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The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho — 04 Sep 2024

A young shepherd follows his dreams, quite literally, and learns alchemy along the way.

I now have to figure out how to express my absolute contempt without descending into either foul language, or getting incoherent.

This so-called book is essentially a complete collection of inspirational quotes, with a weak story wound around it. This is the laziest form of literature, and I cannot fathom why this is considered a “masterpiece” and why so many people claim that it has changed their lives.

So all Coelho wanted to say was “Follow your dreams. Often what we seek is right in front of us”. He says this repeatedly, and capitalizes and reiterates in case we missed it the first several times.

I don’t want to even honour this book with a full synopsis. I think it would more than suffice to say just this: There is a shepherd who finds something called a “Personal Legend”.

I strongly encourage everyone to put this book down, and find something better to do with their lives. Perhaps even… find a Personal Legend worth reading.

One thing I’ll say for sure. Given the popularity of this book, Coelho sure found the secret to turn crap into gold.