I enjoyed the Alchemist. Thanks Nick. The subject matter (following your dreams/destiny) and the way it was presented (third-person omniscient narrator) really force introspective thought - something I like doing anyway.
The story invites us to find and pursue our personal legend. It glorifies those that pursue their dreams saying that the universe conspires to help them, that God is with them, that they will know the soul and language of the world, etc. etc. At the same time, it treats those that choose local, safe and secure paths as cowards who are no more than sheep only seeking food and water. You'll recall the crystal shop owner who won't go to Mecca and the Baker who wanted to travel that didn't as examples.
The only problem I had with the story is that I felt it didn't give the reader any credit. In the story, the boy was asked to 'read the omens' by paying attention to subtle signals that the desert/nature was presenting. He would come to know the language and soul of the world through this process. Yet, the author didn't give the reader omens to follow, we were herded along like the sheep. Instead of being asked to read subtle signals, we were beaten over the head with plain, repetitious statements of his thesis (following heart/legend =good, being a sheep/settling = cowardly).
It was entertaining to read and as I wrote previously, it forced me to look at my life decisions critically. I enjoyed the idea that things were continually evolving--lead to copper to gold. The idea that everything has a personal legend to improve, at which point the personal legend changes so that the evolution continues.
When I was younger I just knew (you could say it was in my heart) that I was going to be a baseball player and that I was going to be a good one. My commitment to my dream was challenged continually by the lack of stability in my legs. I pushed toward my dream only to have it fail spectacularly. I thought that harder work and more fervent prayers could make up the difference but they didn't or couldn't. I don't know if it was stubbornness or if I just needed to learn lessons from the fruitless struggling but I kept pursuing it despite the pain. Nowadays, I like to think that baseball had nothing left to teach me and that's why I was sent in a new direction, toward new legends. Perhaps I had already become copper or something. Perhaps I quit right before I was about to break through. Maybe if I had tried to come back from the back surgery and accepted the independent league offers for scraps... Who knows, right?
Anyway, I'd like to hear other opinions on the book and/or some of your personal legends. I would also like to invite Cameron back to the blog once again. Cam, I am formally apologizing for calling you pseudo-open-minded or something like that a while ago. I was joking but after re-reading my post, I'm not sure it came across that way.
Ben
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Enjoyed the comments. I will post Wednesday my own thoughts right after midterms. Did we decide "Daniel" for August? I've heard no other opinions...
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