Nicholas ([info]nwhyte) wrote,
2006-07-15 14:45:00
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July Books 11) The Alchemist

11) The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

To be honest, not wildly impressed by this story of the boy who goes to find his Personal Legend in the desert. I think I might have found it deep and meaningful when I was 14. But the images seemed pretty heavy-handed to me now. If I want to read spiritual literature I'll go straight to the real thing.
Tags: bookblog 2006, bookblog: bbc big read

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  • 10 comments

[info]ianmcdonald

July 15 2006, 14:03:26 UTC 5 years ago

I find this about all Paulo Coelho --Jonthon Livingstone Seagull for the Oprah generation.

[info]nwhyte

July 15 2006, 14:20:47 UTC 5 years ago

Yes, I think that's about right.

While it's a bit mystifying that LibraryThing has Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable at the top of the "similarly tagged" list, it's much less surprising that the next four books are The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Little Prince and Unmasking the New Age.

[info]frumiousb

July 15 2006, 15:01:50 UTC 5 years ago

Since I walked Santiago de Compostela, well-wishing folks keep urging me to read the Coelho. I keep refusing because I pretty much assume it will be a lot like you describe. Don't like that sort of stuff much.

[info]cassave

July 15 2006, 15:27:58 UTC 5 years ago

IMO, "The Alchemist" is the kind of novel people who usually don't read recommend to each other: it's short and doesn't demand much (if any) intellectual effort.

[info]wwhyte

July 15 2006, 15:59:07 UTC 5 years ago

Well, it's a quick read at least (though when you're [info]nwhyte everything's a quick read). I found it simultaneously too vague in its message and too specific in its setting to really inspire me.

[info]sameen

July 15 2006, 20:18:42 UTC 5 years ago

11 minutes is a slightly better effort
S

[info]rcfinch

July 16 2006, 12:38:11 UTC 5 years ago

Though I liked The Alchemist, I prefer Coelho's </i>The Devil and Miss Prym</i>. Have you read that one, too.

Anonymous

July 16 2006, 19:37:26 UTC 5 years ago

Crap

A friend of mine leant the book to me several years ago saying how marvellous it was. Shamefully, I couldn't even get to the end of the book, I found it that bad.

Zoe
www.myboyfriendisatwat.com

[info]nwhyte

July 16 2006, 20:01:43 UTC 5 years ago

Re: Crap

Yeah, I think it would appeal only to the 14-year-olds amongst us!

Anonymous

September 23 2010, 05:03:02 UTC 1 year ago

I read and did a chapter by chapter review of Eat, Pray, Love by some mad Yank bird. To give you an idea of what I thought about it, I posted the finished book to Pastor Terry Jones.

I'm now reading On the Art of Opera by Kim Jong-Il, which is refreshing, by comparison. It is also unlikely to be made into a film starring Julia roberts, another poiint in its favour.

quarsan
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