First of all, I love the new blog look! Great job!
** (For anyone else reading this - DON'T READ THIS POST if you want to read The Alchemist!!) **
Now, on to my thoughts... I really hate doing this, because what if I'm the only one that feels this way about a book & everybody else thinks I'm crazy!! I guess it wouldn't be the first time, though! :)
The Alchemist wasn't my favorite book. I'd give it a rating of 6-6.5. It was interesting, but very deep & thoughtful for the most part. Books like that are harder for me to get into, because I just don't have the time or patience anymore to really get deep & thoughtful! (Kinda sad... I know.) Also, a lot of how I feel about books has to do with what I am currently going through in my own life. At the time I was reading this book, I was dealing with Samuel's school fiascos. So, my overall mood while reading it was pretty sour.
The book was filled with so much imagery & I truly thought that his "treasure" was going to be something he found within himself... love, courage, devotion, etc. Kinda like when he thought he found his treasure with Fatima. I did not expect him to literally find a treasure chest. So, that was a surprise.
I had a hard time trying to figure out if this book was just a novel for purely entertainment purposes or whether I should look at it deeper to find some life lessons that I could apply to my own life. I think it had a little of both, actually. (But, that requires some thoughtful introspection, which I'll get around to doing someday.)
I kept wondering the whole time what happened to the merchant's daughter that he was planning on proposing to. For some reason, I wanted the author to follow up with that character.
The whole talking to the wind & sun part was a bit strange. But, like I said, I never knew whether this was just an entertainment novel or whether I was supposed to be getting some sort of life lessons from his travels. So, during this portion of the book, I kept wondering, what is the author trying to tell me? Maybe I was trying to read too much into it.
I can't think of more right now. It's hard to have a discussion by yourself. Next time, I hope to catch you girls on the phone!
Let me know what you all thought...
EDITED TO ADD:
Also, at the end, when the robbers took his gold & the one guy told him about his dream of finding treasure in an abandoned church & then Santiago smiled because he knew exactly where his treasure was... I thought that was the end of the book. I seriously thought that was it! And, I was mad! I read that last page over & over & over trying to figure out what he meant. How did he know where his treasure was? It's so funny now that I think about how upset I got because I seriously thought I was never going to figure it out. So, I finally gave up & turned the page to start reading the epilogue.
:)
I'm an idiot!!
ALSO EDITED TO ADD:
My favorite part of the book was when the boy worked at the crystal shop. I enjoyed reading about his successes there.
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5 comments:
Rachel, I love the new look! It looks sooo cute! You wanna "pimp" my blog too! :)
I like this new style so much, and I LOVE the search feature! You did a wonderful job Rachel. Thank you so much!
Amberly-
we all know you love the true life, just the facts, ma'am, memoirs!
We all rated The Alchemist higher- 8's and 9's, but I can see why you didn't like it as much. We also brought up the question of would the treasure he finds be real or have to do with his character. We were split on our expectations for that. I personally thought it was real the whole way through but others wondered about that. And yes, we all sort of thought the conversation with the sun and wind was not our favorite part, even though it was the climax of the book.
You know... I really wanted to pick a non-memoir for my current choice, but I just had to go with my gut. I wonder why that's what I'm drawn to ??
Anyway, all that to say, I am really glad I read it! Really glad! It was definitely interesting. I think I was trying to figure it out too much instead of just relaxing & enjoying a good story. Know what I mean? Also, I like the fact that I broaden my horizons by reading all different types of literature. Otherwise, I'd stick with the same 'ol, same 'ol, which wouldn't be much of an education. Thank you ladies for challenging me!
I read the Q&A in the back of the book & was completely confused by his response to a question about time. Did anyone else read that? And, if so, what were your thoughts?
Thanks for your thoughts, Amberly. Sorry I haven't gotten our summary up yet - will do that very soon! I actually thought that his treasure wouldn't be an actual physical treasure either. And we can all agree that the talking to the wind/sun part was a little strange and even a departure from the rest of the book, I think.
Love the blog look Rachel!!! GREAT JOB!
Amberly, I think I read it in a similar way to you in that it was part entertainment and part "life lesson." Your thoughts and comments would have fit right into our discussion for sure. I was unsure about the treasure...the way the book read, I was more than ready for an inner treasure vs. a treasure chest. This was definitely another unique book, which is the fun of book club!
We sure missed having you be a part of the live discussion! We will definitely have to "schedule" our time with you for next book club... since you chose the book!!! Looking forward to it!
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