Lyn's Reviews > The Alchemist

This is either a beautifully written and fable-like illustration of simple and universal truths or a load of crap.

I have a bad feeling it’s the later, but then I consider that there could also be a third option.

I read once that Sting, when he wrote the classic Police song Every Breath You Take, mixed up a series of banal clichés about love and loss and just put them all together, and so this cool tune has some satire about it. Similarly, the Credence Clearwater Revival song Looking Out My Backdoor, a clunky but loveable country western tune, was actually begun as a facetious parody of slide guitar yokel lyricism.

I also think of the comedy / performance art of Andy Kaufman and the constant, uncomfortable tension about what he was doing and why. Was it really so bad it was funny? If it was so obviously corny and insincere, was that not funny? Or was it? Was he really wrestling women and then getting beaten up by Jerry Lawler? That was a joke right?

So ...

Was Paulo Coelho’s 1988 fantasy / magical realism parable of truths found in nature and subtle messages from God told straight or was there a wink and a nod told with some fun?

Now … think about it for a second. The whole “lost gold” theme and the discussions with the alchemist about a supposed elixir of life and “follow your heart” rhetoric. Was Coelho telling this straight or pulling our leg?

I have to say that I doubt it, but I did laugh a few times and the over the top syrupy delivery made me wonder, and maybe I liked it better considering this twinkle of a third possibility.

I will say that this could go either way. I can absolutely see where someone could find hidden treasure and deeply meaningful messages in the short novel. And I can see someone rolling their eyes and sticking their finger down their throat in a gag gesture.

I’ll cast a Cheshire cat smirk and like for another reason.