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The Alchemist

1st English edition cover

Author Paulo Coelho

Original title O Alquimista

Translator at least 56 languages

Country Brazil

Language Portuguese

Genre Quest, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

Publisher HarperTorch (Eng. trans)

Publication

date

1988

Published in

English

1993

Media type Print (hardback, paperback and

iTunes)

Pages 163 pp (first English edition,

hardcover)

ISBN ISBN 0-06-250217-4 (first English

edition, hardcover)

OCLC

Number

26857452

(http://worldcat.org/oclc/26857452)

The Alchemist (novel)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Alchemist (Portuguese: O Alquimista) is a novel byPaulo Coelho first published in the year 1988. Originallywritten in Portuguese by its Brazilian-born author, it hasbeen translated into at least 56 languages as of September

2012.[1] An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows ayoung Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journeyto Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasurethere.

The book is an international bestseller. According toAFP, it has sold more than 30 million copies in 56different languages, becoming one of the best-sellingbooks in history and setting the Guinness World Record

for most translated book by a living author.[2]

Contents

1 Summary

2 Characters

3 Inspiration for the story

4 Theme

5 Publication5.1 Translations

5.2 File sharing

6 Reception

6.1 Critical

6.2 Commercial

7 Cultural influence

7.1 Film adaptations

7.2 Other media

8 References9 External links

Summary

The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusianshepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing arecurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to aRomani in a nearby town to discover its meaning. Thegypsy tells him that there is a treasure in the Pyramids inEgypt.

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Preceded by The Pilgrimage (1987)

Followed by Brida (1990)

The Pyramids of Giza

Early into his journey, he meets an old king, Melchizedek,who tells him to sell his sheep to travel to Egypt andintroduces the idea of a Personal Legend (which is alwayscapitalized in the book). Your Personal Legend "is whatyou have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend

is".[3] He adds that "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it". This is thecore theme of the book.

Along the way, he meets an Englishman and continues his travel withhim. They traveled through The Sahara desert and during his journey,he meets a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima, whom he falls inlove with. He then asked Fatima to marry him, however she says shewill only marry him after he finds his treasures. He was perplexed bythis and he later learns that true love will not stop one's PersonalLegend and if it does, it is not true love.

Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who also teaches him aboutPersonal Legends. He says that people want to find only the treasureof their Personal Legends but not the Personal Legend itself. Santiago

feels unsure about himself as he listens to the alchemist's teachings. The alchemist states: "Those who don'tunderstand their Personal Legends will fail to comprehend its teachings". It is also stated that treasure is moreworthy than gold.

Characters

SantiagoSantiago is the protagonist of "the alchemist". Born in a small town in Andalusia, he attends the seminary as aboy but longs to travel the world. He finally gets the courage to ask his father's permission to become ashepherd so that he can travel the fields of Andalusia. One night, in an abandoned church, he dreams of a childtelling him that if he goes to the Egyptian Pyramids, he will find a treasure. Later, he met a mysterious man in thetown of Tarifa, who sends him on a journey to the other side of Africa.

Santiago is a curious boy whose open mind makes him particularly suited to find his Personal Legend. He alsovalues his freedom very highly, which is why he became a shepherd and why he is reticent to get involved inthings which threaten his freedom. In the end, he realizes that playing it safe is often more threatening to hisfreedom than taking a risk.

MelchizedekMelchizedek is the king of Salem, a mysterious, far-off land. Melchizedek appears to Santiago in the townsquare of Tarifa, where he tells Santiago about the Soul of the World and his Personal Legend for the first time.Melchizedek always appears to people who are trying to live their Personal Legend, even if they don't know it.While he appears at first to be dressed in common Arab dress, at one point he pulls aside his cloak to reveal agold breastplate encrusted with precious stones. He also gives Santiago the magical stones Urim and Thummim.

The ShopkeeperGives Santiago a job in Tangiers after he has been robbed. Santiago takes the job at the crystal shop and learnsmuch about the shopkeeper's attitude toward life and the importance of dreaming. The shopkeeper, whilegenerally afraid to take risks, is a very kind man and understands Santiago's quest — sometimes more thanSantiago himself. This is the case when the shopkeeper tells Santiago that he will not return to Spain, since it isnot his fate.

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The EnglishmanSantiago meets the Englishman on the caravan to al-Fayoum. The Englishman is trying to become a greatalchemist and is traveling to al-Fayoum to study with a famous alchemist who is rumored to be over 200 yearsold and to have the ability to turn any metal into gold. Santiago learns much about alchemy from the Englishman,who lends Santiago his books while they travel across the Sahara.

FatimaA beautiful girl who lives at the al-Fayoum oasis. Santiago falls in love with her at the well there. He and Fatimatalk every day for several weeks, and finally he asks her to marry him. Fatima, however, insists that he seek outhis Personal Legend before they marry. This perplexes Santiago, but the Alchemist teaches him that true lovenever gets in the way of fulfilling one's dreams. If it does, then it is not true love.

The AlchemistVery powerful alchemist who lives at the al-Fayoum oasis in Egypt. Initially, Santiago heard about him throughthe Englishman, but eventually Santiago is revealed to be the Alchemist's true disciple. The Alchemist dresses inall black and uses a falcon to hunt for game. The Alchemist is also in possession of the Elixir of Life and thePhilosopher's Stone.

The Coptic MonkA very important but short piece in the writing. Santiago and the alchemist stop at the monastery, and the monkinvites them in. This is considered a very important point in the plot, as this is where the alchemist produces goldfrom a pan of lead (which the monk provides), separates the disk into four parts, gives one to the monk, one tohimself, and essentially two to Santiago. The monk tries to refuse the offering, but the alchemist tells him that "lifemay be listening, and give [you] less the next time". Afterward, when Santiago crawls back beaten and elatedfrom the Pyramids, the monk gives him the other part of the gold disk and helps him recover.

Inspiration for the story

Coelho wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks in 1987. He explained he was able to write at this pace

because the story was "already written in [his] soul".[4] The basic story of The Alchemist appears in previousworks. In 1935, the Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges, published a short story called Tale of Two Dreamersin which two men dream of the other's treasure. Another version appeared in E. W. Lane's translation of The

Thousand and One Nights.[5] The story also appeared in Rumi's story, "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In

Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad".[6]

Theme

The book's main theme is about finding one's destiny. According to The New York Times, The Alchemist is

"more self-help than literature".[7] An old king tells Santiago, "when you really want something to happen, thewhole universe conspires so that your wish comes true". This is the core of the novel's philosophy and a motif

that plays all throughout Coelho's writing in The Alchemist.[8]

Publication

The Alchemist was first released by an obscure Brazilian publishing house. Albeit having sold "well", thepublisher of the book told Coelho that it was never going to sell, and that "he could make more money in the

stock exchange".[9]

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Needing to "heal" himself from this setback, Coelho set out to leave Rio de Janeiro with his wife and spent 40

days in the Mojave Desert. Returning from the excursion, Coelho decided he had to keep on struggling.[9]

Coelho was "so convinced it was a great book that [he] started knocking on doors".[4]

Translations

According to The New York Times, The Alchemist has been translated into 67 distinct different languages.This gave Coelho the position as the world's most translated living author, according to the 2009 Guinness

World Records.[7]

File sharing

Paulo Coelho is a strong advocate of spreading his books through peer-to-peer file sharing networks. He put hisown books on file-sharing networks like BitTorrent, and noted that The Alchemist received a boost in sales due

to this.[10] He stated that "I do think that when a reader has the possibility to read some chapters, he or she can

always decide to buy the book later."[10] Currently, chapters from The Alchemist can be found on Google

Books and Coelho's agency Sant Jordi Associados.[11][12] Entire copies of his books, including translations, canalso be found on Pirate Coelho, a blog off Coelho's main blog. (No longer available. Only Audio versions are

still open for download.) [13] Also available on YouTube.[14]

Reception

Critical

The Advertiser, an Australian newspaper, published one of the first reviews of The Alchemist in 1993, saying:"of books that I can recommend with the unshakable confidence of having read them and been entranced,impressed, entertained or moved, the universal gift is perhaps a limpid little fable called The Alchemist... Inhauntingly spare prose, translated from the Brazilian original in Portuguese, it follows a young Andalusian

shepherd into the desert on his quest for a dream and the fulfillment of his destiny".[15] Since then, the novel hasreceived much praise, making it to the top spot on best-seller lists in 74 countries and winning prestigious

awards in Germany and Italy.[16][17][18] It has been called a "charming story", "a brilliant, simple narrative" and

"a wonderful tale, a metaphor of life", from people in places as diverse as South Africa, Finland and Turkey.[19]

It has been praised by public figures like Will Smith[20] and Jorge Garcia. Arash Hejazi, the Iranian publisher ofPaulo Coelho, believes that The Alchemist is exceptional on several counts: he notes that the book has had a"longer than expected life-cycle… It was not supported by high marketing budgets in the first few years after itspublication. It was not written in French or Spanish. It did not enjoy a film tie-in and was not recommended bypositive reviews and the media, but it is still selling, only relying on the word of mouth as its main marketing

tool".[21][22]

One of the chief complaints lodged against the book is that the story, praised for its fable-like simplicity, actuallyis a fable — a retelling of "The Ruined Man who Became Rich Again through a Dream" (Tale 14 from the

collection One Thousand and One Nights).[23] Coelho, however, does not credit this source text anywhere inthe book or in the preface, passing the story as an original work of fiction. Also the life story of Takkeci IbrahimAga who is believed to live in Istanbul during 1500s, has the same plot. So too does the English folk tale, thePedlar of Swaffham.

Commercial

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The novel was not an instant bestseller. Published by a small publishing house, The Alchemist, like itspredecessor, The Pilgrimage, sold "slowly" in Brazil. Its commercial success took off in France when it

became an "unexpected" bestseller early in the 1990s.[24]

The Alchemist has sold 65 million copies worldwide.[7] As of the week ending October 28, 2012, the novel

reached its 270th week on The New York Times' bestseller list.[25] Its paperback edition remains a fixture on

bookstore shelves.[26]

Cultural influence

Film adaptations

Coelho said he has been reluctant in selling rights to his books. He believed that a book has a "life of its owninside the reader's mind", and seldom did he find an adaptation that lived up to the book. Despite this, with time,

Coelho decided to open up the possibility.[9]

In 2003, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film adaptation of The Alchemist. The project stalled and the

movie never materialized, reportedly because of problems with the script.[27] At one point, the script had a

battle sequence with 10,000 soldiers, which was "not what the book is about".[28] Reportedly, Coelho offered

US$2m to Warner Bros. to buy back the film rights to The Alchemist.[29]

During the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Harvey Weinstein announced that he had bought the rights to the film andwill serve as its producer. Laurence Fishburne is set to direct, and to play the eponymous character. It will havea reported budget of $60 million. Weinstein, who rarely personally produces movies, stated that "My loyalty is

not to Laurence [Fishburne], my loyalty is not to me, my loyalty is not to anyone other than Paulo Coelho."[30]

Coelho added "I am very happy that my book will be filmed in the way I intended it to be and I hope the spiritand simplicity of my work will be preserved. I am excited my friend Laurence Fishburne and Harvey Weinstein

will be working together."[18] The film is scheduled for release in 2014.[31]

Other media

HarperOne, a HarperCollins imprint, produced an illustrated version of the novel, with paintings by the French

artist Moebius, but failed to convince Coelho "to consent to the full graphic-novel treatment".[32] In June 2010,HarperOne announced that it would publish a graphic-novel adaptation. The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel waspublished in 2010, adapted by Derek Ruiz and artwork by Daniel Sampere.

A theatrical adaptation of The Alchemist was produced and performed by the Cornish Collective, which is their

most successful production to date.[33] It was staged for the first time in India by Ashvin Gidwani

Productions.[34][35] Kajol and Karan Johar launched this book's theatrical adoption in India.[36][37]

In music, The Alchemist has inspired numerous bands of the same name.[32] In September 2009, an orchestralperformance was conducted at the Ansche Chesed Synagogue on the Upper West Side. Inspired by TheAlchemist, "an orchestral performance" was composed by One World Symphony for composer and conductor

Sung Jin Hong' wedding.[38] In 2007 the band Aurah released the CD Songs Of The Alchemist, bringingtogether world music and electronic sounds as an homage to the novel.

References

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1. ^ Micah Mattix's blog (2012 Sept 20th): thegospelcoalition.org/reading-for-worldviews-the-alchemist(http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/09/20/reading-for-worldviews-the-alchemist/)

2. ^ AFP (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i07sUo0IODPVAktHfpCoY4f6kzAQ) on The Alchemist: "Filmmogul Harvey Weinstein on Sunday announced the screen adaptation of the novel, written 20 years ago andtranslated into 56 languages, with more than 65 million copies sold." (19 May 2008)

3. ^ The Alchemist, HarperCollins paperback, 1998, p. 21

4. ̂a b Pool, Hannah (2009-03-19). "Question time" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/19/paulo-coelho-interview). The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-01-27.

5. ^ [1] (http://books.google.co.ug/books?id=Y0i8aZ94CJUC&lpg=PA514&ots=Kw7A4he-_U&dq=%22It+is+related+also,+that+a+man+of+baghdad+was+possessed+of+ample+riches%22&pg=PA514&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22It%20is%20related%20also%2C%20that%20a%20man%20of%20baghdad%20was%20possessed%20of%20ample%20riches%22&f=false)Google Books version The Thousand and OneNights

6. ^ [2] (http://devotionlovers.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-baghdad-dreaming-of-cairo-in-cairo.html)Version ofRumi's story in English and Portuguese

7. ̂a b c Cowles, Gregory (2009-10-08). "Inside the List"(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/books/review/InsideList-t.html?scp=6&sq=the%20alchemist%20paulo%20coelho&st=cse). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-28.

8. ^ Flanagan, Mark. "The Alchemist" (http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/philosophyreligion/fr/the-alchemist.htm).

9. ̂a b c "Interview with Paulo Coelho" (http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/2.Paulo_Coelho).Goodreads.com. March 2008. Retrieved 2012-01-27.

10. ̂a b Best-Selling Author Turns Piracy into Profit (http://torrentfreak.com/best-selling-author-turns-piracy-into-profit-080512/) TorrentFreak. May 12, 2008.

11. ^ The Alchemist Book Preview (http://books.google.com/books?id=FEL8DlqjYEkC&dq=the+alchemist+coelho+classic&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=P74v6g8BB7&sig=hb2D3uLKfv8BkSStx97wx4sJ_Ik&hl=en&ei=pOyPSZLOJIG0sAPms4X5CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPP1,M1) Google Books.

12. ^ Extract from The Alchemist (http://www.santjordi-asociados.com/titles/extract.htm?6#alchemist) Sant JordiAssociados.

13. ^ "Pirate Coelho" (http://paulocoelhoblog.com/pirate-coelho/).

14. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXymMEO-dtc

15. ^ Guy, Bill. "Books of the Year". The Advertiser. December 4, 1993.

16. ^ Paulo Coelho Biography (http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/bio.shtml) on PauloCoelho.com.

17. ^ A Brief History of the Book (http://www.santjordi-asociados.com/titles/brief.htm?6#alchemist) Saint JordiAsociados

18. ̂a b The Weinstein Company to Bring 'The Alchemist' to the Big Screen (http://www.zoom-in.com/film-tv/news/the-weinstein-company-to-bring-the-international-best-selling-novel-the-alchemist-to-the-big-screen?destination=node/4952%2523comment-form#comment-form) Zoom In Online: Film & TV.

19. ^ The Alchemist: Reviews (http://www.santjordi-asociados.com/titles/reviews.htm?6#alchemist) on Sant JordiAssociados.

20. ^ Will Smith Interview (http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200712/20071213_smith.html) TavisSmiley on PBS. December 13, 2007.

21. ^ "The Alchemy of the Alchemist: How Paulo Coelho became the most translated living author for the samebook" (http://arashhejazi.com/en/2009/06/alchemy-of-the-alchemist/). Arashhejazi.com. Retrieved November 1,2011.

22. ^ "The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists"(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/865.The_Alchemist). Goodreads.com. Retrieved November 1, 2011.

23. ^ "The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through A Dream" (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/burt1k1/tale14.htm). Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved November 1, 2011.

24. ^ Riding, Alan (2005-08-30). "Paulo Coelho: Writing in a Global Language"(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/books/30coel.html?scp=2&sq=the%20alchemist%20paul%20coelho&st=cse). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-29.

25. ^ "Best Sellers" (http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/trade-fiction-paperback/list.html?scp=4&sq=the%20alchemist%20paul%20coelho&st=cse). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-29.

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26. ^ Bosman, Julie (2011-09-26). "Best-Selling Author Gives Away His Work"(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/books/paulo-coelho-discusses-aleph-his-new-novel.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20alchemist%20paulo%20coelho&st=cse). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-28.

27. ^ Fishburne to direct The Alchemist (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/jun/27/paulocoelho) The Guardian.June 27, 2007.

28. ^ Doland, Angela 'The Alchemist' to be made into movie (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-05-18-164411366_x.htm) USA Today. May 18, 2008.

29. ^ "Paulo Coelho" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/11/paulocoelho?INTCMP=SRCH). TheGuardian. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2012-01-28.

30. ^ Weinstein to produce 'Alchemist' film adaptation (http://lateline.muzi.net/news/ll/english/10069622.shtml?cc=15169&ccr=) Muzi.com News. May 18, 2008.

31. ^ The Alchemist at IMDB.com (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494632/)

32. ̂a b Itzkoff, David (2010-07-06). "Graphic Novel of ‘The Alchemist’: Words Into Pictures"(http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/paulo-coelho/?scp=3&sq=the%20alchemist%20paul%20coelho&st=cse).The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-29.

33. ^ The Cornish Theatre Collective (http://www.cornish-theatre-collective.co.uk/alchemist.html) The Alchemist.

34. ^ "The week gone by... (11 Images)" (http://movies.ndtv.com/gallerydetails.aspx?category=Movies&id=2067&picno=7&section=Bollywood&ShowID=0#BD). Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved2012-01-20.

35. ^ "How The Alchemist came alive on theatre" (http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/apr/21slid2-the-alchemist.htm). rediff.com. Retrieved 2012-01-20.

36. ^ "The week gone by... (11 Images)" (http://movies.ndtv.com/gallerydetails.aspx?category=Movies&id=2067&picno=4&section=Bollywood&ShowID=0#BD). Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved2012-01-20.

37. ^ "Kajol and Karan at the launch of The Alchemist" (http://www.nowrunning.com/newsinpictures/news.aspx?newsid=16768). Nowrunning.com. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2012-01-20.

38. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (2009-09-15). "Inspiration From Bjork, ‘The Alchemist’ and the Sea"(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/arts/music/15symphony.html?scp=12&sq=the%20alchemist%20paul%20coelho&st=cse). The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-30.

External links

The Alchemist Reviews (http://www.shvoong.com/tags/the-alchemist/)

A lengthy summary of the plot (http://www.enotes.com/alchemist-paulo-coelho)IMDB Entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494632/)

The Alchemist Book Review (http://www.zapondo.com/book-review-the-alchemist-by-paulo-coelho/)

[3] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXymMEO-dtc)

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