Despite my having run a book review website for nearly a decade, I actually don’t read many book reviews, at least before beginning a new book. In fact, I limit my pre-reading to what might be written on the back cover, inside the dust-jacket flaps, or perhaps whatever blurbs might be on the first few introductory pages. This rule mostly goes for non-fiction books.

For fiction, I’m even more strict, generally skipping the back cover entirely, for all the spoilers that are generally there. It’s like watching movie previews, where the production house offers up pretty much every great scene of the flick, so your appetite is less whetted and more satiated by the end.

I think a book must speak for itself. In cases when I listen to a book on audio, as I did with Paul Coelho’s The Alchemist, I’m left with virtually no preconceptions. I dive right in, not quite sure of what I might find. For example, until I sat down to write this review, I hadn’t yet been aware that this novel was originally written in Portuguese by its Brazilian author. What a shock!

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Quick Summary of The Alchemist

The story (the audio version expertly read by Jeremy Irons) follows a young shepherd boy who, contrary to the general philosophy around him, pursues his dreams to wherever they take him. The recurring theme of one’s “own personal legend” is so often repeated that it feels almost like a textbook on living than a story, though of course the story elements remain strong throughout.

There’s a reason this feel-good novel has been translated into so many languages and has become an modern classic: its messages of “follow your dreams” and personal fulfillment are so encouraging that one walks away from the book wanting immediately to pick it up again and start from the beginning…or at least to start living more optimistically.

Is The Alchemist a Christian Book?

It’s a question that goes through many readers’ minds. I haven’t done my research well enough to know Coelho’s religious background, but I have to assume his Coptic (or perhaps Roman Catholic) roots, though I could be mistaken. The book contains a form of theology, but one that Bible readers wouldn’t recognize. In fact, it reminds me a bit of James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh from 1903, a story with a host of biblical concepts yet with an overabundance of anti-biblical conclusions.

In the story, I also recognized something akin to a borrowing from (or a highjack of) the story of Joseph from Genesis 37-50: the region, the dreams, the shepherding, the need for Egypt and beyond, etc. I may be overstepping my critical bounds here, but I thought it worth mentioning.

That all said, I wouldn’t call it a “Christian book” but one that borrows biblical imagery and themes.

The Alchemist as an Entertaining Tale

If looking beyond the book’s mysticism, I must say that story was engrossing and entirely enjoyable. Its unique mix of growth stages for the protagonist in each of his successes and failures can easily find application in the observant reader’s life, even without the mystique and spiritualism that Coelho intended. From the boy’s watching sheep, to seeking help from a gypsy, to suffering loss at the hands of thieves, to his growth as an employee under a crystal merchant, to his experiences and love found at a desert oasis, to the war that follows, to his discovery beneath the sands of the pyramids—-this boy experiences a whole life of adventures, only to discover that “his own legend” finds its roots in the land from which he came. It’s an exciting tale, and I can easily see myself returning for another joyful read.

The climax of the story reminds me of a children’s book I read many years ago, The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz. Anyone who’s read either of the books can figure out where the similarity lies, but for the sake of this review, let’s just say that they both share the message that “the joy is in the journey,” and everything else can be found at home.

Conclusion

I recommend this book for its excitement and story. It’s message is more mystical than the average Christian should want to accept, so discernment (as always) is certainly important to have going in. But don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater—enjoy this story as much as I did!

©2020 E.T.

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