Books I recommend: The alchemist

Book description:

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky." Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

The Alchemist is the magical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist.

The story of the treasures Santiago finds along the way teaches us, as only a few stories have done, about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, above all, following our dreams.

Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over a million and a half copies sold around the world, The Alchemist has already established itself as a modern classic, universally admired. Paulo Coelho's charming fable, now available in English for the first time, will enchant and inspire an even wider audience of readers for generations to come.

My opinion

I eventually picked up the book last week and started reading it - I was one amongst those that never read it. I thought it was going to take me a while to read because I wasn't really in the mood of reading The Alchemist but several friends kept on bugging me to read it, so I gave it a shot. As I started reading I was like, yeah, well, Paulo Coelho does write nicely but it's not such a big deal... and after three hours I was still reading it, I just couldn't get my eyes away from it. It became so intriguing already that it was impossible to just let it down and read later on... so I finished the book in four days, days in which I read like a maniac. 

The book begins with a very well described landscape, it makes you feel like you are right there with Santiago, it describes how Santiago places a book underneath his head and goes to sleep under the roof of an abandoned church. The atmosphere throughout the book is amazing, it describes perfectly the landscape and it definitely paints the picture inside your mind. Almost every page has words of wisdom and stories filled with meaning to share, which is such a great addition to the storyline. 

The book speaks of the importance to follow your dreams, listen to your heart and pay attention to the omens. I noted down some phrases from this book which I couldn't afford to forget so I'll share them with you, hoping that I'll convince you to read the book - seriously, it is a great read. 

Quote: "When we strive to become better than what we are, everything around us becomes better too." "You'll never be able to escape from your heart" "The darkest hour of the night comes just before dawn", and so many more.

Also one more reason to read the book is that it has some serious stress building moments, like you know something wrong or big is going to happen but you can't put a finger on it... until it happens. The book has just the right amount of twists and turns - in my opinion, and even the ending...which I was completely sure I could predict... had a twist to it... an awesome one.  

So, I wholehearted recommend this book to all of you, your friends and family. I think it's a great gift to give to those you love, it is filled with inspiration, love and meaningful words.