Why I reads it: I reads it because I buys it. I buys it bcos I didn’t have to pay. I didn’t have to pay bcos I had a gift voucher from Oxford bookstore, as prize for book review contest here on Mouthshut. This is one of the books I bought to encash that gift voucher. Apart from Shakespeare & some English classics I haven’t read any novels or fiction. I bought this book on recommendation from few friends. Since I also wanted to get back to reading habit, I chose this small sized book … & finished it only about 30 days. ;-)
About the book: It’s a story about following one’s dream said thru the story of a certain Santiago, a shepherd from spain. Written by famed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho. Published by harper Collins, the book is small considering its 177pgs in a 5 x 8 size. Mine cost me 195Rs, but one can get it for any price from roadside.
I Suggest this Book: a) To anyone interested reading anything
b)To all those who read self help books like ‘how to’, ’23 ways to.. ‘ etc and then criticize themselves for not implementing what they read. Here, At least u can take home a simple story.
c)Those who have realized that they are just being around & at least wondered once saying ‘what am I doing’ ? ie those who do/like to do self introspection, self-confrontation.
d)Those who have the habit of finding themselves in the books they read.
e)none of the above ;-)
The story: It’s a fable about Santiago, a shepard from spain, who went after his dream to make it come true. He sees a dream which he doesn’t understand. Goes to a witch for it interpretation. Then meets a king who further makes him aware of his destiny. He sets out to seek the treasure he is to get, which is faraway in Egypt. Now on the way to pyramids he meets many people, plays many roles, learns a lot of things, gets wiser. After much ups & downs he meets the alchemist. The alchemist further makes him all the more wiser & stronger. Still finally alchemist departs & the boy has to seek his treasure alone. What happens next is the most unusual end I have ever seen. He gets the treasure & the girl of course…and then they live happily ever after ;-)
Implications of the Book: This is a tricky book to read. Its easy to read books that don’t make you think. You can read & forget. But this is the type of book which, when u are reading forces you to take up a character from within the story. Most people place themselves in the shoes ( or chappals) of Santiago. The straight storyline with minimum characters ensures you are not diverted. The effect of the book on you is directly proportional to your own level of self introspection. I suggest the book to be read slowly, with time for pondering than reading just to finish it. If first reading doesn’t move you at all, its not a bad idea to read again. It can make you awake, aware or even leave you all the more confused. Whatever happens is not bcos of the book, its bcos of U ! ;-)
Meet Sant(hosh)iago: Since I didn’t fit the roles of witch, king, merchant, Fatima etc I put myself in Santiago’s Hawai chappals & became Sant(hosh)iago ;-) . I haven’t changed after reading it, but the book did plant some ‘Thought-Bombs’ within me, which are ticking… The book surely made me look back into twists & turns my own life saw over time. ;-) so each reader will relate to the story in a way that’s unique.
What I liked: The best thing I liked was the ending, though I felt it was abrupt & sudden. Thru the characters of the story the author speaks some truths that are worth pondering. Here are some sentences that made me ponder.
Possibility of having a dream comes true makes life more interesting – goals keep us going
Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how others should lead their lives, but none about his/her own – just look at how often we want others to change.
When you really desire something the universe conspires to help you achieve it – don’t sitback to see universe achive it for u, you do ur bit.
Greatest lie in world – at certain point in our lives we lose control of what’s happening to us & our lives become controlled by fate – where are the fatalists?
If god leads the sheep so well, he will also lead a man – bcos we reason, we cant believe it.
The boys bickering when he lost everything. – how fast we can turn pessimistic
Bcos I don’t live either in my past or my future. I am interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you will be a happy man – This moment is THE moment
Heart saying its story. – listen to your heart, once in a while ;-)
Most ppl see world as a threatening place, and bcos they do so, the world becomes so – are u spreading terror? ;-)
Darkest hour of night is just before dawn – there is light at the end of tunnel
Your eyes show the strength of your soul – see my eyes on the left side, pic ;-)
There is only thing that makes a dream unachievable – fear of failure – I know, I agree
Story of the roman centurion from bible – beautifully fitted in.
Alchemist-se-Chemist-tak: This is purely my opinion formed to create some humor. ;-) This piece is about what I didn’t like in the book. Let me tell you where I am coming from. I studied engineering where we talk of things visible, parameters verifyable, concepts imaginable. There is no abstract here. But in this book the author throws a lot of terms that are abstract to my 433 grams of brain ;-). As long as its normal story telling my antennas receive well and the pictures are clear. When these abstracts come, the antenna cant read, no signal to the mind ..the picture I get is plain white grains we used to see in TVs sometime back. ;-) thankfully now TVs have blue background when lack of signal.
So whenever there was a flurry of abstracts thrown at me, I ran for cover. These abstracts are unimaginable & put a lot of strain on mind, head, brain, etc organs used for thinking ;-) this often results in headache, which means u have to have a disprin at least. So at times when I was following Santiago, in his pursuit of the alchemist, often I had to take a pitstop at the local chemist stop to buy disprins ;-)
Examples of abstracts: language of the world, language of the desert, language of the universe ..etc .. arey Coelhoji, we are already divided by many languages, why add to chaos? ;-) Soul of the desert, soul of the world, soul of god etc .. arey bhai ppl are debating whether man has soul or not .. upar se yeh sab? ;-)
Conclusion: if you haven’t read it yet, I recommend you to read it. It didn’t touch me in the greatest of ways, but that need not be the case with you. If you have read it feel free to share how this touched you or knocked you down ;-) please leave ur comments in any languages Indian constitution has recongnised & not in language of the desert ;-)