Dian Ekowati

Many people say that reading a book is an adventure of mind. People might read the same book but how they construct their understanding on the book is different. Reading a book gives someone a unique individual mind experience.
Paulo Coelho, the author, wrote the original version of The Alchemist in Portuguese language around 1988. The English version of this book was published by Harper Book, USA, around 1998. It should be noted that this book has been translated into fifty-six languages around the world and has been sold more than twenty million copies. This condition can be seen as a proof that this book has something that is very interesting to be explored.
In brief, The Alchemist is telling the reader about Santiago’s journey, the shepherd boy, to find and fulfill his personal calling. The personal calling itself is defined as God’s blessing or the path that God chose for someone to be here on Earth. Whenever someone does something that fills him or herself with enthusiasm, he or she is following his or her legend. However, the book also stressed that not everyone has the courage to confront one’s own dream. The journey of Santiago to find and fulfill his personal legend is inspired by the Alchemist who lives in the harsh desert of Egypt. The Alchemist teaches Santiago how to understand life as well as how to get along with the harsh environment of the desert.
Having taken a good look at the story, one surely will say that this book is very simple in how it is telling the reader about its contents, but very rich in philosophies about life. Coelho was very smart in turning the simple plots and ideas into amazingly constructed mind experiences. For example, Coelho put messages that people should be aware of the world’s greatest lie. The conversation of Santiago with the King of Salem in the middle of the city had lead to the emergence of the issue that at the certain point in people’ lives, people often lose control of what’s happening to them, and their lives become controlled by fate (page 18). According to the conversation, it is the world’s greatest lie. Coelho has put the fact that people usually take something that has happened to them for granted as something that indeed should fall upon them. This book nicely refutes the idea that people should always accept what has happened to them. Moreover, this book has certain message to encourage people to pursue something that they are sure to be their objectives of lives… or their dreams.
Another interesting point is that there are some differences among people about how they should live their lives and how they perceive their dreams. Santiago went for the journey to fulfill his dream by being aware of all the omens that might lead him throughout his journey to Egypt. Santiago believed that omens gave signs on what he should decide and choose between available alternatives of life. However, when once he met a crystal merchant, he found something different on how people viewed their dreams. While Santiago lived his dream, the crystal merchant kept his dream as a dream. His dream to go pilgrimage to Mecca had directed himself to live each day to collect money as much as possible so that he would be able to go to Mecca. The merchant did not want to change this perspective as he thought that it was just enough for him to keep on dreaming and live his life as a crystal merchant. Readers of the book might find this fact quite amusing as they might realize that the fact is indeed similar to what they had experienced in their lives.
However, apart from its rich philosophies and beautiful messages, this book is quite confusing in term of its language presentation. For one example, Coelho only put the name of the main player, which is Santiago, once, at the beginning of the book. Coelho then used the word “boy” as a reference for Santiago. In fact, the book does not mention names for all the players, including the Alchemist himself, but Fatima, the one to whom Santiago fell in love. Some readers might found these names alterations are quite confusing as they read along the book.
To sum up, apart from its rather confusing ways of telling the story, this book offers the most interesting experience of reading. Readers might find themselves reflecting to their own experiences, trying to extract what they really want in their lives and finally find that what the book said about following one’s dreams is true. The book has proved that it is worthy to be read again and again.