The Alchemist

I finished my first read of the year last night. It was completely refreshing. In the words of another critic, "The Alchemist is a beautiful book about magic, dreams and the treasures we seek elsewhere and then find at or doorstep". Coelho uses powerful and transparent symbols- a person's Personal Legend (destiny), the Hand that wrote all things (our Creator), omens, and the Soul of the World. Melchizedek and the Urim and Thummim make an appearance as well. A provocitive tension builds as a simple shepherd faces many not so simple choices to discover and realize his Personal Legend. The narrative is laced with parables and pointed wisdom. It was a good reminder.

There were two ideas that surfaced several times which I loved in particular. First, I believe in the philosophy that all of the events in life are connected. Every experience we have, every person we meet, and every success and failure are part of one great whole. This is something that I have come to love about life. Point in case: It is a miracle that Cori and I were in the same place at the same time for long enough to date and fall in love. And it was a complex string of seemingly unrelated choices, people, successes and failures in both of our lives that brought us there.

Secondly, I am impressed by the belief that when a person is in quest of his Personal Legend, all the forces of the universe conspire in that persons favor to steer him in the right direction and bring ultimate success. There have been plenty of times in my life that I would have argued that his was more idealistic than realistic. But, when I take a look at the big picture, any time I have spent in the valleys has been a means of bringing me to higher peaks.

This was a book that I enjoyed on every level. Intellectually, it was provocative. Spiritually, it was nourishing. Romantically, it was a fairytale.