THE ALCHEMIST
THE ALCHEMIST
By Paulo Coelho
We chose this book to review as the underlying message feels incredibly congruent with Audrey: “Dreams are made to be followed. Life is meant to be lived”. It’s endorsed by many big achievers and the recipient of world-wide acclaim and we can certainly see why.
This short and fantastical novel reads like an old fable, telling the story of a young shepherd travelling from Andalusia in Spain to North Africa to discover his destiny and follow his dreams. Like a classic Hero’s Journey, the story highlights the people he meets along the way and the inspiration and knowledge he learns from each. For anyone who believes in omens and purpose and loves a light-hearted inspirational story, there are lots of lessons to interpret on the way through this book. I can’t tell you the outcome as that would be like telling you the moral of the story before telling you the story!
The book is fundamentally a fairytale, relevant for anyone from child to adult. It tells of dreams and the power of learning from intuition and experience. It offers a simple philosophy of following your heart. When the protagonist says “I don’t want to change anything, because I don’t know how to deal with change. I’m used to the way I am,” the words will resonate with anyone who’s clinging to their comfort zone. Some may find it too fantastical, but the message is pure and simple: follow your heart.
Faye Watts