[BWF Extra] [Steeplechase] The Alchemist - Paolo Coelho - 3 stars

[Robin P]

**Extra book for Shadow & Flame team - 277 tags for 5 Stars - Letter A
**Steeplechase - Fav - 175 tags

I think I am too old for books like this. If I had read this when I was 18, I would have been very impressed, as I was by The Prophet and the now somewhat cringey Jonathan Livingston Seagull. But now this book just seems to try to hard to put A Very Important Message on every page. Some of the messages are quite Buddhist, like being present to the Now instead of brooding on the past or future, and being willing to learn from anyone and any experience. But there are specific references to Christian stories that seem unnecessary. And it's pretty ironic that someone would write in a book about how books aren't that valuable, you should learn from the desert, the wind and the sun.

Books and discussions on these topics always remind me of the movie My Dinner with Andre. Andre goes on and on about his incredible experiences around the world, trying to discover Life, Truth and himself. Then Wallace Shawn says, "Well, I like to get up in the morning, have some coffee, a little coffee cake . ." That is me! I just don't have a need to explore Ultimate Purpose and discuss philosophy for its own sake. I gave the book 3 stars because it seems to be effective at what it set out to do and many people have found it inspirational. Plus it was a very fast read.

[NancyJ]

I agree. It was a DNF for me, but I know I would have loved it when I was young. I had both the books you mentioned. I think The Celestine Prophecy might be of this ilk too, but I liked it when I read it.

[Theresa]

I'm with you. I called it nothing more than a charming folktale. I read this earlier this year and was, to put it mildly, underwhelmed though I did give it 3 stars - but all the accolades? It's nothing new, rather basic and hardly inspiring -- not even in my younger years. I like your analogy to My Dinner with Andre! Totally got it!

I think Eat, Pray, Love is the same type of book --- more expanded -- and while I only saw and disliked the movie -- the book strikes me as the same sort of thing.

[NancyJ]

I avoided eat pray love for years for the same reason ( I never saw the film) but I finally read it last year for the PBT 100 challenge, and I really enjoyed the story. It wasn’t a mishmash of different philosophies. If I was able to view the Alchemist as a folk story I might have been able to read it, but it felt too much like a self help book in disguise.

[Theresa]

NancyJ wrote: "I avoided eat pray love for years for the same reason ( I never saw the film) but I finally read it last year for the PBT 100 challenge, and I really enjoyed the story. It wasn’t a mishmash of diff..."

I had a a copy of The Alchemist on my ebook TBR - was glad to read it and get rid of it, but also it fit several different challenges at the time! That makes up for a lot of deficiencies.

[Sue]

I hated The Alchemist. And I never made it past the introduction for Eat, Pray, Love.

A friend loaned me her copy of Eat Pray Love and when I tried to give it back: "I don't want that thing back". Turns out she didn't make it any further than I did - about 3 pages.

[KateNZ]

I disliked The Alchemist too when I read it earlier in the year. It was a serious struggle to finish it. I agree that I might have found some of the ideas more novel if I’d read it in my teens, but at my current time of life it was just tedious.

I’ve never felt any desire to try Eat, Pray, Love. Saw some of the movie but it didn’t hold my attention.