Self-Discovery with Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist
Review | Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist (1988, tr. Alan R. Clarke)
To a bookish person, having a friend recommend you a book can be one of the greatest acts of love. It says, I know you and I know that this book will be good to you, whether to provide comfort, challenge or entertainment. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist had been on my radar for a while, but it was only once a dear friend recommended it to me that I finally dived in.
While Coelho’s work has reached readers across the globe, I knew relatively little upon first reading. My friend had simply described it as her favourite book with a wholesome message, or to quote her Goodreads, ‘A yearly staple that ages like fine wine’. The Alchemist is the kind of book you can read and reread, with new insights revealed to you each time depending on the season of life within which it finds you.
Coelho’s The Alchemist follows the journey of a young shepherd boy, Santiago, traveling from Spain, across Northern Africa and through the desert in search of treasure said to be laying at the feet of the pyramids. But, as can perhaps be expected from a book of self-discovery and improvement, it is the people he meets and the experiences he has throughout his journey that hold most importance in Santiago’s story. As he comes across kings and merchants, thieves and fortune tellers, and of course the eponymous alchemist, Santiago discovers essential truths about himself, the people and the world around him.
‘The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one.’ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Throughout his journey, Santiago encounters people of different languages, religions and nationalities. The Alchemist thus borrows ideas and images from across these cultures. There is a conversation to be had about their representation and usage; certain depictions do stray warily close towards exoticisation and lean too heavily on stereotype. However, Coelho’s intentions are surely to promote an openness to cross-cultural dialogue and an appreciation of diversity.
Usually, I find myself drawn towards books with complex characters and intense interiorities; plot can be secondary, but protagonists need to be fully realised. Santiago’s psychology is not the focus of the novel. Instead, his interior monologues and emotional understanding become valuable assets in Coelho’s didactic mission of self-improvement. Coelho distils his wisdom into teachable moments, through which Santiago and readers alike attempt to learn the importance of finding one’s purpose, following one’s dreams and pursuing one’s destiny.
‘… there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth.’ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
As perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of translated fiction in the last fifty years, Alan R. Clarke’s English translation has rendered Coelho’s text accessible to millions of anglophone readers. It is not an overly complex text; Coelho’s prose prioritises approachability over literary experimentation as a means to deliver the novel’s lessons of self-improvement. Clarke’s translation reflects this stylistic decision; the English text is full of quotable quips intended to inspire.
‘“Don’t give in to your fears,” said the alchemist, in a strangely gentle voice. “If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart. […] If a person is living out his Personal Legend, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”’’ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Perhaps, coinciding as it did with the closure of the university chapter of my life and thus a big life shift, I was more responsive to the novel’s instructive, enlightening tendencies and moralising tone. An important part of appreciating The Alchemist is to understand from the outset its penchant to speak past plot and characters, to readers themselves. At times Coelho’s spiritualistic tone can verge on preachy, presenting optimistic ideals as universal truths.
‘When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you…’ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Yet, while I can’t say that Coelho’s self-help book changed my life, it did bring some comfort in a time of great change.