Here is the second and concluding part of Phrases from "The Alchemist"
Pg 79-80:
the camel driver: ... the word of Allah: people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.
If you have been living away from your parents for a long time and have changed places quite a few times, you will agree with these words. It is so true!
Pg 102:
Fatima to Santiago If I am part of your dream you'll come back one day
How romantic is that! Just the right words for reassuring loyalty and faith in one's relationship.
Pg 108:
Camel driver: ... what the circumstances were under which God would allow me to see the future
Old Seer: Only when he, himself, reveals it. And God only rarely reveals the future. When he does so, it is for only one reason: it's a future that was written so as to be altered.
Brilliant! Never have I thought of things in those lines. However, this interpretation of events has just made me a bit overcautious in looking at events of my life. I am just thinking, if He has written this for me to change or alter it; at every step. Feels like a doctor who has studied about diseases ;)
Pg 121:
Santiago: isn't wine prohibited here?
Alchemist: It's not what enters men's mouth that's evil. It's what comes out of their mouths that is.
It is very much a cliche sentence, and it's not the meaning that caught my imagination. Here, the author brings about the stereotypical perspective on muslim religion. Is he trying to console some alcohol drinking muslims?
Pg 132:
"There is only one way to learn", the alchemist answered. "It's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey."
Very true indeed Mr. Coelho! Reminds me of computer programming, which I never mastered just simply because I never put the book-knowledge to practice!
Pg 139:
Every search begins with the beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested.
Can't put a person's attempt to reach his dreams and goals in life, in better words. Exemplary stuff Mr. Coelho!
... the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn
This reminds me of the thamizh proverb a wick lamp burns brightest right before the moment that it would die. Have you been to our villages Mr. Coelho?
Pg 151:
... and plants that insisted on living where survival seemed impossible
Just a beautiful phrase! I appreciate it Mr. Coelho!
Remarks:
For the first time English-novel-readers, this is not a good book to learn the language, as it is hardly impressive. I hope the Spanish version was better language-wise. But The Alchemist is overall a great book, and if you want to interpret your life incidents, then no better book than this. A ~170 page dose of optimism and positive messages!
Saturday 10 February, 2007
Phrases from "The Alchemist" - Part I
Before I commence writing some phrases from this book, a quick preface. I basically started reading this after so many of my friends asked me (currently, which I am doing with my other friends and colleagues), if I had read The Alchemist. The number of questions that were fired at me made me think that I would end-up being a low-life if I wouldn't read this book. So, when I finally decided to read this book, I received it as a package from one of my good old friends. That was quite unbelievable. If I were Paulo Coelho, probably I would have said to myself "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it"
Page 16:
When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what the others want them to be, the others become angry. (Here comes the super-phrase) Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
Three facts brought out cogently by the author
Pages 16-17:
He started to read the book he had bought. On the very first page it described a burial ceremony. And the names of the people involved were very difficult to pronounce. If he ever wrote a book, he thought, he would present one person at a time, so that the reader wouldn't have to worry about memorizing a lot of names.
What a smart of way of telling the reader how he suffered when he read other authors' books and how he intended to write the current book!
Page 20:
... when you are talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don't know how to continue the conversation
I have suffered this suffering a number of times, especially at the most critical places and times!
Page 23:
And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
This is the vehicle on which the novel runs, I guess!
Page 25:
If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it.
Reminds me of the weekly meetings with my supervisor!
Pages 33-34:
Never forget what facilitated and helped you in reaching your dreams.
Just a cliche sentence, but still makes a lot of sense. However, reminds me of my cliche-hating buddy, who would have destroyed this book after reading the above line! Good that I still haven't asked him to read this book.
Page 42:
I am like everyone else - I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.
No matter how many times ever I would read this sentence, anywhere else, I would still be like "everyone else". I am just curious to see how Mr. Coelho lives his life.
Page 44:
As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure. "I'm an adventurer, looking for treasure", he said to himself.
The everlasting fight between optimism, and pessimism!
Page 64:
Never stop dreaming
Weren't those President Kalam's words? Who was the plagiarist here? Or, is it common sense?
... there was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.
I second that!
Page 16:
When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what the others want them to be, the others become angry. (Here comes the super-phrase) Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
Three facts brought out cogently by the author
Pages 16-17:
He started to read the book he had bought. On the very first page it described a burial ceremony. And the names of the people involved were very difficult to pronounce. If he ever wrote a book, he thought, he would present one person at a time, so that the reader wouldn't have to worry about memorizing a lot of names.
What a smart of way of telling the reader how he suffered when he read other authors' books and how he intended to write the current book!
Page 20:
... when you are talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don't know how to continue the conversation
I have suffered this suffering a number of times, especially at the most critical places and times!
Page 23:
And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
This is the vehicle on which the novel runs, I guess!
Page 25:
If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it.
Reminds me of the weekly meetings with my supervisor!
Pages 33-34:
Never forget what facilitated and helped you in reaching your dreams.
Just a cliche sentence, but still makes a lot of sense. However, reminds me of my cliche-hating buddy, who would have destroyed this book after reading the above line! Good that I still haven't asked him to read this book.
Page 42:
I am like everyone else - I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.
No matter how many times ever I would read this sentence, anywhere else, I would still be like "everyone else". I am just curious to see how Mr. Coelho lives his life.
Page 44:
As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure. "I'm an adventurer, looking for treasure", he said to himself.
The everlasting fight between optimism, and pessimism!
Page 64:
Never stop dreaming
Weren't those President Kalam's words? Who was the plagiarist here? Or, is it common sense?
... there was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired.
I second that!
Friday 9 February, 2007
Start of the tango!
"It takes two to tango" and that's what happens even if you want to share and discuss ideas. On my recent meeting with my good friend during a visit to my hometown, we shared a lot of our developments. And, there came the talk about books that we have been reading lately and how we felt about them. Immediately, we exchanged books that we thought the other would like more. So, after a careful thought, I felt a need to tell my pangali what I liked most about certain phrases and sentences in a book, which I had always wanted to do whenever I read a novel. Thus, here is a collaborative effort between us to jott out the phrases and sentences that caught our imagination when we read the book.
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