The alchemist

The Alchemist is a novel by the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho . It appeared in 1988 under the original title "O Alquimista". The German first edition was published in 1991 by the Peter Erd publishing house . Although the novel sold well, it was not nearly as successful as in other countries. After long negotiations, the Zurich-based Diogenes Verlag bought the hardcover and paperback rights. In September 1996, the book appeared then for the second time in the well-known today, it being a different picture on the front at the first editions Dust Jacket was used because today's photography by Pascal Maître at that time for an advertising campaign of Geo was used .

content

The young Andalusian Santiago has dreamed of getting to know the big wide world since childhood. In order to achieve his dream, he opposes his father's wish to become a priest. He becomes a shepherd.

He dreams the same dream twice about a child who shows him a treasure near the Egyptian pyramids . “Only the possibility of realizing a dream makes our life worth living,” he ponders and goes to a dream interpreter. She asks him to go to Egypt and trust the child in a dream. When asked how he should get there, she cannot help him. She demands a tenth of the treasure for her advice. Then he meets an old man: Melchizedek , the king of Salem. The king teaches him that “our only obligation is to fulfill our personal path in life” and gives him two stones: Urim and Thummim ( 3 Mos 8 : 8  EU ) to always remind him that he is pursuing his dream should meet.

Santiago makes his way to Egypt . As soon as he arrives in Africa, he is robbed of his fortune by a thief and begins to work for a crystal goods dealer. The crystal merchant has the dream of making a pilgrimage to Mecca , but he has gotten so used to his monotonous, dreary life that only dreams keep him alive. The blessing that Santiago bestows on him makes him very sad because he did not realize his dream. After almost a year the young man has collected enough money and continues his journey to the pyramids.

In a caravan through the desert, he meets a young Englishman who is looking for an alchemist who will teach him how to turn lead into gold. The Englishman seeks universal sign language in the study of books instead of paying attention to the signs around them. The English know that there is no such thing as luck or chance, but that these are words of the universal language.

In the caravan, Santiago meets a camel driver who lost everything in an earthquake. He teaches him that nobody has to fear the unknown because everyone can achieve what they want and what they need.

During the journey through the desert, war broke out between the desert tribes. Once in the El-Fayum oasis , all men have to surrender their weapons, because the oasis is a neutral place. Because the onward journey is prevented, Santiago looks for the alchemist together with the Englishman. While searching, he meets Fatima, the love of his life. She wants him to fulfill his dream and travel to the pyramids to look for his treasure. One evening he sees two sparrowhawks fighting and interprets the fight as an attack on the oasis. He shares his vision with the leaders of the oasis, who then arm the men in the oasis. If the vision is not fulfilled, Santiago will have to pay for it with his life. In this situation the alchemist shows himself to the young man and encourages him to continue searching for the language of the world. The next day, the oasis is raided, but the attackers are defeated and Santiago is rewarded.

His love for Fatima grows, he almost wants to give up his dream in order to be able to stay with her, but the alchemist encourages him to continue on his personal path. The alchemist accompanies Santiago on the way through the desert to Egypt, where Santiago learns to pay more and more attention to the signs (and) the movements of the heart.

However, he also learns that before he finds his treasure, he is repeatedly faced with new tests. They are attacked and robbed by warriors. To be free, Santiago has to turn into wind. He dives into the soul of the world and becomes wind. Impressed by this, the leader of the warriors releases them and they continue their journey. Without money, the alchemist shows him how to make gold from lead, after which they separate.

Santiago moves on to the pyramids and finds the spot that the child showed him in the dream. He starts digging and finds nothing, but is again attacked by robbers. He tells the robbers about his dream. A robber tells him that he also had a recurring dream: he dreamed of a treasure in Andalusia near a church where shepherds tend their sheep, and of a fig tree that grows in the sacristy. But he is not so stupid as to cross the desert for a dream. But everything becomes clear to Santiago: life is always there to help those who believe in their dreams and are ready to make them come true. The whole universe works to turn dreams into reality. In other words, the secret of alchemy to turn lead (dreams) into gold (reality) is to fulfill one's personal life plan. Love is the element that connects everything in the “ world soul ”.

He travels back to Andalusia, digs up the treasure and makes his way to Fatima in order to marry her. He does not forget to tithe the fortune teller.

Traditional storytelling: dream of a treasure on the bridge

The intersecting dreams come from a widely known narrative material that has been documented since the high Middle Ages ( Aarne-Thompson-Uther 1645).

Remarks

There are two stories in the book:

1. In parting, King Melchizedek told a story: A young man had come to a wise man's palace in search of the secret of happiness. The wise man had no time at the moment, but gave the young man a spoon with two drops of oil on it and said to him: Have a look around, but do not spill any of the oil. After two hours they met again and the sage asked: Have you seen the beauty of my palace? The youth said no, so the wise sent him back through the palace. This time the youth looked at the palace. When the sage met him again, he found that he had spilled the oil. So the secret of happiness is to see the glory of the world without forgetting the oil on the spoon.
2. Before the young man continues to search for his treasure on his own, the alchemist tells him a little story: At the time of Emperor Tiberius there was a man who had two sons. One was a centurion and the other a poet. One night an angel appeared to the man in a dream and told him that the words of one of his sons would become world famous for all time. A short time later the man died and met the angel again in the afterlife. He asked the angel if he should know which of his son's poems would become world-famous. The angel showed him that it was not the words of his son the poet that became world-famous, but those of the centurion, the captain of Capernaum : Lord, I am not worthy of you going under my roof, but if you just speak one word, it becomes mine Servant healthy. ( Mt 8,8  LUT )

Adaptations

In 1997 Saarland Radio produced a radio play version of the novel in two parts with a total length of approx. 128 minutes, directed and edited by Alexander Schuhmacher. The radio play is available as a double CD. In 2010 the Federal Music Industry Association awarded the radio play with the platinum record for more than 250,000 copies sold.

Although the Warner Brothers had the rights to the exploitation of the book since 1993, there is still no film adaptation. Coelho had approved a script draft by actor Laurence Fishburne . After production failed, Coelho tried in vain around 2005 to buy back the exploitation rights. TriStar Pictures planned to make a film around 2016, but has not yet achieved its goal.

literature

• Paulo Coelho: O Alquimista. Editora Rocca, Rio de Janeiro 1988.
  German: The treasure of the pyramids - or the journey into the master's consciousness. Verlag Peter Erd, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-8138-0208-6 .
  German: the alchemist. Translated from the Brazilian by Cordula Swoboda Herzog. Diogenes , Zurich 1996, ISBN 3-257-06126-9 .
• Daniel Kampa et al .: Diogenes. An illustrated publishing history 1952–2002 . Diogenes, Zurich 2003, pp. 569-570
• Andreas Blödorn: 8th place. Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist , in: Christoph Juergensen (ed.): The Germans' Favorite Books. Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2006, pp. 184-216, ISBN 3-937719-34-2 .

Single receipts

1. ↑ Hans-Jörg Uther: German Fairy Tale Catalog (2015), p. 450f. Materials in English: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1645.html . Version in the German sagas of the Brothers Grimm : https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Traum_vom_Schatz_auf_der_Br%C3%BCcke .
2. ↑ Press release of the SR 2010
3. ↑ Der Spiegel, 26/2005, p. 164.
4. ↑ PalmStar Media Pays $ 6.5 Million For Paulo Coelho Novel 'The Alchemist'. Retrieved August 5, 2020 .