Author | Paulo Coelho |
---|---|
Original title | O Alquimista |
Illustrator | Paulo Coelho |
Cover artist | Caravaggio, Narcissus, 1597–9 |
Language | Portuguese |
Genre | Quest, adventure, fantasy |
Publisher | HarperTorch (English translation) Originally a novel written in Portuguese |
Publication date | 1988 |
Publication place | Brazil |
Published in English | 1993 |
Media type | Print (hardback, paperback and iTunes), Audiobook (Audible) |
Pages | 163 pp (first English edition, hardcover), 208 pages (25th Anniversary Edition) |
ISBN | 0-06-250217-4 (first English edition, hardcover) |
OCLC | 26857452 |
869.3 | |
Preceded by | The Pilgrimage (1987) |
Followed by | Brida (1990) |
The Alchemist (Portuguese : O Alquimista) is a novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho which was first published in 1988. Originally written in Portuguese, it became a widely translated international bestseller. The story follows the shepherd boy Santiago in his journey across North Africa to the Egyptian pyramids after he dreams of finding a treasure there.
An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago dreams of a treasure while in a ruined church. He consults a Gypsy fortune-teller about the meaning of the recurring dream. The woman interprets it as a prophecy, telling the boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids.
After Santiago sets out, he meets Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who tells him to sell his sheep so as to travel to Egypt and accomplish his "Personal Legend". Early on his arrival in Africa, a man who claims to be able to take Santiago to the pyramids instead robs him of the money he had made from his flock. Santiago then has to work for a crystal merchant to earn enough to continue his journey.
Along the way, the boy meets an Englishman who has come in search of an alchemist and continues his travels with his new companion. When they reach an oasis, Santiago meets and falls in love with an Arabian girl named Fatima, to whom he proposes marriage. She promises to marry him only after he completes his journey. Frustrated at first, he later learns that true love will not stop nor must one sacrifice one's destiny to it, since to do so robs it of truth.
The boy then encounters a wise alchemist, who teaches him to realize his true self. Together, they risk a journey through the territory of warring tribes, where Santiago is forced to demonstrate his oneness with the "Soul of the World" by turning himself into a dust storm before he is allowed to proceed.
When he reaches the pyramids and begins digging, he is robbed by thieves, who ask him what he is digging for; he replies that a dream has led him to buried treasure. The thieves scoff, and the leader remarks about a dream he once had about treasure under a tree at a ruined church. Santiago realizes the treasure he sought was where he had his original dream all along.
The plot of the novel builds on the international folktale type classified as no. 1645 ("The Treasure at Home") in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index of folktales: "A man dreams that if he goes to a distant city he will find treasure on a certain bridge. Finding no treasure, he tells his dream to a man who says that he too has dreamed of treasure at certain place. He describes the place, which is the first man's home. When the latter returns home he finds the treasure." [1] The earliest known version of this tale type is a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi, and a variant of the tale appears in the One Thousand and One Nights collection of Arabic folktales. [2] [3]
The book's main theme is about finding one's destiny, although according to The New York Times , The Alchemist is "more self-help than literature". [4] The advice given to Santiago that "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true" is the core of the novel's thinking. [5] Coelho originally wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks, explaining later that he was able to work at this pace because the story was "already written in [his] soul." [6]
In 1994, a comic adaptation was published by Alexandre Jubran. [7] HarperOne, a HarperCollins imprint, produced an illustrated version of the novel, with paintings by the French artist Mœbius, but failed to convince Coelho "to consent to the full graphic-novel treatment". [8] The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel was published in 2010, adapted by Derek Ruiz and with artwork by Daniel Sampere.
The Alchemist's Symphony by the young Walter Taieb was released in 1997 with the support of Paulo Coelho, who wrote an original text for the CD booklet. [9] The work has eight movements and five interludes. [10] [11]
In 2002, a theatrical adaptation of The Alchemist was produced and performed in London. [12] Since then there have been several productions by the Cornish Collective. [13] A later London performance was visited by the producer Ashvin Gidwani who, finding it "verbose but colourful", decided to commission a new 90-minute version of the book from Deepa Gahlot for the Indian stage. [14] This was eventually launched in 2009. [15]
In 2006, Mistaken Identity, a Singapore indie rock band, adapted the story of the novel into what they claimed was "essentially our attempt at writing a musical" and released the track as "The Alchemist". [16] Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho , an Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by Sidhartha Siva, has its title inspired by novelist Paulo Coelho, and a central theme is inspired from The Alchemist. [17] [18]
In 2023, Legendary Entertainment became the latest in a line of outfits since 2016 to acquire the film, television and ancillary rights to the novel, planning to make a film adaptation with TriStar Pictures and Palmstar Media with Jack Thorne attached as a writer. [19]
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty which was noticed by all, regardless of gender. According to the best known version of the story, by Ovid, Narcissus rejected all advances, eventually falling in love with a reflection in a pool of water, tragically not realizing its similarity, entranced by it. In some versions, he beat his breast purple in agony at being kept apart from this reflected love, and in his place sprouted a flower bearing his name.
Paulo Coelho de Souza is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His 1988 novel The Alchemist was an international best-seller.
Aladdin is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with One Thousand and One Nights, despite not being part of the original text; it was added by the Frenchman Antoine Galland, based on a folk tale that he heard from the Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab.
Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga anthology magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan between July 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters in 27 tankōbon volumes. The steampunk world of Fullmetal Alchemist is primarily styled after the European Industrial Revolution. Set in a fictional universe in which alchemy is a widely practiced science, the series follows the journey of two alchemist brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who are searching for the philosopher's stone to restore their bodies after a failed attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy.
"Snow-White and Rose-Red" is a German fairy tale. The best-known version is the one collected by the Brothers Grimm in 1837 in the third edition of their collection Grimm's Fairy Tales. It was first published by Wilhelm Grimm in 1827 in Wilhelm Hauff's Märchen-Almanach. An older, somewhat shorter version, "The Ungrateful Dwarf", was written by Caroline Stahl (1776–1837). Indeed, that appears to be the oldest variant; no previous oral version is known, although several have been collected since its publication in 1818. Oral versions are very limited regionally. The tale is of Aarne-Thompson type 426.
Margaret Elisabeth Jull Costa OBE, OIH is a British translator of Portuguese- and Spanish-language fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Paulo Coelho, Bernardo Atxaga, Carmen Martín Gaite, Javier Marías, and José Régio. She has won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize more times than any other translator.
"The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimm's Fairy Tales. Traditionally, it is the first story in their folktale collection. The tale is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 440.
The Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index is a catalogue of folktale types used in folklore studies. The ATU Index is the product of a series of revisions and expansions by an international group of scholars: originally composed in German by Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne (1910), the index was translated into English, revised, and expanded by American folklorist Stith Thompson, and later further revised and expanded by German folklorist Hans-Jörg Uther (2004). The ATU Index, along with Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932)—with which it is used in tandem—is an essential tool for folklorists.
The Zahir is a 2005 novel by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. As in an earlier book, The Alchemist, The Zahir is about a pilgrimage. The book touches on themes of love, loss and obsession.
The Pilgrimage is a 1987 novel by Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. It is a recollection of Paulo's experiences as he made his way across northern Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. The novel serves as part adventure story, part guide to self-discovery. It was adapted into the 1997 adventure game Pilgrim: Faith as a Weapon, also written by Paulo Coelho.
"The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It falls under Aarne–Thompson classification types 461, and 930.
Kunchacko Boban is an Indian actor and film producer. He is referred to as Chackochan, and during early 2000's, he was called "chocolate boy", because of his romeo roles. He works in the Malayalam film industry and has acted in more than 100 films in more than two decades. He is a member of the Kunchacko family. Kunchacko's debut was as a child in the film Dhanya (1981) produced by his father Boban Kunchacko.
How the Dragon was Tricked is a Greek fairy tale collected by Johann Georg von Hahn in Griechische und Albanesische Märchen with the title Von dem Schönen und vom Drakos, and sourced from Kukuli. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 328, the boy steals the giant's treasures.
The Lute Player, The Tsaritsa Harpist or The Tsaritsa who Played the Gusli, is a Russian fairy tale. It was published by Alexander Afanasyev in his collection Russian Fairy Tales, as number 338. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book (1901).
"The Three Languages" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 33. It is Aarne-Thompson type 671.
"The Little Girl Sold with the Pears" is an Italian fairy tale published by Italo Calvino in Italian Folktales, from Piedmont. Ruth Manning-Sanders included a variant, as "The Girl in the Basket", in A Book of Ogres and Trolls.
The Pedlar of Swaffham is an English folktale from Swaffham, Norfolk. The following text is taken from English Fairy and Other Folk Tales, 1906, which in turn refers to the Diary of Abraham dela Pryme, 1699:
Sudheesh is an Indian actor and director who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor in 2021.
PalmStar Media Capital is a film financing company based in Philadelphia. It was founded by its CEO, Kevin Frakes in 2010.
Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film written and directed by Sidhartha Siva. It was produced by Kunchacko Boban, who also stars in the title role, along with Rudraksh Sudheesh. The film marks the return of Udaya Pictures, the first-ever film production company in Malayalam cinema, after 30 years. Anusree played the female lead role. The film was released during the festival of Onam, on 9 September 2016 and received a positive response from the audience.