The Alchemist (book)
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| Thealchemist.jpg | |
| Author | Paulo Coelho |
|---|---|
| Original title (if not in English) | O Alquimista |
| Country | Brazil |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Publisher | |
| Released | |
- For similarly-named works, see The Alchemist (disambiguation)
The Alchemist (Portuguese: O Alquimista) is a bestseller that was first published in Brazil in 1988 and is the most famous work of author Paulo Coelho. It is a symbolic story that urges its readers to follow their dreams. The plot draws largely from an English legend, "The Pedlar of Swaffham", which has been also used by Leo Perutz in "By Night under the Stone f Bridge" and Borges' Tale of Two Dreamers, collected in Universal History of Infamy.
Many have compared The Alchemist to Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, a children's book about another boy, the Prince, who leaves his home in search of greater things, learning valuable lessons about life and love on the way. It is interesting to note that much of The Little Prince also takes place in the desert.
There are many parallels to Siddhartha's journey in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. They both develop a spiritual aspect being alone early in life. Later, just like Siddhartha on his journey, Santiago has to become a business man; his ideas succeed in making him wealthy, but he is apart from the business of business. The Alchemist parallels the boatman in Siddhartha, who, after transporting Siddhartha across the river, sends him on his way to follow his destiny, knowing he will return. The love story develops and ends differently; Santiago has a different Personal Legend in that aspect. Both are "spiral" stories with the same places visited more than once.
Originally written in Portuguese, it has, as of 2004, been translated into over 40 languages and sold over 50 million copies in more than 150 countries, making it one of the best selling books of all time.
NB: Alchemy is regarded as the chemistry of transforming base metals into gold, which is concerned with finding a universal solvent (also referred to as the Elixir of Life) and the Philosopher's stone.
In China & Australia it has gained particular success. The Herald Sun listed it as one of the five most commonly stolen books from Melbourne's book shops.
In the foreword, Coelho explains that this is a symbolic version of his experience described in The Pilgrimage.
A motion picture version is in development at Warner Brothers with Robert Schwartz and Stephen Storer producing.
[edit] Reference
- The Alchemist (1995) ISBN 0-06-250218-2
