Volition

THE ALCHEMIST

The Alchemist was first published by HarperCollins, New York in 1988. The author, Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro and is among one of the most loved and read authors. His first book, The pilgrimage was published in 1987. The Alchemist sold 140 million copies and was translated in about 72 languages all over the world.

The book is about an Andalusian boy who choose to be a shepherd to cherish his dream of travelling places and knowing things. He eventually discovers his personal legend and follows his dream of a buried treasure. His dream takes him to spain and then to the deserts of egypt. He meets several people on his way including his lover. The books tells us about how the mere insignificant shepherd goes on discovering his heart until what he achieves is everything. He learns to read omens brought by the soul of the universe over to him and learns its language. He learns that by being true to your heart you can tame it. On his way he was taught to converse with the universe through love and make it work for you.

"And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you."

Its more of a fable that tells us about the small part of our heart that lets us dream, that tells us what we actually want, that subsides eventually, giving way to fear and self disbelief.

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.”