The Alchemist could be summarized as a fable about spiritual awakening and following your dreams. But it’s also a book about avoiding regret and bitterness.
What is the Alchemist about?
The fictional story revolves around a young shepherd boy that gives up everything and sets out on a journey through the desert to the Pyramids, where a reoccurring dream told him he will find a treasure. On his way he meets with spiritual guides that help him along his journey.
Some swear by this book as a masterpiece, other talk about it as a waste of time. I can see both sides of it.
Alchemy and turning lead into gold.
Lead is one of the basest of metals, while gold is rare and pure— a symbol of divinity and purity.
But of course alchemy is not about actually turning lead into gold, at least not in The Alchemist, it’s a metaphor for the spiritual journey. It’s about starting with the cards your have been dealt—with all your shortcomings and circumstances— and still aim upward; to turn spiritual lead in spiritual gold.
In modern times, it has been discovered that lead can in fact be turned into gold, but not through alchemy, and only in insignificant amounts.
The Universe Provides
What will throw certain readers off, as well as pull others in, is the magical aspect of this book; That the universe has your back when you follow your purpose.
I’ve recently reconnected with my purpose and the world of magic has opened up for me again (crazy things happen all the time! But that’s another story.). Knowing both sides of the coin, having been both on and off my purpose, I can testify to the fact that things become magical when you take the actions demanded by your purpose and vision. (opportunities, synchronicities etc..).
“The more real you get, the more unreal the world gets”, John Lennon once said, and the more that message resonates with you, the more likely you are to enjoy this book.
⚖️ Book Verdict
Some fiction books can teach you more than a 100 nonfiction books combined. This is one of those books. In this book we learn about tons of important concepts:
- The Sunk Cost Fallacy
- The Law of Correspondence
- Choosing one’s attitude
- Procrastination
- Shadow careers
- Homeostasis
- Intuition/gut-feeling
- Reframing
- Self-sabotage
- Synchronicity
- Resilience
- Etc…
I assume The Alchemist is experienced differently if it’s the first book you read or your 300th. I can see how one could cynically criticize this book for its simplicity, but I won’t f**king allow myself to do that. If a book can distil this many timeless lessons into 200 pages, and present it in a simple way, then it’s thumbs up from me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
⁉️ What a popular book that you still haven’t read?⁉️
Find more great book to read on my book reviews page and the Great Books List
Video Reviews every week on YouTube
Book reviews in Swedish? Check out Jenkamichiko