/lit/ - Literature

>>7550790
>actually reading Paulo Coelho
Why would you even do that

>>7550790
Why didn't you put it down half way through? You don't HAVE to finish everything you pick up, OP.

Should've just read the Corpus Hermeticum desu

WELL it was based off of (ripped off?) an Arabian Nights story, which is basically the beginning and ending of The Alchemist:
>peasant dreams of treasure buried far away
>sells everything he owns to travel there
>turns out there's no treasure
>a guy scoffs at him for believing in dreams
>guy says he too had a dream about finding treasure in a far off land, but was wise enough to know that dreams aren't real
>guy describes the place in his dream, it's the peasant's home
>peasant travels back home to dig in the place that the other guy dreamed about
>finds treasure, lives happily ever after

It's an old folktale, so the moral was likely to trust in divine messages, since the peasant is rewarded for his faith and the other guy misses out because of his lack thereof.

The short novel format sort of takes away the mystical quality. Also, I don't really think
>when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
is the same moral as the folktale. It sounds like the universe is bending to man's whim, rather than man listening for messages from the divine.

he might as well just say that all is for the best/a reason

*pukes*

>>7550790
/lit/ hates the alchemist. we have weekly threads where someone nails their edition to a cross and leaves it out in public.

OP, I asked a friend for suggestions and he offered this and infinite jest. I get big boners about stories in the desert. I started reading /lit/ with moby dick a few years ago. This is the first book since that I have ever hated. It's short and I feel like finishing it to give me a greater appreciation for everything else I've ever read.

>>7550790
Take your copypasta somewhere else.
Next thing we know, in an hour from now, "someone" (OP) will post about the evils of Paulo Coelho in a 3-post essay, claiming to be a real Brazilian.

My neighbor read The Alchemist and his interpretation was that he should leave his wife and 7 year-old daughter to start an affair and live on the other side of town doing the exact same thing. Powerful book.

Bought this for my little sister for christmas 2bh, yes I know it's trash but she's only 14 and it's better for her to read something she will actually enjoy than to give up reading altogether and spend all her time on her phone.

>>7550886
This is exactly what I did.

My friend recommended it to me and said it changed his life. Needless to say I no longer consider him a friend.

why do people on /lit/ are reading this? most brazilians I know make fun of this guy

>>7550790
I read it on holiday cos I ran out of books.
I finished it but it just repeats the same thing over and over. It's a book about God written like a religious text.

No one could ever recommend you Coelho without trolling. You just fell mate, it happens.

I had an argument with my ex-gf because this was one of her favourite books. And another time she cried because I chose to go home rather than watch The Big Bang Theory with her after sex.

r8

>>7551349
Most brazilians are just jealous of a successful brazilian.

>>7553354
Patrician

I read this book and found it quite good,inspirational really

What's /lit/s problem with it

>>7553579
It's shit

>>7550790
>Paulo Cohelo
Looks like you got the literary equivalent of rickrolling.

>>7550903
>>when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
Whenever I read this bullshit I picture in my mind the a malnourished African kid covered in flies and Paulo Cohelo telling him he didn't wish hard enough.

>>7553354
autistic patrician

>>7553683
That's the only true kind of patrician.

>>7551349
Everyone does. In Spain he's pretty much a meme in human form.

>>7550790
>This is the last time I take suggestions from anyone but /lit/

You were trolled nigga.

My daughters English teacher loves this book and apparently is always talking about it. I read it last summer but was compelled to read it again a few months ago, this time aloud to my daughter. I didn't prompt her but even a young girl can recognize a bunch of blah blah about some sort of truth of the world. Sweeping spiritual statements that don't have any substance.
So now we're reading Siddartha, the real deal, fuck yeah, that the alchemist tried so hard to be.
I also wonder about the connectio between santiago's return to the church he was at in the beginning, and Dorothy's comment upon waking up back in Kansas, something like "If you ever want something, don't go looking for it because it's right there in your back yard", which I don't really agree with.

it's a vapid self help book disguised as a novel

>>7550800
reading generic literature is just as important as reading the more challenging books. it helps you develop taste and a critical eye and, if you're also attempting writing, it gives you an eye opener as to what to avoid.

stop being uneducated.

>>7553708
I don't need to go eat at a fucking mcDonalds to be able to appreaciate healthy food. Don't waste your time with bullshit.

>>7551133
I'm dying here m8

>>7551133
>leave his wife
kek
>and 7 year-old daughter
oh
>to start an affair and live on the other side of town doing the exact same thing
kek

>>7553781
Yeah, the world sure has become a better place thanks to Paulo Cohelo.

>>7553708
That sounds like something Coelho would say

Did anyone else think that the message of the book was really conflicting? The King of Salem says that the biggest lie we believe in is that we can't control our own destiny, but at the same time both he and the Alchemist makes is seem like going to find the treasure is the only way for the boy to live his life correctly. Didn't really feel like the boy had much say in the matter.

>>7550935
If this is real, then I will contribute to this tradition.

>>7551133

Yeah, I had a friend legitimately have a psychotic breakdown after reading this and The Secret. Delusional, magical thinking, the works. He was smoking a ton of hash at the time and was probably predisposed to schizophrenia, but I really, really don't think these books of half-baked insanity played in his favour.