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“The Alchemist” Book Review

by Paulo Coelho reviewed by Christian E. Mickelsen

Because I love to learn, I usually rate movies on 2 separate scales. One is for enjoyment and the other is for take away value, meaning: was I moved, did it challenge my thinking, did I learn a lot. For example, I really enjoyed the movie “Liar, Liar” with Jim Carey, but I didn’t learn much. So for enjoyment it gets 4 stars, and for take away value it gets 1.5 stars. On the flip side, “Dead Man Walking” was slow and I don’t think I could watch it more than once, but it made me appreciate the value of life and truth, so I give it 2 stars for enjoyment and 3.5 stars for take away value.

What does this have to do with the book review? I had the privilege of reading a book that earns 4 stars in both enjoyment and take away value! The Alchemist was a joy to read. I could not put it down. I read it in about 2 days (and I’m not the fastest reader!). I was captivated by the surprises around every corner. The story twists and turns and all the while the author is teaching lessons that are worth a fortune. Many people could read this book and just enjoy the story without even realizing all of the lessons along the way. But to an astute student like you who really loves to learn, you will enjoy picking up on them.

This book is great for business owners and entrepreneurs because we can relate to the risk the main character in this story takes and the passion of following after your dream!

So what’s this book about? It’s a captivating story about a shepard boy that is looking forward to seeing a woman again that he has not seen in almost a year. And then he dreams the same dream a number of times and so he has his dream interpreted. There is a fortune waiting for him! But, does he follow his dream or keep his simple life and meet up with this woman he's fond of? That's just the beginning! Along the way he meets many mysterious characters, falls in love, and … I don’t want to give any more of it away. Go get it and read it.

by Christian E. Mickelsen