The Alchemist

#179
Title: The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco
Year: 1998
Country: Brazil
192 pages

This is a good example of its genre, well-written and well-executed. It is not the fault of the book or the genre that I don't enjoy this genre. I understand this novel as allegorical and related to the search for a form of self-actualization that has a spiritual component. Perhaps I'd have enjoyed a different work by Corlho more, but this was recommended to me over and over. I can say that it is technically proficient, and that if I wanted to read something like this or to recommend it, Coelho does a good job overall. I don't think he does a good job of gender issues; even bearing in mind that the protagonist is male and is intended as an everyman, the female characters are ancillary and stereotypical. In addition, the follow-your-dream message is fine but not explored in terms of potential relational concerns. Relationships with others are encumbrances or, at best, rewards for succeeding in following you bliss--what does this mean for people raising children or taking care of others? Though pursuing the dream is represented as a process, at least in part, it's also represented as finite. The protagonist is in his early 20's when he's done. This seems like a throwback to Kohlberg's stages of development, where moral functionally development stopped by this age. Yes, it's a symbolic representation of the quest. No, it is not sufficient to say that this protagonist as rendered is a sufficient symbolic representation of everyone.

I am left with a Jonathan Livingston Seagull sensation. If that sounds good, or you like popular metaphysics, you'll probably find this book meaningful. If you want to analyze the discrepancies between the philosophies enacted in the text, you probably won't.