I liked this one better than the Pilgrimage...there were spots where the message resonated though too many others where it just seemed too simplistic. I don't know what it is with me and Coelho - there is this tone he uses, or something, that gives me this constant feeling that it is just about to get better (but then it never does). ( )

The alchemist: a book of retreat one moves in a sensation of back or retrograde perhaps one moves truly that way; but that are mute unawarenesses. To realize that moving is a stillness. One may travel backwards to attain knowledge and insight that prepares pilgrimages to unknowable destiny of (destination; take the etymological meanings of that given nomenclature) we travel perhaps with intentions. Move is a relative term. A terminal to in a weigh station brightens and increases value by appreciation of thus: perhaps creations or their myths… an idea of access to steal or to wield as in a habard which conceals a vision of death and life and deathlessness and night ( )

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was one of those books I put on my reading list a long time ago and finally got around to reading recently. I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I'd heard from many people The Alchemist was worth reading. I'm glad I finally did even though at times I found it a bit too symbolic. The weaving of the supernatural, religion, and culture seemed to be a bit on the cliche side in spite of the message of the story. The Alchemist works as an allegory for having faith in the "signs" life presents as one travels through it. Coelho's writing immersed me in the story and made the characters seem all too real and surreal at the same time. The Alchemist is filled with a sense of wonder and mystery in the simplicity of the story that seems to transcend itself but really always comes back to the message that one must seek in order to find. ( )

This book doesn't know if it's a novel written in a new-age style, or a new-age self-help guide written couched as a novel length parable. As a novel, the protagonists are stilted and there is a lack of actual character development and 'insight' into many of their motives... a lack in the psychology of the characters. As a new-age primer, there is a overuse of some of the more hackneyed ideas of new-age thought..."the Soul of the World", "Personal Legend", and "dream omens" all combining toward some of the more unsavory narcissistic ideals of New Age. Still, a small diversion from more cerebral reading endeavors. ( )

Ето какво каза за Коелю и неговите литературни напъни Gollum по време на една дискусия във форума на Бойна слава:

“От въпросният автор съм чел няколко книжици (това е точната дума за такъв род резултати на упражняването на умението да се нижат думи в изречения) и впечатлението ми е, че писането му е средна работа, впрочем достатъчно простичко и постно, за да не затруднява възприемането и същевременно, не дай си боже, да отправя към нещо по-дълбоко.

Съдържанието на въпросните романчета бяха едни банални истини, които могат да бъдат откровение за човек, намиращ се в началото на смисления си живот и дори биха могли да бъдат интелектуално приключение за човек, неизкушен от срещи с размишления и въпроси около същността на битието.

Едно време имаше един хубав термин, “детско-юношеска литература“, в която впрочем този автор влиза не откъм приключенско-познавателната страна, а по-скоро откъм морално-дидактичната, с опасност да стане и леко досаден в зле прикритите поучения.

Та с една дума, плоски и почти едноизмерни притчообразни романи за хора, които нямат интереси да навлизат в света на литературата по – далеч от прага или хайде, за де не прекаляваме, по-далеч отколкото протегната им ръка може да докопа нещо от най-близката лавица, защото май навлизането между прашните рафтове ги плаши, а и вероятно ги смущава фактът, че не са намерили ключа за включване на осветлението.“ ( )