The Alchemist

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Santiago is a shepherd who is happy with his life. But he’s been having a recurring dream and when he seeks answers to its meaning, he is sent off on a life journey to discover his “Personal Legend” and this takes him to from Spain to Egypt. The story is supposed to be some sort of parable full of life lessons.

This is another of those books I’ve heard about for many years and is supposed to be a modern classic. The blurb didn’t really interest me that much but I thought perhaps it would move me in some way if I read it. Unfortunately, it didn’t move me in any way. The story isn’t exactly bad but it is rather unremarkable, at least to me. The ending was equally lacking and just made me wonder about the point of it all. The journey certainly didn’t seem worthy of note. Lastly, I don’t really understand the reason for the title. I just didn’t see him as being anything above and beyond the other characters Santiago met along the way.

What saves this for me is having it read by Jeremy Irons. His narration and performance were of greater value than any of the writing. He added considerable life to the story and made it worth carrying on when it became tedious.

Initially, I thought I gave this three stars but upon further reflection, I can only give it 2.5 and that’s supported mostly by the narration.