8. The Alchemist Coelho

Again I am back to making the mistake of not writing up the blog post until months afterwards,  nearly five months in fact... but at least this time I made some notes, so I won't just be copying and pasting from Wikipedia like my students seem to do when they haven't done their homework! 


I am slightly wary of books that hold such high acclaim and are presented with lists of which famous people are reading it, did you know for instance that Will Smith, Madonna and Obama have all read it (okay so maybe a little wikipedia won't hurt...). In particular what I find difficult is that no-one yet has been able to tell me why they liked it! Is this a book famous for being famous (or perhaps for being read by famous people)? 


And it was with this trepidation that I approached the book... I need not have worried so much! The story itself is a simple journey of a young shepherd who decides to try and follow his prophetic dream. What emerges from the story is the following maxim:

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

And yes I know that I could have got that from wikipedia without needing to read the book! But I do like the idea of that simply put you should never give up hope in your dreams, or as my mother would say (and has said many, many times to me) what is for you won't go by you.

I have tried very hard to adopt that idea for myself, and usually fail miserably at the task - particularly when something you want (in my case usually a job) has sailed blithely past without the slightest care for you. Yes I can accept that there is usually something better just around the corner - but how long is it going to take to get here!?!

The story's narrative is fun and I enjoyed both the journey and the little twist at the end. You should read the book, but not because rich and famous people say so, but because I say so!!