So I have decided to pick up The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho again. I read it for the first time in 2024 and finished it in less than 24 hours. I was that hooked! I think The Alchemist is one of my favorite books of all time. I love it so much. I have been looking forward to reading it again, and finally, the time is here. You might wonder why it has taken me so long to pick it up again, I have my reasons.
I loved the book so much that I recommended it to anyone who would listen to me talk about it. I lent it to one person after I read it, and I got it back. Then I lent it to another friend, and I couldn’t get it back. We don’t talk anymore and we don’t live in the same city, so I had to accept that my copy of the book was gone.
I curated a Valentine’s package for a customer, and one of the items I promised to add was a book. You can probably guess the book I bought for this customer, right? However, unfortunately, he said he already had a copy and requested another book by Brian Tracy, No Excuses. Fortunately for me, I made the returned book my new copy. I mean, that was my silver lining. I wouldn’t have loved it if I already had a copy and the customer returned it again. Well, I have a copy of The Alchemist now, and I decided to read it again.
One part of the book that always gets me is the short story in the prologue about the lake, Narcissus, and the goddess of the forest. It is one of the shortest and most beautiful stories I have ever read. If you have never paid attention to that part of the book, you definitely should! The first time I picked up the book, reading that story made me realize that The Alchemist was a book I would absolutely love.
Then the story begins with the line - “The boy’s name was Santiago.” Urghhh, I can never forget that line. The gradual progression of the story was so beautiful to read, and there were so many nice quotes and sayings I had to note down. My original copy was filled with highlights from my highlighter pen. I will definitely do that again with this copy. I think one of my favorite lines is: “When you really want something, the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I hope I remembered that correctly because I can’t start flipping through the pages now to find the exact wording.
I also look forward to reading the plot twists all over again. I didn’t see them coming the first time I read the book. It was such a powerful story. Chaotic, adventurous, and beautiful. The boy’s journey was a lot, and I can’t even begin to imagine it. Anyway, I’m looking forward to experiencing this book all over again.
I don’t know if I will write about it again after I finish reading it, but yeah, here’s to Day 4 of keeping my writing streak on Hive🥂.