The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I went to my friend's summer book club meeting last night. The book of the month was this one, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I'd never heard of the book before, but that is no indication of its popularity. It's a better litmus test for how out of the loop I am in most literary circles. 

So I was thankful for the chance to be challenged to read something other than The Lord of the Rings or another Jane Austen favorite and had the added bonus of borrowing the e-book for free from a local library. My overall impression was that it was an easy read, not excessively long (a plus for reading it on vacation) and flowed smoothly enough to keep my attention. It wasn't riveting, but it was good.

I know Christians may get hung up on the blend of Judeo-Christian messages interspersed with Islamic and even New Age ones. After the discussion leader read the author's background to us last night, it was understandable why he writes this way. (see his wikipedia listing for more information) I usually don't try to over think things, but if this is disturbing to someone, it's understandable why they might pass on this book as an option to read.

The protagonist begins the book as a shepherd boy and I deeply appreciated the correlation between him and his sheep and the lessons I've learned about my Shepherd and His Sheep.

• "It was as if some mysterious energy bound his life to that of the sheep..."
• "They trust me, and they've forgotten how to rely on their own instincts, because I lead them to nourishment."

The book is all about finding your Personal Legend and why some people never do even though we all have one. From almost the beginning, we learn that the boy's father longed to travel the world, but instead settled for providing stability and nourishment for his family. As most child/parent relationships go, the boy committed himself to not becoming a carbon copy of his father.

There were a few other quotes that spoke to me because of lessons I've learned in my own life:

• "When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."
• "Most people see the world as a threatening place, and because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place."

Fear of failure, the unknown and uncertainty can keep anyone from becoming the person God created them to be. Only He can give you the impetus, the intuition and the compulsion to find your Personal Legend and fulfill it in His timing.