by Paulo Coelho
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 five hundred-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 twenty million copies worldwide and has been translated into some fifty-six 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 and 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.
International Acclaim for Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist
“The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension, and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it’s full of specific wisdom as well…. A sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Beneath this novel’s compelling story and the shimmering elegance with which it’s told lies a bedrock of wisdom about following one’s heart.”
—Booklist
“As memorable and meaningful as Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince.”
—Austin American-Statesman
“A touching, inspiring fable.”
—Indianapolis Star
“A little poke in the ribs from on high.”
—Detroit Free Press
“The Alchemist is a fabulous success.”
—Der Spiegel (Germany)
“A remarkable tale about the most magical of all journeys: the quest to fulfill one’s destiny. I recommend The Alchemist to anyone who is passionately committed to claiming the life of their dreams—today.”
—Anthony Robbins, author of
Awaken the Giant Within
“An entrepreneurial tale of universal wisdom we can apply to the business of our own lives.”
—Spencer Johnson, M.D., author of
Who Moved My Cheese
“An adventure story full of magic and wisdom.”
—Rudolfo Anaya, author of Bless Me, Ultima
“The Alchemist is a beautiful book about magic, dreams and the treasures we seek elsewhere and then find at our doorstep.”
—Madonna in Sonntag-Aktuell (Germany)
“The Alchemist is an unabashed delight and inspirational wonder. This fable is a roseate amalgam of spiritual quest, existential puzzle, lovely sensitivity, and deep strength.”
—Malcolm Boyd, author of
Are You Running with Me, Jesus?
“Paulo Coelho knows the secret of literary alchemy.”
—Kenzaburo Oé, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
“A most tender and gentle story. It is a rare gem of a book, and will most certainly touch the very core of every heart earnestly seeking its own destiny on the journey of life.”
—Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., coauthor of
Change Your Mind, Change Your Life and Love Is Letting Go of Fear
“Rarely do I come across a story with the directness and simplicity of Coelho’s The Alchemist. It lifts the reader out of time and focuses through a believably unlikely story on a young dreamer looking for himself. A beautiful story with a pointed message for every reader.”
—Joseph Girzone, author of Joshua
“This is the type of book that makes you understand more about yourself and about life. It has philosophy, and is spiced with colors, flavors and subjects, like a fairy tale. A lovely book.”
—Yedi’ot Aharonot (Israel)
“A boy named Santiago joins the ranks of Candide and Pinocchio by taking us on a very excellent adventure.”
—Paul Zindel, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play,
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
“The mystic quality in the odd adventures of the boy, Santiago, may bring not only him but others who read this fine book closer to recognizing and reaching their own inner destinies.”
—Charlotte Zolotow, author of If You Listen
“Paulo Coelho gives you the inspiration to follow your own dreams by seeing the world through your own eyes and not someone else’s.”
—Lynn Andrews, author of the Medicine Woman series
“Nothing is impossible, such is Coelho’s message, as long as you wish it with all your heart. No other book bears so much hope, small wonder its author became a guru among all those in search of the meaning of life.”
—Focus (Germany)
“The Alchemist is a truly poetic book.”
—Welt am Sonntag (Germany)
“Dotted throughout the story and illuminated in a poetic style are metaphors and deep insights that stir our imagination and transport the reader on a fantastic journey of the soul.”
—Yomiuri-Shinbun (Japan)
“The Alchemist brings to mind The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry and The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, as well as biblical parables.”
—Gazeta Wymborcza (Poland)
“The Alchemist is a beautiful and heartwarming story with an exotic flavor…. You may or may not agree with PauloCoelho’s philosophy, but it’s nonetheless a tale that comforts our hearts as much as our souls.”
—Bergensavisen (Norway)
“The Alchemist is like a modern-day The Little Prince. A supreme and simple book.”
—Milorad Pavic (Serbia)
“Among Latin American writers, only Columbia’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez is more widely read than Brazil’s Paulo Coelho.”
—The Economist
ALSO BY PAULO COELHO
The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom
The Valkyries: An Encounter with Angels
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
The Fifth Mountain
The Illustrated Alchemist
Veronika Decides to Die
CREDITS
Cover design: Doreen Louie Cover photograph � by J. Sims/FPG International
Copyright
This book is an English version of O Alquimista, the Portuguese original edition, published in Brazil by Editora Rocco Ltd. (Rio de Janeiro). Copyright © 1988 by Paulo Coelho. This edition was prepared by Alan R. Clarke in consultation with Paulo Coelho.
THE ALCHEMIST. Copyright © 1993 by Paulo Coelho. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books™.
ePub edition July 2005 ISBN 9780061741241
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been ordered.
ISBN 0–06–250217–4 (cloth)
ISBN 0–06–250218–2 (paperback)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
2 1
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