The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

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:

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Originally Posted by manarius

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...

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:eek6: Whatevaaa ! I respect your point of view .. but aint there anything good about the book .. ..
What's wrong with "Follow your heart, and all your dreams will come true"???

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Originally Posted by hoope

:eek6:

:eek6: Whatevaaa ! I respect your point of view .. but aint there anything good about the book .. ..
What's wrong with "Follow your heart, and all your dreams will come true"???

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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).

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.

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Originally Posted by manarius

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).

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.

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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 ..

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.