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The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho MAG
Boring. Dry. Infinitely long. Sadly, no, I am not describing the great natural wonder that is the Sahara desert. I am describing Paulo Coelho's lackluster novel, The Alchemist.
After a promising beginning, the book is full of contradictions and confusing references, leaving much to be desired. There are so many symbolic representations of alchemy that they become suffocating and one cannot go more than four or five pages without stumbling over one of Coelho's headache-inducing interpretations. The worst is when you reach the climax – or rather don't reach it, because it doesn't exist.
The book is as three-dimensional as a sheet of cardboard and about as entertaining to read. All of this takes what could have been an exciting adventure story about a hidden treasure and ruins it by making the reader think too hard rather than enjoy the book. Instead of stars this book rates a black hole, into which fiction-lovers can hope The Alchemist gets sucked.
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