Span490 The Alchemist

I started reading the alchemist right after I bought it from the bookstore right before the course started, and I read up to almost the end of part one, but then I wanted to find out if the boy ever went back to marry the merchant’s daughter, so I skipped the middle and read the end. I read that he was in a relationship with somebody named Fatima, but I didn’t bother to read or skim the middle section to see if it was the merchant’s daughter. Other than this, I liked the story. I thought the boy seemed very smart, interesting, and I liked the philosophical comments, I loved the character’s life, because I love Spain and its unique fields, and I really liked all of the boy’s characteristics that I mentioned before, and how with all of that knowledge and optimism, his life was very simple and burden free. Because of this simplicity, and the simplicity of the ending, I didn’t think that the middle would be any different or that it really mattered that I didn’t read it. It turns out that I was wrong. I still liked the tone of style of writing, and it was still simple and pleasant to read (partly because of the large font size, and the very easy English,) but it got more complicated in the last part of part two, when the philosophy got deeper, and the author started naming everything. These titles were confusing, because I kept forgetting what they were referring to. Also, while I was reading, and noticing the constant philosophical ideas gradually getting more complex as the boy left Spain, and met the Englishman, I wondered if the Alchemist could speak any more complex and wise, and if so, how the author would find the words to write like that. I think that one of the reasons why the titles multiplied is because the author knew that he needed to make the Alchemist (and later the boy) sound more wise, and that was one of his ways of doing so. I liked the adventure of the middle section, as they traveled through the desert to the Pyramids, and it reminded me of C.S. Lewis’ fifth book of the Chronicles of Narnia, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, where they travel by boat to the end of the world, or something like that. All in all, I liked the book because of its style, and story, but I thought his communication with nature was a bit much, and I wouldn’t consider it to be an inspiring book.
ag: span490