I think Karo is just being nice and humurous about one of my rants. :)
Anyways, I prefer Bugsy Bunny ;)
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I think Karo is just being nice and humurous about one of my rants. :)
Anyways, I prefer Bugsy Bunny ;)
My College lit. teacher has assigned an explication essay for this novel and the majority of my class is enamored by what a "life changing piece of literature" they find this novel to be. Meanwhile im scratching my head that so many feel it has so much philosophical weight when Coelho flat out explains the meaning behind every single literary device he's thrown in. I understand that it's supposed to be simplistic like a fable but for some reason it does seem like a glorified self help book to me. Im not familiar with all of Coelho's work but this novel seems like he wrote it with a need to enrich his own life by writing a novel with a strong universal message(I use that term loosely). If your at the stage where your hungry for a non transient "mystical journey of enlightenment" kind of deal, Siddhartha is 10x better than The Alchemist in my opinion. I can see why people would like it and I dont believe its because their not strong readers. Some people apreciate simplicity and whose to say they are wrong. I'd give this novel more brownie points If Coelho didnt outright say what the deeper messages were since you can see them plain as day anyway.
That book is really really bad; no way I'll touch Coelho again.
I have read this book recently and I like this book immensely particularly there is a line something like ' if you want something intensely the whole universe conspire you to have it' or something like that I can not recall exactly.
I like the story. It is something spiritual and I got completely absorbed and lost in a world that was presented in his book.
It is really not surprising that you liked it, Blazeglory...
Why JCamilo? The reason you take my liking it for granted?Quote:
Originally Posted by JCamilo
Because the style of the threads you like to open.
Why didn't I vote it a nightmare? I think I thought it could be some kind of gateway for teenagers... but objectively, it is really just a nightmare. I remember I asked at a gas station in a foreign country where I could find a second hans bookstore to sell that book, and the guy seeing it said: Oh! I loved that book! (and then with some pride in his eyes) He's a portugese author. I just nodded, couldn't think of anything nice to say at that point. Good thing that store was close enough, and that the book was given to me, I managed to buy half a good book with it, which is more than it's worth anyway.
I'm so glad I'm not alone in disliking this book (is hate too strong a word...? Maybe not!). I didn't like a single thing about it, apart from the fact it was quite a short story. Imagine if it was longer! It doesn't bear thinking about!!
I've read The Alchemist and Veronika Decides to Die and found both to be mediocre. At least VDtD was a bit more entertaining even though it was equally cliche. The Alchemist just bored me to tears and it was incredibly pretentious, I really can't understand the popularity of this work. It's all Bill Clinton's fault.
I've read a couple of his books on the reccomendation of my daughter. I found them ok but not great. She liked them, she liked the situations and the dilemmas he forged- although thought that his resolution was often too simplistic.
The "revelations" of life and spirituality he shows us are really only common sense and are generally a bit of a let down. There seems to me to be no substance in his message.
@prendrelemick : I feel the same way about this book! Furthermore, it left a bad aftertaste -really- I had to stuff the goddamn book in a very dark corner of my conscience.
Be nice & spell our last name right at least! Kidding...no relation (it is a fairly common Portuguese last name, of the Johnson or Anderson variety). I love your hommage to Twin Peaks in the signature by the way! I just finished re-watching season 2 on dvd w/ my wife...David Lynch's quirky characters, coupled w/ his demonic small town undercarriage, is one of my favorite combinations on screen. Good to see Laura Palmer gettin' a little love here!Quote:
Originally Posted by manolia
didn't like it at all
This is the small-mindedness of you. Of course you may take a liking to something and I to another for interests and likings are diverse and taking everyone into the mold of something you like is bigotry for there are diverse and different interests and you must not be critical about others interests. I is totally personal and such narrow attitudes keep you distant from the rest. This world is too big and someone out there may take interest in all that you abhorQuote:
Originally Posted by JCamilo
I don't want to say any certainties, just wondering aloud here. Sometimes I think like you and say "well, it's okay if people like what i think is the awfulest trash, because i'm not anyone to say what's good". But then again, sometimes, like now, feel that TASTE has a limit. Beyond that limit, that may be a very blurred line, you can't continue talking about art.Quote:
Originally Posted by blazeofglory
I take for granted that all of us love literature. And i would like to think that all of us aim for the better understanding and beauty-gathering of complex works. That is what makes a good piece of art: complexity.
I believe that taste is trained. And that there is some kind of objective quality in any given book. And our task, as taste trainees, is to feel with our subjectivity that objective quality of what we read, and ever increase our demands.
Alejandro Dolina, an argentinian musician and writer, once said something about music that can be applied to all arts. ART is between offense and boredom. When a work is too simple, our minds or souls feel offended; an offense to our intelligence. When a work is by far too complex, it risks entering into total chaos, and when we can't make any single pattern or harmony we are bored and leave it. ART then lies in between. Some works are closer to one extreme, some to the other.
This idea echoes Aristotle's. ART is in the right medium between Apollo and Dyonisos, between RATIONALITY and PASSION. Too rational, we don't feel anything; too passional, no complex form.
Note that the MESSAGE is something that is not talked about in good art. Art must raise questions, not give answers. Quoting Todorov, Truth must be the horizon, not the starting point. When an author comes with his hands full of answers, i doubt he is an artist. But note also that this horizon is at the never reached end of an asymptote curve. "the imminence of a revelation, that doesn't come is, maybe, the esthetic event" -Jorge Luis Borges, The Wall and the Books (in my silly translation)
Personally I haven't read Coelho, but from what i've gathered from people whose knowledge of art i trust and admire, it seems to me that his works' rationality and craft is far too simple. And as regards passion, i get the image that he doesn't even gets close to the true and more complex human passions, he just skims the surface paraphrasing different religions. And also it seems he's got the answers, which I seriously doubt.
And here endeth my wond'rings. I think that i got carried away. Sorry.
The problem is that I did not criticized his for liking it. I said I expect he to like it because his preference of themes. If he thinks that is offensive (there is not judgment of vallue there. It is similar to say that someone who likes Richard Dawkins will post a lot about in discussion related to the creationism x evolution threads, etc) is because he is the one making vallue judgments of what his liking means.
It is said that his books have touched the hearts of people everywhere, and so it is !!
The Alchemist , one of the most inspiring books ever . A book that teaches you how to cling on your dreams , on what you believe in , until you make it true. It simple says " Don't stop moving forward for nothing is impossible. "
The Alchemist , is written by the great Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho . It is a story of a young shepherd named Santiago that dreams one day about finding a treasure in the Egypt's Pyramids . He meets and old king which shows him the way towards his treasure and tells him how he should follow his Personal Legend and to not be afraid of what days behold for him . The young boy knew nothing best than his flock and now he had to give them away, all that he built and worked for all these years ; thus , start a mysterious journey to nowhere but a dream .
Therefore, he did ! , he sold his sheep, travelled to Africa and started his journey . In pursuing his dream he goes through many incidents from being robbed by a thief in Tangier , working in a crystal shop and meeting the Alchemist but most of all he meets his love, Fatima in the mid of the desert.
This book is a must- read and you will come to know that if you do not follow and find you Personal Legend in you life ; you are probably living aimlessly . People are always afraid of changing but it is the change, the step, which means a lot in your life.
It's a book about hope , dreams , faith and most of all courage to pursue your path.
It teaches us how to trust our hearts and that when we move towards our dreams the world always wants us to find it and helps us to make it come true.
Regards ,
Hoope
I agree to some point on how great books should be measure.. but you can't deny that the subject of the books plays a great role in attracting readers regardless on how it was written !Quote:
Originally Posted by Scheherazade
And the number of the readers is also a measuring scale .
This book was just mind-numbingly bad. Even the main character is poorly developed and has no personality. The rest of the characters are worse. His descriptions are bland. I realize that the book is intended to be simplistic in nature, which is fine, but it was so poorly executed that the book just turned out boring and cliche.
Apparently all it takes to sell millions of copies of a book these days is to say, "Follow your heart, and all your dreams will come true", over and over with no substance in between. Maybe I should become an author...
:eek6::eek6: Whatevaaa ! I respect your point of view .. but aint there anything good about the book .. ..Quote:
Originally Posted by manarius
What's wrong with "Follow your heart, and all your dreams will come true"???
There's nothing wrong with that. It is pretty cliche but that's not necessarily a problem. The problem is that that's all the book was. One big (crappy) motivational speech. Like I mentioned before, the characters are thinner than paper, and the prose is unimaginative and bland. The overarching message was fine, but even a delicious, succulent piece of filet mignon is unappetizing if it's covered in horse manure (the story itself).Quote:
Originally Posted by hoope
That last analogy may be a little harsh, but I liked the sound of it :D. At any rate, I am not particularly fond of the book, and suffice it to say that I don't think I'll be reading any of the author's other works anytime soon.
For me reading this book was like licking a nice ice-cream, sweet and lovely but you still feel hungry after.
I can't say that you are wrong.. coz i have noticed that also when i read it ... but still it was acceptible .. i like the idea of hope and dreaming maybe that is why i enjoyed it .. Though i also read Brida for Coelho and i find it almost the same... i will try reading The devil and Miss Prym.. i heard it better ..Quote:
Originally Posted by manarius
Regards
Deserts fascinate me and that's why I sort of enjoyed the book! Although, I couldn't get the story.
I never got around to reading it. Something about the whole 'bestseller' status deterred me :p
Fortunately or unfortunately, the vast general public DOES enjoy being lectured to and told what and how to do it, and since many people don't read that much anyway, something like this is probably akin to a priceless literary treasure in their estimation ;)
Not discounting, of course, the whole 'Emperor's New Clothes' fate that bestsellers often face. For example, I never understood that hullaballoo about the Book Thief either!
It was a nice, light read - suitable for teens, but way overhyped, IMO.