He even meets Fatima, love at first sight, in a massive desert oasis.

He moves from hopeless to hopeful and back again throughout the story. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within – the fine line between reality and the spiritual. Santiago must wrestle with what he is told vs. He arguably changes his own destiny with his actions. He hits dead ends, someone steals his money, he trusts incorrectly, he gets captured in the desert, etc… but amazing things happen as well and the plot always moves forward. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. Each character points Santiago in the direction of his quest. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king (is he really a king? who should he believe?), a man who claims to be an alchemist (is he really an alchemist who can turn metal to gold?) and then a real alchemist who doesn’t brag at all. Our main character is thoughtful beyond his years but also a child subject to being impressionable. He follows his dreams, literally, a well as “signs” from his environment. He is both a simple sheep herder and an ambitious explorer. An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. The style reads simply yet contains powerful emotions, interesting and deep characters, plots twists and inspiring wisdom. Paulo Coelho’s enchanting novel in the eclectic “magical realism” category is dazzling in many ways.

About paulo coelho the alchemist