/lit/ - Literature

>siddhartha

not a face but you catch my drift

I started reading The Alchemist when a girl recommended it to me.

I can't get through the first 50 pages.

This book just feels like a self-help book with zero practicality. Just believe, the rest will fall into place. Everything is stripped away and every fourth sentence is a reminder that This Could Be You.
The entire notion that wanting something hard enough will cause karma or something to give it to you is nonsense. I know, it's not a simple matter of "want".
If you "want" your dream as the book describes it naturally you'll be taking all actions within your power to achieve it and doors will open for you through your own power, you will naturally be outside of you comfort zone, you will probably go to new places and meet new people. You will also encounter hardship along the way.
You may never reach your goal but if you went through all that honest effort to be number one at something and only ended up in the top ten then you probably will have no regret.

BUT THAT'S THE BEHIND THE SCENES SHIT, THE FRAMEWORK, THE PART NOBODY CARES ABOUT WHEN TOLD EXPLICITLY BECAUSE WITHOUT ACTION IT IS NOTHING. Tell it through the story like in a book like Siddhartha (which i didn't particularly like either but have a new-found appreciation for after this) where events happen within the limits of explanation and reason rather than making it so far removed that it comes through the author patting you on the back and telling you to "go get 'em, champ!" while the character coasts through on dreams and magical people out to help him.

I am literally upset as I type this. I feel completely justified in every single word despite not having finished it, not being well-read, uneducated in English as a subject or literary criticism or anything like that. I think this book wouldn't be popular at all if it weren't for the age of the internet where people can slap their favorite quotes from it on their facebook because they need to let people know burger king is just a stepping stone to their dream of being an artist of some sort.

What's your opinion on it?

Here we post the WORST book we have ever read. And I mean READ UNTIL THE END.

What is /lit/'s opinion on The Alchemist?

Was thinking of reading this.
Just read people on /lit/ bashing coelho
I know literally nothing about this author.
That are your thoughts on him, or this book in particular.

What's so bad about this book? I've never read it before.

So, what does /lit think of the Alchemist then?

What do you guys think of The Alchemist?

just finished reading this, what did you guys think ?

Do you guys read those stuff you see on the bookstore's front shelf with "New York Times Bestseller!" on the cover?

What role do forces of nature such as wind and sun play in Santiago's journey?
yeah, it's a lit essay, but I'm stuck and I have nowhere to start

My girlfriend loves the Alchemist and wants me to read it. Is it good? Tell me about it.

My girlfriend loves the Alchemist and wants me to read it. Is it good? Tell me about it.

Why was this so popular?

I'm considering picking this up, what's /lit/s opinion on it?

Just got this book, going to start reading it tomorrow.

What's the general consensus on it /lit/? Anything else by Coelho that's worth checking out?

I need to hand in a critical analysis and a character sketch for The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Anyone have anything written for this book that I could use as a base or want to help me complete the task? It only has to be a page or two each; and a level of high-school English will get me a pass, it's only first year.