Review: The Alchemist


posted by Ratri Anggardani Prayitno on ,

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Finally I read this book! So late to read it now maybe, but hey, it's never too late to read a book anyway. Book doesn't old. :D

As you -perhaps- already knew, it's about a boy named Santiago that traveled along the continent -if I may said- from Andalusia (Spain) to Egypt in order to find his hidden treasure buried beneath the pyramid, his Personal Legend. It all begin after he dreamed about finding some treasure on the pyramid, twice. Then he asked a gypsy woman about it who asked him for a share after he got the treasure. He also met a man that told him to go find that treasure. That man claimed himself as the king of Salem and then gave the boy two stones, Urim and Thummim, to help the boy in his journey when needed.
The boy sold all his sheep, crossed the sea, got robbed, and even trapped in a tribes war to get there. He met an english man when he tried to cross the desert. That man was also in his way finding his own Personal Legend, to find The Alchemist and learn from him.
Santiago also met a girl that made him fell in love in the first sight in an oasis. And so did the girl. Her name's Fatima. She became the biggest thing that held him back. Or I could say, obstacle. His big love for Fatima made him doubtful, whether to continue his journey till the end, or to stay right there in the oasis and live happily with her forever. Eventhough Fatima herself said that he should go on with his journey. But no one knew what desert could do to him. He might be died because of the tribes war or maybe lost in the desert. But still there's a chance that he could came back alive.
Then in the end, he decided to continue his journey to find his destined treasure. He was accompanied by The Alchemist, the one who's the english man looked for. In the middle of their journey, things get harder, they got caught by a tribe that suspect them as the opponent's tribe. And things got worse when The Alchemist said to the tribe's leader, that the boy, Santiago, had an ability to become the wind. Santiago was so stressed about it, he would be killed if he couldn't show them that he had the ability in the 3 days given to him.
Did he die? Or did he make it to the pyramid? Just figure out for yourself, I don't want to mess the fun. :p

What I love from this book is I can find many quotes here. And my favorite one is this:
There's only one thing that fails you to reach your dream, it is your fear to fail.
And of course I learn many things from this book, that I have to fight for my own personal legend, to reach my dreams, and do not be afraid to take a step forward to my dreams. It also teach me, that I shouldn't promise something I don't have yet, because that way I will loose my passion to get that something. Oh, I almost forget this one lesson, that obstacles are not always in the form of sadness or unfortunate things, but might be in the form of the happiness and some other pleasing things happened to us, such as love. ;)
This book is an awesome book that give you lessons of life. But I just don't seem to very-like the way it tells me those lessons so bluntly. I mean, for me, it's kind of exact parable that the treasure beneath the pyramid is the goal, and the journey is the way how we can reach our goal through hardships and sacrifice.
Ok, I get it, it's a life-lesson book. haha
But overall, I love this book. :D

Adios! ^^

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