The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

First of all, I’m going to start with a little story about how I bought this book and what made me read it. Then I’m going to give my opinion on it and why I think it’s such a good read.

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for such a long time and I always postponed it. Well, just before Christmas I found a nice offer and I finally bought it. The story intrigued me. I finished this book a couple of days ago and I’m still shook. A half of me is marked by the whole book and the other half still doesn’t know what is happening.

It’s a book about Personal Growing and Forces of the Universe and something higher than us mortals. All in all about destiny and our path in life. Now, the interesting part is that I was holding this book on the shelf wanting to read it, but not opening it yet. Until, I found a person who told me about it.

This person who made me read it is an old man who wanted painting lessons. So, before starting the lesson, he wanted to tell me about this book he read a long time ago and how the previous night he had a revelation/vision and he automatically thought about this book. The book was of course ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. He told me how he read this book many years ago and didn’t think about it until now and that the story didn’t make much sense at that time; that he did not understand this book when all of the sudden after so many years it just popped in his head. We then had an interesting conversation about the book (keep in mind that at that time I didn’t read it). He was telling me that everyone has their own path in life and that we should pursue what our heart is telling us. Everyone you meet is meant to be present in your life and is part of your journey. That we are all connected and part of each other’s journeys. Yet, he was trying to tell me that I am part of his journey and at the same time he did not want to sound crazy.

Now, after reading the book, I can say that I feel overwhelmed and like I did not properly understood the book. It’s not making any sense and at the same time it makes all the sense in the world. It’s just a mind-blowing book.

In my opinion, it’s a book worth reading by everyone and anyone. It just opens your mind. ‘The Alchemist’ follows the journey of a young man, a shepherd, who gives up taking care of sheep and pursues on a journey to find a treasure at the Pyramids. On his way he finds different people who have an impact on his journey. The book is all about developing, spiritual growing and lessons. It speaks a lot about our purpose in life and what our heart desires. It also tells a lot about failure, how to deal with it, how to learn from failing and how to go on. It teaches us not to give up and to always listen to our heart. Also, you cannot ignore your heart and what it desires. ‘The Alchemist’ is in my opinion one of the best books because it makes you think and it makes you realise a lot of things related to your life. It's the kind of book that makes you want to do things and changes to your life.

Journey, destiny, growing, learning, love, treasure, life. It has it all.

I don’t want to spoil the action of the book too much and if I keep talking about it, I will involuntarily do it. So, I’m just going to stop here, but not before telling you it is worth reading it and it will change your life.

Honestly, I can tell you that I’ve learned a lot from this book and it opened my soul, my heart and my brain. I am still recovering from it and trying to assimilate all the lessons from it.