Finished: August 4, 2024
Why I read this
As discussed in book’s introduction, The Alchemist is everywhere. Beyond the notable accolades given to it by presidents, CEO’s, and various world leaders, I’ve seen it on the 100 top list of Great American Reads by PBS. I’ve seen it on book sites as a beloved favorite of blook bloggers. I’ve seen it recommended by people on Reddit and seen it stocked on dozens of bookshelves at bookstores around the world. It is one of those books where everyone who’s read it says “oh yes you have to read that”, and everyone who hasn’t says “oh I’ve been meaning to read that.” Such a level of universal acclaim is not common, but also not as rare as it probably should be for books. In our modern world of excessive marketing it’s hard to tell if a book is really considered exceptional because of its exceptionality, or if it was just lucky enough to leave a positive impression on a certain editor, critic, or celebrity. From there it is always possible that a book that is just moderately interesting can snowball into an international sensation. “If Bill Clinton is reading it, it must be good”. In the end do so many people like it because they really like it, or does the craze of hype and fame push people into agreeing with famous people that also liked it? Regardless, I was excited to figure out on my own, biases and all, what it was all about.
What I learned
First of all, I’m starting to notice a trend in that shorter books often seem to feel more impactful than longer ones. The Great Gatsby, Monsignor Quixote, Le Petit Prince, and now The Alchemist, are all very short reads, yet they are all universally acclaimed. Each one is filled with small quotes, phrases, and ideas that resonate easily with almost everyone and manage to inspire real desire for action. It’s these books that despite the ability to consume them in just a short afternoon, manage to stick with you for long after you’ve put them back on the shelf.
Shifting back to the content of the book, The Alchemist felt very much like a rather traditional fairy tale, following the adventure of Santiago, a young Spanish shepherd. After a recurring dream and a couple of chance encounters, he embarks on a quest to find a hidden treasure and to see the world. This quest towards his Personal Legend (an all encompassing life goal or mission), as our author puts it, leads him through a variety of foreign and mysterious lands where he encounters dangerous and exceptional situations. Meanwhile, during his travels these the reader is continuously fed morsels of wisdom that although simple are thoroughly compelling. As a Gypsie woman tells our hero, “it is the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.” and I can’t help but agree. It reminds me ideas often presented in modern self-help books that although exceptionally simple (such as the idea of smiling more often in How to Win Friends and Influence People) manage to be important and powerful when applied correctly. These simple wisdoms and parables are then woven by Coelho through the entertaining narrative into many key themes surrounding personal growth, perseverance in a challenging situation, eagerness to learn (along with acceptance of failure), taking full responsibility for your life, and acceptance of change.
For me, Books filled with inspiration like this one often pose a strange challenge. When presented with so many ideas, how can you be sure that you reflect on each in the way that it deserves or requires? In these short 170 pages, there was at a minimum, one relatively life changing idea every ten pages. Research shows that we as humans can rarely grasp in our heads lists of more than 3-5 things at a time. When considering a book where the audio version is only 4 hours long, surely no one can hold all these themes/quotes/ideas in their head together. This being the case, the reader is forced to choose which inspirational lessons they’d like to stock away in their head for later, and which will be anecdotes likely to be wiped clean during the next refreshing of their mental RAM that night. With this being the case I choose to try and organize the ideas presented into one of two categories (all under the umbrella category of self-improvement).
The first of these categories is to embrace learning, and all of the ideas that go along with it. Santiago observes near the beginning of the story that certain people are cursed with the fear of appearing ignorant. this echoes a key concept we see in modern suggestions about learning, for example in Hidden Potential Adam Grant discusses that learning a new language is dramatically easier once a person begins to practice and speak without fear of making mistakes. Meaning that this type of fear often prevents people from learning, and in turn trying new things, developing new hobbies, or most importantly, pursuing their own Personal Legend. With Santiago during his various escapades we see time and time again that the key to embracing learning is about doing, or that “there is only one way to learn, it’s through action.” Leaving the fear behind and turning to actions might seem like a simple concept but it has more depth than that. Action means changing your inertia which takes energy and a strong will, and often it requires making choices. As Santiago learned it meant for him that “he had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have.” Being human we have limited resources of time, energy, money, etc. We are forced to face the reality that to pursue our dreams we must make hard choices of how we spend these resources and then to adapt, learn, and grow. Coehlo is optimistic about these decisions we make stating that “making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.” This relationship with serious learning and leaving your comfort zone is well documented, and I gladly share the sentiment. Many of the things I am proud of now in my life required exactly that, leaving my comfort zone and learning. I learned French only because I left my home and everything I knew behind to move to France. I have a blog because I fought a strong discomfort with sharing deeply personal thoughts with my family and even with strangers online. I believe there is not much better for personal growth than striving to continuously leaving your comfort zone and pushing to do new things.
The second category surrounds the idea of concentrating on what you can control. Like in The Four Agreements, there were many points about how we need to take a greater responsibility in our lives for what is happening around us. Too often we continue on the paths that we are on because we believe the cost of change is too great, and I believe most of society continues to believe what Coehlo described as the world’s greatest lie, that “at a certain point in our lives we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.” First of all, we have a tendency to misunderstand the situation around us, for example how our protagonist reflected that “I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.” And various psychological tests such as seen with the idea of our inability to define what we want in a romantic partner as discussed in Blink show that humans are notoriously bad at defining what they want. However, if we start seeing the world for what it actually is, and not just what we want it to be we can put our efforts to concrete improvements. This further means being prepared for change and learning to leave the responsibility for others behind. It isn’t to say not to care about those around you, but instead to encourage people to focus on what they can control. You can’t control the fact that your partner had a bad day, but you can control how you react to it. You can’t control the fact that your flight got cancelled and now you are going to miss Christmas with your family, yet you can control what you do with that information. In a broader sense, if everyone buys into this idea and follows their own Personal Legends, everyone is freed of the heavy responsibility of driving the completion of the legends of those around you. This idea is best presented in Coehlo’s claim that family is not a barrier to pursuit of your dreams, but instead a support structure for it. That people should not be afraid of hurting their loved ones by pursuing their dreams, that like Santiago’s love in the desert, if it is really in the pursuit of your dreams, most partners will support you without question. I find that it is much too easy to fear that a decision in your life will disappoint or hurt your partner or family. But in the end, I am not sure I have ever had a conversation on an open and honest level where there has been anything but love and support from my partner and my family on big subjects. If Coehlo is right, it will always be that way.
What I didn’t like
I’ve always had a bit of a challenge with spirituality. It isn’t that I think the concepts don’t have merit (I think being in touch with yourself and the world around you is a very valuable thing), I just can’t get past what is often a very “touchy feely” atmosphere that often surrounds the description of spiritual concepts. For example, I think The Four Agreements and The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck have lots of overlapping messages, but the latter of the two I find much more relatable because it is built off of modern observations and the former constantly references ancient wisdom that has been passed down through generations. I think this mumbo jumbo lessens the overall work by trying to make it more than it actually is. Good advice is just that. So is a healthy way of living. The source of these ideas doesn’t have to be some “other” that is either omnipotent or omnipresent. Applied to The Alchemist, the story is excellent and the morals applicable, but the work overall I believe is lessened slightly by making it so spiritually charged. For example the insistence on a “personal legend” instead of something more realistic like a “purpose” or a “life goal”. It makes it all sound like a tall tale told for children which I think makes the messages in the book a bit weaker.
Questions I asked
Can you ever say you come from many places? Are you stuck with just one origin for your whole life, or do the many places you visit or spend time in throughout your life add up to a more complex “from”?
Does too much focus on inspirational ideas make them less inspirational through lack of novelty?
How influenced am I by a book’s previous fame or reputation in how much I enjoy it?
My Favorite Quote
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
Santiago
Books I liked like this one
Life of Pi : Yann Martel (for an adventure rooted in spirituality)
Le Petit Prince : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (for deep life lessons in simple prose)
Book Reviews for Mom 