I remember receiving a letter from the American publisher Harper Collins saying: “Reading The Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and watching the sun rise while the rest of the world was still asleep.” I went outside, looked up at the sky and thought to myself, “So the book is going to be published in English!” At the time, I was struggling to establish myself as a writer and follow my path, despite all the voices telling me it was impossible. Once we accept that love is an incentive, we encounter the third obstacle: the fear of the defeats we will encounter along the way. We who fight for our dream suffer much more when it doesn't work out, because we can't fall back on the old excuse: “Oh well, I didn't really want it anyway.” We want it and know that we have put everything into it and that the path of personal calling is no easier than any other path, except that our whole heart is in this journey.
Because once we have overcome the defeats – and we always do – we are filled with a greater sense of euphoria and self-confidence. In the stillness of our hearts, we know that we show that we are worthy of the miracle of life. The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the common man's soul with guilt.
This is the most dangerous of the obstacles because it has a kind of sacred aura about it: renouncing joy and conquest. But if you believe that you are worthy of what you fought so hard to get, then.
PROLOGUE
PART ONE
But I would like to see the castles in the cities where they live," explained the boy. It's the possibility of making dreams come true that makes life interesting, he thought as he looked at the position of the sun again and quickened his pace. Then at the Egyptian pyramids," — he said the last three words slowly so that the old woman could understand him — "the child said to me: 'If you come here, you will find a hidden treasure.' And just as she was about to show me the exact location, I woke up.
It's the simple things in life that are the most special; only wise men can understand them. What are they doing?" asked the old man, pointing to the people in the square. At work," the boy replied dryly, making it seem as if he wanted to concentrate on his reading.
They are called Urim and Thummim and can help you read the signs. The boy put the stones back in the bag and decided to do an experiment. He didn't think to fix the hole - the stones could fall as often as they wanted. His smile reminded the boy of the old man - the mysterious old king he had met.
Now it was too late to change anything; all he had ever learned was to buy and sell crystal glassware.
PART TWO
EPILOGUE
There were also precious stones, gold masks decorated with red and white feathers, and stone statues embedded with jewels. He had used the two stones only once, one morning when he was in a marketplace. They were also part of his new treasure, because they were a reminder of the old king, whom he would never see again.
It's true; Life is indeed generous to those who follow their own personal legend, the boy thought. Then he remembered that he had to come to Tarifa so that he could give a tenth of his treasure to the Gypsy woman, as he had promised. He did not bring with him the scent of the desert, nor the threat of a Moorish invasion.
Instead, it brought the scent of a perfume he knew well, and the touch of a kiss—a kiss that came slowly from far away, slowly, slowly, until it rested on his lips.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Specifically, Paulo Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound spiritual insights he seamlessly blends into his parables. Since then, The Alchemist has sold more than twenty million copies worldwide and has been translated into some fifty-six languages. In addition to The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has written enlightening novels about the various currents of our lives, including By the River Piedra I Sat and Wept, The Valkyries, The Fifth Mountain and Veronika Decided to Die.
The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it is also full of specific wisdom... Beneath this novel's compelling story and the glittering elegance with which it is told, lies a rock of wisdom around ' to follow one's heart.". I recommend The Alchemist to anyone passionately committed to claiming the life of their dreams—.
The Alchemist is a beautiful book about magic, dreams and the treasures we seek elsewhere and then find on our doorstep.”. Paul Zindel, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. The mystical quality of the strange adventure of the boy Santiago may bring not only him, but also others who read this fine book, closer to realizing and reaching their own inner destinies."
Paulo Coelho gives you the inspiration to follow your own dreams by seeing the world through your own eyes and not through someone else's.” Nothing is impossible, is Coelho's message, if you wish it with all your heart. No other book offers so much hope, and it is no wonder that its author became a guru among all who searched for the meaning of life.”
Dotted throughout the story and illuminated in a poetic style are metaphors and deep insights that stimulate our imagination and transport the reader on a fantastic journey of the soul." The Alchemist is reminiscent of The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry and The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, as well as biblical parables." Among Latin American writers, only Columbia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez is read more than Brazil's Paulo Coelho.”.
CREDITS
This book is an English version of O Alquimista, the original Portuguese edition, published in Brazil by Editora Rocco Ltd.
United Kingdom
