Paulo Coelho is a world renowned Brazilian writer who was born in 1947. His works are always bestsellers because his words are as sharp as swords and as heavy and hard as the armor. Apart from being a world-class writer, he is a notable violinist and musician and is renowned for his numerous impressive awards as well. Though he had written hundreds of novels and excerpts already, his book about The Alchemist has been considered as one of the all-time favorites of millions of book lovers worldwide.
Technically, The Alchemist was first created in 1988 but due to its rising popularity and incredible lines, it was translated to at least 56 different languages worldwide. Because of this, it became the bestselling book in history and it was dubbed to win an award from the Guinness World of Record as the most translated book by a non imaginary author. Basically, there are no special effects in the plot of the story. It started when a shepherd named Santiago had a recurring dream about a gypsy that kept on telling him about the treasures in the Pyramids in Egypt. Because of this dream, which he deemed prophetic, he travelled to the location, hoping to find the treasures.
Santiago was an Andalusian born shepherd who dreams of traveling the world and going to places he’s never been to. During his travel, he met Melchizedek, a king of Salem who pushed him to sell his sheep so he could travel to Egypt. In addition to that, the king also talked to him about Your Personal Legend. He also met an Arabian woman named Fatima, who gave her an insight about following his heart in order to accomplish his goals and find what he’s looking for. She was so beautiful that he fell in love with her and even asked to marry her, but she refused. In the course of his travel, he met an alchemist, who taught him numerous teachings and quotes. With the alchemist, he was able to understand the importance of following his hearts’ desires and of giving more importance to loved ones than the worldly things on Earth. While on his travel, he was robbed and an understanding shop keeper gave him a job. The latter taught him about the importance of having dreams and in facing life. While Santiago was traveling, he then met a powerful alchemist, who has the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Santiago learned a lot during his journey as he met several types of men on his way. He also realized the Your Personal Legend means that the universe will conspire for you to achieve all your dreams. Certainly, Paulo Coelho has wisdom as deep as the ocean, and this one of the reasons that he never seems to falter out of words.