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'''''The Alchemist''''' is a novel by [[Marjon Banigo-os]] first published in 1988. Originally written in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], it has been translated into 71 languages as of 2011. An [[allegorical]] novel, ''The Alchemist'' follows a young [[Andalusia]]n shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.
'''''The Alchemist''''' is a novel by [[Paulo Coelho]] first published in 1988. Originally written in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], it has been translated into 71 languages as of 2011. An [[allegorical]] novel, ''The Alchemist'' follows a young [[Andalusia]]n shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.


The book has gone on to becoming an international bestseller. According to [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]], it has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 160 countries, becoming one of the [[List of best-selling books|best-selling books in history]] and winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.<ref name="AFPFilm">{{cite news|title=Film to be made of Coelho's 'The Alchemist'|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i07sUo0IODPVAktHfpCoY4f6kzAQ|accessdate=2012-01-28|newspaper=AFP|date=2008-05-19}}</ref>
The book has gone on to becoming an international bestseller. According to [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]], it has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 160 countries, becoming one of the [[List of best-selling books|best-selling books in history]] and winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.<ref name="AFPFilm">{{cite news|title=Film to be made of Coelho's 'The Alchemist'|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i07sUo0IODPVAktHfpCoY4f6kzAQ|accessdate=2012-01-28|newspaper=AFP|date=2008-05-19}}</ref>

Revision as of 18:09, 29 May 2012

For similarly named works, see Alchemist (disambiguation).

The Alchemist
1st English edition cover
AuthorMarjon Banigo-os
Original titleO Alquimista
LanguagePortuguese
GenreQuest, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
PublisherHarperTorch (Eng. trans)
Publication date
1986
Publication placeBrazil
Published in English
1993
Media typePrint (hardback, paperback and iTunes)
Pages163 pp (first English edition, hardcover)
ISBNISBN 0-06-250217-4 (first English edition, hardcover) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC26857452
Preceded byThe Pilgrimage (1987)' 
Followed byBrida (1990)' 

The Alchemist is a novel by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. Originally written in Portuguese, it has been translated into 71 languages as of 2011. An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd named Santiago in his journey to Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding treasure there.

The book has gone on to becoming an international bestseller. According to AFP, it has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 160 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history and winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.[1]

Plot

The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Santiago, believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, decides to travel to a gypsy in a nearby town to discover its meaning. She tells him that there is a treasure in the Pyramids in Egypt. As he leaves, the gypsy mentions one thing: If he does find the treasure, she wants 10 percent of it.

Early into his journey, he meets an old king, Melchizedek, who tells him to sell his sheep to travel to Egypt, and his Personal Legend: what he always wanted to accomplish in his life. And that "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." This is the core philosophy and motto of the book.

The Pyramids of Giza

Along the way, he encounters love, danger, opportunity, disaster and learns a lot about himself and the ways of the world. During his travels, he meets a beautiful Arabian woman named Fatima who explains to him that if he follows his heart, he shall find what it is he seeks.

Santiago then encounters a lone alchemist who tells about personal legends. He says that people only want to find the treasure of their personal legends but not the personal legend itself. He feels unsure about himself as he listens to the alchemist's teachings. The alchemist states "Those who don't understand their personal legends will fail to comprehend its teachings." It also states that treasure is more worthy than gold.

Characters

Santiago
Santiago is the protagonist of The Alchemist. Born in a small town in Andalusia, Santiago attends the seminary as a boy but longs to travel the world. He finally gets the courage to ask his father's permission to become a shepherd so that he can travel the fields of Andalusia. One day, he meets a mysterious man in the town of Tarifa, who sends him on a journey to the other side of Africa. Santiago is a curious boy whose open mind makes him particularly suited to finding his Personal Legend. He also values his freedom very highly, which is why he became a shepherd and why he is reticent to get involved in things which threaten his freedom. In the end, he realizes that playing it safe is often more threatening to his freedom than taking a risk.

Melchizedek
Melchizedek is the king of Salem, a mysterious far-off land. Melchizedek appears to Santiago in the town square of Tarifa, where he tells Santiago about the Soul of the World and his Personal Legend for the first time. Melchizedek always appears to people who are trying to live their Personal Legend, even if they don't know it. While he appears at first to be dressed in common Arab dress, at one point he pulls aside his cloak to reveal a gold breastplate encrusted with precious stones. He also gives Santiago the magical stones Urim and Thummim.

The Englishman
Santiago meets the Englishman on the caravan to Al-fayoum. The Englishman is trying to become a great alchemist and is traveling to Al-Fayoum to study with a famous alchemist who is rumored to be over 200 years old and to have the ability to turn any metal into gold. Santiago learns much about alchemy from the Englishman, who lends Santiago his books while they travel across the Sahara.

Fatima
A beautiful girl who lives at the Al-Fayoum oasis. Santiago falls in love with her at the well there. He and Fatima talk every day for several weeks, and finally he asks her to marry him. Fatima, however, insists that he seek out his Personal Legend before they marry. This perplexes Santiago, but the Alchemist teaches him that true love never gets in the way of fulfilling one's dreams. If it does, then it is not true love.

The Alchemist
Very powerful alchemist who lives at the Al-Fayoum oasis in Egypt. Initially, Santiago hears about him through the Englishman, but eventually Santiago reveals himself to be the Alchemist's true disciple. The Alchemist dresses in all black and uses a falcon to hunt for game. The Alchemist is also in possession of the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone.

The Shopkeeper
Gives Santiago a job in Tangiers after he has been robbed. Santiago takes the job at the crystal shop and learns much about the shopkeeper's attitude toward life and the importance of dreaming. The shopkeeper, while generally afraid to take risks, is a very kind man and understands Santiago's quest - sometimes more than Santiago himself. This is the case when the shopkeeper tells Santiago that he will not return to Spain, since it is not his fate.

Writing

Coelho wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks in 1987. This pace Coelho has explained was because the story was "already written in [his] soul".[2]

Themes

Personal Legend

The book's main theme is about finding one's self destiny. According to The New York Times, The Alchemist is "more self-help than literature".[3]

Publication

The Alchemist was first released by an obscure Brazilian publishing house. Albeit having sold "well", the publisher to the book told Coelho that it was never going to sell, and that "he could make more money in the stock exchange".[4]

Needing to "heal" himself from this setback, Coelho set out to leave Rio de Janeiro with his wife and spent 40 days in the Mojave Desert. Returning from the excursion, Coelho decided he had to keep on struggling.[4] For Coelho, he was "so convinced it was a great book that [he] started knocking on doors".[2]

Translations

According to The New York Times, The Alchemist has been translated into 67 distinct different languages. This gave Coelho the position as the world's most translated living author, according to the 2009 Guinness World Records.[3]

File sharing

Paulo Coelho is a strong advocate of spreading his books through peer-to-peer file sharing networks. He put his own books on file-sharing networks like BitTorrent, and noted that The Alchemist received a boost in sales due to this.[5] He stated that "I do think that when a reader has the possibility to read some chapters, he or she can always decide to buy the book later."[5] Currently, chapters from The Alchemist can be found on Google Books and Coelho's agency Sant Jordi Associados.[6][7] Entire copies of his books, including translations, can also be found on Pirate Coelho, a blog off Coelho's main blog.[8]

Reception

Critical

The Advertiser, an Australian newspaper, published one of the first reviews of The Alchemist in 1993, saying: "of books that I can recommend with the unshakable confidence of having read them and been entranced, impressed, entertained or moved, the universal gift is perhaps a limpid little fable called The Alchemist... In hauntingly spare prose, translated from the Brazilian original in Portuguese, it follows a young Andalusian shepherd into the desert on his quest for a dream and the fulfillment of his destiny."[9] Since then, the novel has received much praise, making it to the top spot on best-seller lists in 74 countries and winning prestigious awards in Germany and Italy.[10][11][12] It has been called a "charming story", "a brilliant, simple narrative" and "a wonderful tale, a metaphor of life", from people in places as diverse as South Africa, Finland and Turkey.[13] It has been praised by public figures like Will Smith[14] and Jorge Garcia. Arash Hejazi, the Iranian publisher of Paulo Coelho, believes that The Alchemist is exceptional on several counts: he notes that the book has had a "longer than expected life-cycle… It was not supported by high marketing budgets in the first few years after its publication. It was not written in French or Spanish. It did not enjoy a film tie-in and was not recommended by positive reviews and the media, but it is still selling, only relying on the word of mouth as its main marketing tool."[15][16]

One of the chief complaints lodged against the book is that the story, praised for its fable-like simplicity, actually is a fable–-a retelling of "The Ruined Man who Became Rich Again through a Dream" (Tale 14 from the collection One Thousand and One Nights).[17] Coelho, however, does not credit this source text anywhere in the book or in the preface, passing the story as an original work of fiction. Also the life story of Takkeci Ibrahim Aga who is believed to live in Istanbul during 1500s, has the same plot. So too does the English folk tale, the Pedlar of Swaffham. Despite its international acceptance by critics, this book didn't enjoy the same reception in Brazil. It is believed that translators have improved the text, correcting the linguistic flaws of the original.[citation needed]

Commercial

The novel was not an instant bestseller. Published by a small publishing house, The Alchemist, like its predecessor, The Pilgrimage, sold "slowly" in Brazil. Its commercial success took off in France when it became an "unexpected" bestseller early in the 1990s.[18]

The Alchemist has sold 65 million copies worldwide.[3] As of the week ending February 5, 2012, the novel reached its 212th week on The New York Times' bestseller list.[19] Its paperback edition remains a fixture on bookstore shelves.[20]

Cultural influence

Film adaptations

File:Kajol with karan johar.jpg
Kajol and Karan Johar at the launch of The Alchemist in India

Coelho said he has been reluctant in selling rights to his books. He believed that a book has a "life of its own inside the reader's mind", and seldom did he find an adaptation that lived up to the book. Despite this, with time, Coelho decided to open up the possibility. [4]

In 2003, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film adaptation of The Alchemist. The project stalled and the movie never materialized, reportedly because of problems with the script.[21] At one point, the script had a battle sequence with 10,000 soldiers, which was "not what the book is about".[22] Reportedly, Coelho offered a US$2m to Warner Bros. to buy back the film rights to The Alchemist.[23]

During the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Harvey Weinstein announced that he had bought the rights to the film and will serve as its producer. Laurence Fishburne is set to direct, and to play the eponymous character. It will have a reported budget of $60 million. Weinstein, who rarely personally produces movies, stated that "My loyalty is not to Laurence [Fishburne], my loyalty is not to me, my loyalty is not to anyone other than Paulo Coelho."[24] Coelho added "I am very happy that my book will be filmed in the way I intended it to be and I hope the spirit and simplicity of my work will be preserved. I am excited my friend Laurence Fishburne and Harvey Weinstein will be working together."[12]

Other media

HarperOne, a HarperCollins imprint, produced an illustrated version of the novel, with paintings by the French artist Moebius, but failed to convince Coelho "to consent to the full graphic-novel treatment".[25] In June 2010, HarperOne announced that it would publish a graphic-novel adaptation. The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel was published in 2010, adapted by Derek Ruiz and artwork by Daniel Sampere.

A theatrical adaptation of The Alchemist was produced and performed by the Cornish Collective, which is their most successful production to date.[26] It is staged in India first time by Ashvin Gidwani Productions.[27][28] Kajol and Karan Johar launched this book's theatrical adoption in India.[29][30]

In music, The Alchemist has inspired numerous bands of the same name.[25] In September 2009, an orchestral performance was conducted at the Ansche Chesed Synagogue on the Upper West Side. Inspired by The Alchemist, "an orchestral performance" was composed by One World Symphony for composer and conductor Sung Jin Hong' wedding.[31]

References

  1. ^ "Film to be made of Coelho's 'The Alchemist'". AFP. May 19, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Pool, Hannah (March 19, 2009). "Question time". The Guardian. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Cowles, Gregory (October 8, 2009). "Inside the List". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "Interview with Paulo Coelho". Goodreads.com. 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b Best-Selling Author Turns Piracy into Profit TorrentFreak. May 12, 2008.
  6. ^ The Alchemist Book Preview Google Books.
  7. ^ Extract from The Alchemist Sant Jordi Associados.
  8. ^ "Pirate Coelho".
  9. ^ Guy, Bill. "BOOKS OF THE YEAR". The Advertiser. December 4, 1993.
  10. ^ Paulo Coelho Biography[dead link] on PauloCoelho.com.
  11. ^ A Brief History of the Book Saint Jordi Asociados
  12. ^ a b The Weinstein Company to Bring 'The Alchemist' to the Big Screen Zoom In Online: Film & TV.
  13. ^ The Alchemist: Reviews on Sant Jordi Associados.
  14. ^ Will Smith Interview[dead link] Tavis Smiley on PBS. December 13, 2007.
  15. ^ "The Alchemy of the Alchemist: How Paulo Coelho became the most translated living author for the same book". Arashhejazi.com. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  16. ^ "The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists". Goodreads.com. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  17. ^ "The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through A Dream". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  18. ^ Riding, Alan (August 30, 2005). "Paulo Coelho: Writing in a Global Language". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  19. ^ "Best Sellers". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  20. ^ Bosman, Julie (September 26, 2011). "Best-Selling Author Gives Away His Work". The New York Times. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  21. ^ Fishburne to direct The Alchemist The Guardian. June 27, 2007.
  22. ^ Doland, Angela 'The Alchemist' to be made into movie USA Today. May 18, 2008.
  23. ^ "Paulo Coelho". The Guardian. July 22, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  24. ^ Weinstein to produce 'Alchemist' film adaptation Muzi.com News. May 18, 2008.
  25. ^ a b Itzkoff, David (July 6, 2010). "Graphic Novel of 'The Alchemist': Words Into Pictures". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  26. ^ The Cornish Theatre Collective The Alchemist.
  27. ^ "The week gone by... (11 Images)". Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  28. ^ "How The Alchemist came alive on theatre". rediff.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  29. ^ "The week gone by... (11 Images)". Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  30. ^ "Kajol and Karan at the launch of The Alchemist". Nowrunning.com. July 14, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  31. ^ Schweitzer, Vivien (September 15, 2009). "Inspiration From Bjork, 'The Alchemist' and the Sea". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
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