Today, in Caithness, the sun is shining and the air is clear. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that, certain weathers and certain times of the year ignite certain music in me. And, on late winter days which are filled with sunshine, I am usually to be found singing the songs of The Spinners . Inevitably, I start humming different ones of their songs (and of course adapting them to be about Orlando and Jess) as I go around doing different things. But I remember almost all the words to them. I haven't heard a lot of them in years, but they are all there, rooted in my memory. It is truly fascinating to think about how these songs have passed through history. They are part of my own nostalgia, which is why crisp sunny mornings make me incapable of ignoring the temptation to sing them, but they are part of something much bigger. There are songs amongst them which are a newer step in the folk music movement. Songs like Silver in the Stubble are amongs...
Review
When you love a book, there are two differents approaches to reading it and, after reading The Alchemist, I realised that I do both - depending on the way the story moves and inspires me.
The first is to gobble up the book: tearing through the story and utterly immersing yourself in the world it creates. I often do this when I'm reading my sisters' writings for the first time, but I also do it with Neil Gaiman's work and (randomly enough) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
The second is to eat it a little piece at a time, to make it last as long as possible. Roald Dahl described this perfectly when Charlie (of eponymous Chocolate Factory fame) nibbles his one bar of chocolate to make it last as long as possible.
Before reading The Alchemist, I had only ever thought of myself as a gobbler. Books I absolutely love always got read very quickly. But you don't want to do this with this gem by Paulo Coelho: you want to eat it slowly and feel yourself gradually filling up.
My mum absolutely loves Coelho's writings, which is why we have almost all of them on the bookshelf, but I had always assumed they were a bit too Literary Fiction for my taste. I like something plot-driven which I can really get my teeth into.
But what I realised reading The Alchemist was that Santiago's journey so much represented my own (and, I suppose, most people's). We're all constantly searching for treasure (not always physical treasure), but we can be happiest when we just lay aside our drive and enjoy the journey which this treasure hunt is taking us on.
I'm a deeply religious person - a Christian - and I found that the sense I got from reading The Alchemist was very similar to the one I experience after taking Communion. It doesn't always take a great big meal to make us feel wholesomely full.
In short, this is a book I would highly recommend for anyone ready to look at their own journey but still wanting a story which is in equal parts gripping, touching, and amusing.
Blurb
A global phenomenon, The Alchemist has been read and loved by over 62 million readers, topping bestseller lists in 74 countries worldwide. Now this magical fable is beautifully repackaged in an edition that lovers of Paulo Coelho will want to treasure forever.
Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. This is such a book - a beautiful parable about learning to listen to your heart, read the omens strewn along life's path and, above all, follow your dreams.
Santiago, a young shepherd living in the hills of Andalucia, feels that there is more to life than his humble home and his flock. One day he finds the courage to follow his dreams into distant lands, each step galvanised by the knowledge that he is following the right path: his own. The people he meets along the way, the things he sees and the wisdom he learns are life-changing.
With Paulo Coelho's visionary blend of spirituality, magical realism and folklore, The Alchemist is a story with the power to inspire nations and change people's lives.
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