Synopsis
The hero of this short novel is a young Spanish shepherd, Santiago. He was educated at the seminary, but he gave up being a priest, against the wishes of his parents. He prefers a life in contact with Nature, while continuing to cultivate through reading. Following a dream revealing the existence of a hidden treasure at the foot of the Pyramids of Egypt, he decides to undertake the journey that leads from Andalusia to Giza, through Tangier and Sahara desert. If the geographic context of the story is realistic, this initiatory journey is an opportunity for unlikely meetings, such as that of a popcorn merchant at the same time as that of an old man, Melchizedek, so old that he was already king at the times of which the Bible speaks. This legendary character tells him the keys he needs to discover to succeed, especially his "Personal Legend". But it is especially "the Alchemist", whom he meets in an oasis in the heart of the desert, who initiates and guides him through the hardships he has to overcome in the fulfillment of his quest.
This "Personal Legend" is the particular and favorable project of which we are all bearers and the fulfillment of which depends on our ability to recover our deep desires: "If you listen to your heart, you know precisely what you have to do on earth. Child, we all knew. But because we are afraid of being disappointed, afraid of failing to realize our dream, we are not listening to our hearts anymore. That said, it is normal to move away at one time or another from our "Personal Legend". It does not matter because, on several occasions, life gives us the opportunity to stick to this ideal trajectory. "
According to Guy Renotte, the immense success of the novel resides first and foremost in the simplicity of language, which makes reading pleasant and captivating. The author never puts forward the esoteric character of the alchemist thought, but uses it to instill an intriguing atmosphere around the many adventures. But it is above all the adaptability of the discourse to all kinds of currents "New Age" that could attract such a large audience. The text is studded with consensual aphorisms which have been taken up in many florilèges and dictionaries of quotations, and each one can pick those which correspond best to his vision of the World.
Thérèse Nadeau-Lacour insists on the importance of the prologue as key to the book. In The Disciple, Oscar Wilde transforms the myth of Narcissus by giving the pond a role symmetrical to that of the hero. This pond is indeed incapable of admiring anything but its own reflection in the pupils of the ephebe. Thus, the reader can see reflected his "Personal Legend" in a superficial reading of the text, without seeking to penetrate the esoteric conceptions of the author.
These different levels of possible reading are also evoked when Santiago discusses with "the Englishman" what little he understood in the alchemy books that this fellow traveler lent him. Paulo Coelho revealed that he was close to this eager Englishman of acquiring knowledge through reading10, and he made Santiago say on this occasion: "To each his way of learning, he repeated to himself in petto. His way is not mine, and my way is not his. But we are both looking for our Personal Legend, and that's why I respect it. "
The reader is especially free to play or not, which may explain the opposite and often radical reactions that the novel has generated.
Some critics have denied the slightest interest in the book, like Andre Clavel, who calls it "a strange eulogy of mental desertion"
Paulo Coelho presented his novel as an illustration of the "four fundamental keys of alchemy" that are according to him "the Signs" "the Soul of the World" "the Personal Legend" and "the Language of the Heart" .... .................
