialouge. This allows us to create our own journey alongside Santiago.
I recommend this book to readers of all ages. The simplicity of the work makes it perfect for a bed time story. But at the same time, the complex thoughts and intuition makes it perfect for older and more advance audiences.
