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The Alchemist: A Fable about Following Your Dream
Paulo Coelho, 1996
197 pp.

In Brief
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is art eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts. (From the publisher)

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About the Author

• Birth—August 24, 1947
• Where—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Education—Left law school in second year
• Awards—Crystal Award (Switzerland), 1999; Rio Branco
   Order (Brazil), 2000; Legion d’Honneur (France), 2001;
   Brazilian Academy of Letters (Brazil), 2002
• Currently—lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Paulo Coelho is one of the most beloved authors of our time. With sales of more than 75 million copies worldwide, his books have been translated into 61 languages and published in 150 countries. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, among them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum, France's Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la LÉgion d'Honneur, and Germany's Bambi 2001 Award. He was inducted into the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 2002. Mr. Coelho also writes a weekly column syndicated throughout the world.

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the city where he now lives. His own life has in many ways been as varied and unusual as the protagonists of his internationally acclaimed novels. Like them, Paulo Coelho has followed a dream in a quest for fulfillment. His own dream, to be a writer, met with frustration throughout much of his early adult life, a time in which he worked at various professions, some of them materially rewarding but spiritually unfulfilling. "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." He was 38 when he published his first book.

In 1970, after deciding that law school was not for him, he traveled through much of South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe. Returning to Brazil after two years, he began a successful career as popular songwriter. In 1974, he was imprisoned for a short time by the military dictatorship then ruling in Brazil. In 1980, he experienced one of the defining moments of his life: he walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. On this ancient highway, used for centuries by pilgrims from France to get to the cathedral said to house the remains of St. James, he achieved a self-awareness and a spiritual awakening that he later described in The Pilgrimage.

Paulo Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you will make mistakes but you will get there in the end. In 1988, he published The Alchemist, a novel that explores this theme, and it launched him as an international bestselling author. Specifically, Paulo Coelho is recognized for his powerful storytelling technique and the profound spiritual insights he blends seamlessly into his parables. Since then, The Alchemist has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 41 languages. In addition to The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has written luminous novels about the different streams of our lives, including By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept, The Valkyries, The Fifth Mountain, and Veronika Decides to Die. A winner of numerous literary prizes, Paulo Coelho is also a prominent speaker for humanitarian causes. In 1999, he received a Crystal Award for Artistic Achievement at the Davos Economic Forum Conference.

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Critics Say. . .
Spiritual inspiration doesn't guarantee luminous prose. One of the few authors whose writing draws praise in reviews is the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, the international best-selling author of ''The Alchemist'' and ''The Valkyries: An Encounter With Angels.''
Doreen Carvajal - The New York Times

Readers Say . . .
(Ocassionally, when there are few professional reviews, we'll include helpful ones from Barnes and Noble's customers.)


Interesting book, one of the best I'd read so far. The theme of is what captivated me most, the idea of a personal legend, the soul of the world. The universal language is deep and in some sense philosophical. It gives audience some advice which they can apply in thier own personal journey. It's simple, short, deep, and profounding.
Philonus, an average joe, 06/12/2007


Boring. The idea of the story: a young man setting out on an adventure, in search of a treasure that seems to be a real mystery was intriguing. In the 1st 2 chapters you get the main idea of the story quickly, it’s about searching within and finding your destiny, listen to all that is around you for your life ahead is already written in your personal legend. Great concept, but to keep going on and on about it in every chapter was very repetitive!! It seem like the author didn’t think we were smart enough to remember what a personal legend was in the 1st couple chapters, so he had to repeat it in Every chapter. The whole adventure part of the store dies with to much talk about personal legends and languages of the world sico philosophy.
Michelle, A reviewer, 06/19/2007


This book was amazing! On the surface, it has an almost child-like quality yet it also has depth. It's the story of a boy named Santiago who dreams that life has more to offer than what he's lived and so he searches for his Personal Legend. From there the novel deals with what is wisdom and looks at our place in the universe. This is a contemplative book that asks you to reflect on your own life.
Amber, A reviewer, 07/25/2007


Disarming. The Alchemist should not be kept on a shelf but handed down through generations. An absolute delight with a brilliant transformation of both magic and reality.
Kimberly, a spiritual traveller, 07/31/2007


Dreams Make Us. A week ago I walked into a Barnes and Noble store and there sat this book that glared at me from across the room. The title alone drew my attention. I read the first page and was instantly hooked to the writing style. I really had no idea what the book was about, but I decided to buy it. With in the first couple of chapters, I knew that this book could change me in some way. The book is symbolic of everything that happens to us along our journeys. Greatness and dreams rest just around the bend. This book dares us to look around that bend and see what we can find. The book should be read by everyone. I am just about to enter my freshmen year of college, and this book has reminded me to keep my dreams in clear view and to never stop pushing through the vastness of the desert as did 'the boy.' Read this book, but be prepared to be enlightened.
Jordan, a young dreamer, 08/07/2007

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Book Club Discussion Questions
Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, has a dream about finding a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. A gypsy woman and an old man claiming to be a mysterious king advise him to pursue it. "To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation," the old man tells him. "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

With the courage of an adventurer, Santiago sells his sheep and travels to Tangiers in Africa. After a thief steals his money, Santiago takes a job with a crystal merchant who unwittingly teaches Santiago important lessons for his long journey ahead. After working at the crystal shop for a year, Santiago earns enough money to cover his losses and return home. But then something unexpected happens. On a desert caravan, Santiago meets an intriguing Englishman. The Englishman's passion for knowledge and his relentless quest to uncover the secrets of alchemy inspire Santiago to pursue his own dream of finding the treasure. As the Englishman searches for the two hundred year old alchemist who resides in the desert oasis, Santiago falls in love with a young woman, Fatima. Exposed to the greatest and eternal alchemy of all - love - Santiago thinks he has found the treasure. But the greatest test of all is yet to come. With the help of the alchemist, Santiago completes the last leg of his journey - dangerous and infused with discoveries of the most profound kind - to find that the treasure he was looking for was waiting for him in the place where he least expected.

This story, timeless and entertaining, exotic yet simple, breaks down the journey we all take to find the most meaningfultreasures in our lives into steps that are at once natural and magical. It is about the faith, power, and courage we all have within us to pursue the intricate path of a Personal Legend, a path charted by the mysterious magnet of destiny but obscured by distractions. Santiago shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read the seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same, if we let it.

1. At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a gypsy woman to interpret his dream about a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for one tenth of the treasure in return. When Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man requests one tenth of his flock as "payment." Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to fulfill a dream; however, only one will yield a true result. Which payment represents false hope? Can you think of examples from your own life when you had to give up something to meet a goal and found the price too high?

2. Paulo Coelho once said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane. With this in mind, can you define your Personal Legend? At what time in your life were you first able to act on it? What was your "beginner's luck"? Did anything prevent you from following it to conclusion? Having read The Alchemist, do you know what inner resources you need to continue the journey?

3. One of the first major diversions from Santiago's journey was the theft of his money in Tangiers, which forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Of all these, which lessons were the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend?

4. When he talked about the pilgrimage to Mecca, the crystal merchant argued that having a dream is more important than fulfilling it, which is what Santiago was trying to do. Do you agree with Santiago's rationale or crystal merchant's?

5. The Englishman, whom Santiago meets when he joins the caravan to the Egyptian pyramids, is searching for "a universal language, understood by everybody." What is that language? According to the Englishman, what are the parallels between reading and alchemy? How does the Englishman's search for the alchemist compares to Santiago's search for a treasure? How did the Englishman and Santiago feel about each other?

6. The alchemist tells Santiago "you don't have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation." With this in mind, why do you think the alchemist chose to befriend Santiago, though he knew that the Englishman was the one looking for him? What is the meaning of two dead hawks and the falcon in the oasis? At one point the alchemist explains to Santiago the secret of successfully turning metal into gold. How does this process compare to finding a Personal Legend?

7. Why did Santiago have to go through the dangers of tribal wars on the outskirts of the oasis in order to reach the pyramids? At the very end of the journey, why did the alchemist leave Santiago alone to complete it?

8.Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson save Santiago's life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?