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Edition:	HarperSanFrancisco (Paperback)
Author:	Paulo Coelho
Published:	May 1995
Pages:	176
ISBN 10:	0062502182
New:	$7.99 (25)
Used:	$0.01 (647)
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The Alchemist is an allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. It follows Santiago, a young Spanish shepherd, on a journey to fulfill his Personal Legend. It has been hailed as a modern classic. The plot is inspired from Jorge Luis Borges' short story: Tale of two dreamers.

The Alchemist was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.

Background

In his 30's, Paulo Coelho had already made a career as a popular songwriter. However, in 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life. Coelho described this autobiographically in The Pilgrimage, and it also had great influence on his next book, The Alchemist (Santiago, the novel's main character, derives his name from the Road of Santiago). In an interview, Coelho stated "The Alchemist is a metaphor of my own life. It was written in 1988, and in that moment I was also very happy in the things I was doing. I was doing something that gave me food and water -- to use the metaphor in the book, I was working, I had a person who I loved, I had money, but I was not fulfilling my dream. My dream was, and still is, to be a writer."

Coelho sold the book to a small Brazilian publishing house, who made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to reprint. He subsequently found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his next book Brida, The Alchemist became a Brazilian bestseller. In 1993, Harper Collins published 50,000 copies of the book, the largest American print run for a Brazilian author. An executive at Harper Collins described that "reading the Alchemist was like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise while the rest of the world still slept."

The "Personal Legend"

Central to the novel is the concept of a Personal Legend. Santiago first learns of one's Personal Legend from The King of Salem, who tells him "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is." He expounds on this, saying "...there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth." The King also tells Santiago of the importance of following the omens on the journey to realizing one's personal legend. Coelho follows this advice himself; he will only start writing a book after finding a white feather.

Inspiration

The novel's central plot of two dreamers dreaming of treasure is inspired from Jorge Luis Borges' short story: Tale of two dreamers, from the 1935 collection A Universal History of Infamy. However the concept of dreamers who seek treasure abroad only to find it at home has been quite common in literature and folk tales. Other examples of similar plots can be found in:

"In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad" by Mathanawi; "The Man who dreamed of a Hidden Treasure" in Book VI, by the 13th century Persian-Seljuq poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi; the tale from The One Thousand and One Nights: The man who became rich through a dream; How the Junkman Traveled to Find Treasure in His Own Yard (Turkish folklore); The Pedlar of Swaffham (English folklore published by Joseph Jacobs); Upsall Castle (English folklore); Dundonald Castle (Scottish folklore); Themselves (Manx folklore); The Dream of Treasure under the Bridge at Limerick (Irish folklore); The Dream of the Treasure on the Bridge (German folklore published by the brothers Grimm); The Dream of the Zirl Bridge (Austrian folklore). the fable "The treasure under the bridge" by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov; By Night under the Stone Bridge by Leo Perutz; An interpretation of "The treasure under the bridge" by Rabbi Nachman of Breslov is given as "The meaning of the parable is this: The fear of God is a buried treasure concealed in the heart of every one of us, but one has to journey to the Tzaddik to discover it." This interpretation is similar to Jalal al-Din Rumi's universality, as shown in another of Rumi's poems:

I searched for God among the Christians and on the Cross and therein I found Him not.

I went into the ancient temples of idolatry; no trace of Him was there.

I entered the mountain cave of Hira and then went very far but God I found not.

Then I directed my search to the Kaaba, the resort of old and young; God was not there.

Finally, I looked into my own heart and there I saw Him; He was nowhere else.

Reception and Cultural Influence

The Advertiser, an Australian newspaper, published one of the first reviews of The Alchemist in 1993 saying "of books that I can recommend with the unshakable confidence of having read them and been entranced, impressed, entertained or moved, the universal gift is perhaps a limpid little fable called The Alchemist... In hauntingly spare prose, translated from the Spanish, it follows a young Andalusian shepherd into the desert on his quest for a dream and the fulfilment of his destiny." Since then, the novel has received nearly universal praise, making it to the top spot on best seller lists in 74 countries and winning prestigious awards in Germany and Italy. It has been called a "charming story," "a brilliant, simple narrative," and "a wonderful tale, a metaphor of life," from people in places as diverse as South Africa, Finland, and Turkey. It has been praised by public figures like Will Smith, Russell Crowe, and Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburō Ōe.