Novel
The Alchemist
O Alquimista
Paulo Coelho · 1988
Synopsis
Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd, dreams repeatedly of a treasure hidden near the pyramids of Egypt. In Tarifa, a gypsy woman confirms the dream in return for a tenth of the treasure; an old man who says he is the king of Salem speaks to him of his personal legend and entrusts him with two stones for reading omens. Santiago sells his flock and crosses to Tangier, where he is robbed; he then works for a crystal merchant, and later joins a caravan crossing the desert towards an oasis.
Context
The novel appeared in 1988 and at first sold slowly, to the point that its first publisher gave up on it; it later became the best-selling Brazilian book, with some sixty-five million copies according to the site Letras. The first English translation appeared in 1993 from Harper, in San Francisco. StoryShots presents it as the most translated book by a living author, and the Ken Sanders bookshop as an allegorical novel. Britannica notes in its author a rich symbolism and journeys with spiritual motifs.
Who it is for
An allegorical novel of about two hundred pages, following a single character from Andalusia to the sands of Egypt.
Prizes and reception
Translated into French as early as 1994 by Jean Orecchioni and reissued since by Anne Carrière, J'ai lu and Flammarion.
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