The Alchemist [reread]
About the book
Book author: Paulo Cuelho
This book is a divider - either you love it, or you don’t get it don’t like it.
No matter your preference it is a good book to have read, because it always leads to interesting conversations.
The book is about Santiago, a poor shepherd from Spain, who travels to Egypt. He is chasing a treasure supposedly buried by the pyramids.
Along the way, he meets various figures and personalities that each play a part in his transformation, and each teaches him different things about life.
I read it the first time ~10 years ago when I was doing my master’s degree. I promised I would read it again. Since I want a life of embracing serendipity, I thought, “why not do it now” as I saw the tattered thing on my shelf.
Reflection and takeaways
I really enjoy this book - it is meaningful. An event happened during my first time opening the book of this re-reading, in Vasaparken, that I can’t disclose here, it is too cheesy, but I am dead serious I will always remember it my entire life. It was so serendipitous I bought even more into elements of this book and it just set the perfect ambiance.
I can, however, tell the story of what happened the first time I was reading this book 10 years ago while studying as I disclosed before. I was on a porch, stopping when Santiago was given the two stones that can help him answer his destiny. I was thinking how convenient that would be, given my life could take on so many paths as I graduated. It certainly would be nice with some sort of omen. That very second, a tiny bird lands on my bike handlebar, parked by the end of the couch I was sitting on, and looks at me for about 10 seconds with it’s black bead eye before taking off. 10 years later I went on the path that I wanted to the most, even if it was super risky (well, almost). I have accomplished more than I thought. So out of 2 reads, two crazy serendipitous events have happened, and I hope I absorb the messages even harder this time.
What I like most is what they refer to as ‘the world soul’. If you do what you are supposed to do, i.e your heart is aligned with the world soul, you will have a favorable wind helping to carry you. Everything in the entire universe, stars, elements, atoms and all is created by the same hand that also created you and your destiny, whatever that might be. And I think everyone plays a part in this cosmic story, but most people are not paying attention or heeding any calls or signs. For there are quite a few signs you get almost every day, if you choose to act on them. It is written eloquently here by the alchemists parting words.
“Every human on earth has, no matter what he or she does, always a grand part in the history of the world”, he said. “And for the most part this person is unaware of it.”
In the book, Santiago meets an Englishman while traveling through Africa, who is also looking for a particular alchemist. The Englishman is different from Santiago; he is a bit of a bookworm and reader. He tries to absorb the knowledge of alchemy through reading about it and interpreting it. Santiago is different: he absorbs it through experiencing it by acting on signs and living his life. When they later meet the alchemist they are looking for, he wants to take on Santiago as his apprentice, and not the Englishman. I am quite bitten by the philosophy bug, as is certainly evidenced here on this website, but it has shifted in the last couple of years. Now I am all about action, and if I need to be pushed over the edge, I always think of the new phenomenon of ‘retardmaxxing’ and just do it. I often think of Nassim Taleb’s words: there aren’t any professors teaching birds how to fly: birds fly perfectly well, but them some physics professor watches the birds fly, writes some theory about it and then believes his theory is the reasons birds fly. I think it’s the same about philosophy and living a good life. And Marcus Aurelius put that rather eloquently: Don’t waste time arguing about what a good man is. Be one! Absolutely noone has any idea why we’re here anyway; I know this because I’ve met dozens of physics PhDs in my life who tell me so; quantum mechanics and black holes freaks all of them out.
And sometimes, you just read some sentences in the book and it just strikes a chord. Although I have done really well in my life, I do compare myself
“Why are you called an alchemist?”
“Because that is what I am.”
“What did the other alchemists do wrong when they tried to create gold but failed?”
“They only sought the gold”, said the accomplice.
“They wanted to find the treasure in their destiny without living their actual destiny.”
Throughout my reading, now that I am way more informed, older and wiser, I was thinking “Wow, this book is so Jungian in nature” several times. Then I realised Paulo even credits Jung in the afterwords. Could not believe it :-).
Why did I pick it
Serendipitously looked at me from the shelf.
Verdict
4.5 /5.