The Grok

Author: Paulo Coelho

In school, we used to read a lot of interesting short stories about human intention and aspirations. Many of the authors were non english and often the english version of the story was all that I got to know. What I really liked about these stories was the amount of emotional impact they delivered despite the fact that I was reading off a translated version. When I read Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'The Drought', it turned out to be a very simple story about life during a drought. It was a dark story about the sacrifices one has to make during times of desperation, and yet, at the end of reading it, it gave me a uplifting feeling when you interpreted the actions of the protagonists and realized that there was a lot of wisdom in their action.

When I began reading The Alchemist, I was expecting something deep and profound, after hearing some good reviews from my friends. Unfortunately this book is shallow. I just didn't get what the author was trying to convey and how one could deem this to be a popular book. The writing style is that of a 10 year old and the story breaks into wild mumbo jumbo about 'Language of the World' and Alchemy, that sadly takes the seriousness out of the book.

I tried quite hard to figure out the metaphorical meaning to some of the situations (eg. turning into the wind) but was at a continual loss to understand if there was some glorious meaning in the backdrop of the story. I don't think there was a moment while reading the book, which made me stop and contemplate about aspirations and dream. The story lacked personality and impact.

Unfortunately, I would conclude saying that it is not as good as the hype says it is. Perhaps, it is just a personal feeling, but I would rather prefer to read something more contemplative and literary, if I want to read something that is preachy.

Rating: 2.0 / 5.0