Customer Reviews: Read 1292 more reviews...
 Absolute favorite book of all time! December 3, 2008
This book is my all-time favorite. I have read it more times than I can count and it never loses its charm. There have been times when I have finished reading the last page only to turn to the beginning and immediately start reading it all over again.
I would recommend this book to people of all ages and backgrounds. This beautifully written simple tale is inspiring and uplifting in a subtle, refreshing way. If you are the type of person who believes in fate, following your heart or that everything happens for a reason, you will absolutely love this book!
The Alchemist: Chemistry for a New World Order December 3, 2008
A friend of mine at work began telling me about Paulo Coehlo's book, "The Alchemist," and the next thing that I knew, he loaned it to me to read over this past Thanksgiving weekend.
I love adventure/inspiration books like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, so I devoured the book quickly, with tears in my eyes in several places as I journeyed with Santiago in my own mind.
The parable is compelling: Santiago's growth from a boy into a man, understated by the author, complemented the change of scenery from meadow, to town, to oasis, desert and back home again. Much like the theme from The Wizard of Oz, there's no place like home when it comes to excellent stories like "The Alchemist."
Dave Pipitone
Author, "The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day"
The Rainbow Chronicles: A Bedtime Story for a New Day
if your gonna read a book, read this one November 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
its a quick read, but when you reach the end you sense that you have been there and experienced the same things. if you give books as gifts, this should be in the top five.
 C'mon, GROW UP, KIDS!!! November 28, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Every time I see somebody reading one of Coelho's books, usually some dimwitted dreadlocked blonde chick w/ hemp bracelets halfway up to her elbow (degree in `Women's Studies' from some liberal arts college nobody's heard-of, never worked a day in her life, drives daddy's BMW around but feels real guilty about it), it makes me cringe!
In your early 20's, the `everything happens for a reason, your cosmic soulmate is out there somewhere waiting for you' nonsense is seems possible. By your mid-30's: highly dubious. By the time you're over 40 & still believe in this kind of crap, you should be shipped to the same Siberian Death Camp Dostoevsky was & this `life has a purpose' nonsense will fade real quick - believe me!
If everything happens for a reason, tell me: What's the reason for the Holocaust? Rwanda? Somalia? AIDS? Cancer? TB? What reason is large enough to excuse the torture & deaths of million of people?
These feel-good books serve their purpose, keeping halfwits occupied & away from the internet & TV so they can think themselves literate. I find Coehlo not only goofy & pedestrian but downright ignorant! Has this guy ever read Kant? Schopenhauer? Russell? Enough with the knuckleheaded optimism, man, you're setting people up for real disappointment, not to mention early divorce! Only a truly spoiled product of the suburban middle-class could read this novel without laughing (sardonically) out-loud. I find it insulting that homeboy passes this garbage off as `reality.'
The metaphorical value is slight, dull, & vague. Ever hear of Carlos Castaneda, fool? Toss your Coehlo books in the fireplace, along w/ your books on Tarot & Astrology, go get a job (I don't mean canvassing for Earth-First, jackass, I mean a real job!) & start reading real books. There are too many good books out there for you to be wasting your time with this stuff! You're wasting your time daydreaming about finding your soulmate/destiny while Coehlo laughs his way all the way to the (Italian) bank.
rizzob.com
reaffirm your direction in life November 28, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
It is great to read an affirmation like this that reassures you that you are on the right path in your life. It helps to hear this when you have doubt at times.
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