The Book Wheel

Books, Politics, & More

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Book Review)

by 12 Comments

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Book Review)The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo
Published by HarperCollins on 1988
Genres/Lists: Classics, Diverse, Fiction
Pages: 197
Read synopsis on Goodreads
Buy the book: Amazon/Audible (this post includes affiliate links) three-stars


This book has been on my to-read shelf for a good number of years and I finally got around to reading it at the recommendation of a classmate. Short and filled with life lessons, I can understand why The Alchemist is an international bestseller and has a worldwide following of its “teachings.” This type of book was probably pretty exciting back when it was published in 1988 but in today’s age of spiritual bestsellers (The Secret, Eat, Pray Love, etc.), the concept of a spiritual journey was a little tired.

The Alchemist is about a young shepherd named Santiago who meets a king and sets off to fulfill his personal legend. Armed with two stones and the money he made from selling his sheep, Santiago heads for the Pyramids. Of course, no spiritual journey would be complete without some roadblocks and interesting characters, and The Alchemist stays right on target. We learn about treasuring the moment and things coming full circle, both of which are tried and true life lessons central to any fictional book about a spiritual journey. Although the lessons were redundant, the writing was amazing. Lyrical and poetic, Coehlo makes the reader feel as if they are on the ground with Santiago, living and learning alongside him. His impeccable writing style, luckily, trumps the overused life lessons.

So, do I recommend this book? Yes. Take my review with a grain of salt, because I’m while I found myself saying, “blah, blah, blah,” to some of the life lessons, it’s also a great story that’s written really well. I can also appreciate that, at the time of its writing in 1988, the concept of seeking your personal legend in another country was not as popular as it is today. So, if you keep those two things in mind or love reading the tried and true journey of self-awareness, then you’ll probably love this book.

Q: What was the last bestseller that you were underwhelmed by?

Related Posts

  • Little late to comment here, but I too had this book in my list for as long as 2 years before I picked it up this month and read it! Needles to say, I loved it. Paulo Coelho at his best 🙂
    I can connect with what you say totally, I too usually go “yea yea, blah blah” when I come across any self-help/life-lessons-preacher book, but this one was so simple yet profound.

  • I wanted to let you know somehow that I mentioned your on my blog – pretty much how I love your blog, and you’re a blogger to know in 2014 and I stumbled on the image of The Alchemist This is probably one of my ultimate favorite books. Good to see a review of it on your website. I have also read By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, maybe you’d like to see it and tell me what you think.

    Anyway, I love your blog! It has so much good content.

  • I think I have this book, but I don’t have it on my classics list or remember putting it on my goodreads list. I will still read this and thank you for your review!

  • I loved Paulo Coelho’s Brida, largely because of the beautiful writing, although I think perhaps the ideas he was trying to convey were less cliched as well. I thought it was amazing enough that I’d love to try more of his books 🙂

  • I think this is one of those books that really works depending on the time in which one reads it in life. I picked it up as a young 20-something when I was trying to decide what to do with myself, and this one gave me some inspiration and some courage to follow my heart into grad school. For that, I appreciated it very much. I think I would find it far more eye-rolly now.

    • The Book Wheel

      That makes sense. It’s hard to really adore a follow-your-dreams book when you’re already following them and have a sense of who you are.

  • Jan

    I do love The Alchemist and it’s probably one of the books I’ve gifted most over the years. There are definitely some bits where I was a bit ‘blah, blah’ to some of the lessons as well but overall I thought it was a lovely wee book!

  • I was also underwhelmed by this one but loved The Devil and Miss Prym, so that one is worth checking out!

  • I would end up reading it as just a story anyway. I’m leary of most “spiritual journey” type books and that part doesn’t usually appeal to me. I’ll read strictly Christian nonfiction, but even some of that doesn’t work. And Christain fiction has very few bearable writers/books. But if there’s a story to follow besides, it’s all good.

  • I really enjoyed The Alchemist — but the last best seller that underwhelmed me was Revenge Wears Prada. Don’t waste your money! 🙂

    • The Book Wheel

      Yikes. Maybe I’ll see the movie, though. I kind of liked the first one 🙂

Content may not be reposted in full or without permission. This site includes affiliate links.