The Alchemist

February 15, 2011
Brazilian novelist Coelhos 1988 myth-laden story of the shepherd who follows his Personal Legend in spite of assorted travails is rendered into a richly colored and faithful sequential-art version. With Santiago, we see the glories, the mysteries, and the threats along his way from the Andalusian pasture to foreign cities to Egypt; experience his devotion to reading and his attraction to mysterious women; and watch as he reads omens with the help of magical stones and other artifacts given to him by the various wise men he meets. Although the landscapes, city crowds, and animals are gorgeously rendered, the faces can be jarringeven in his youth, Santiago (and everyone else) has dark lines awkwardly scattered on his cheeks and forehead in lieu of expressive changes. Because facial close-ups are essential to our seeing Santiago and to what Santiago sees, this is disconcerting, but otherwise, this adaptation provides a long-popular novel an interesting new life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 2, 2001
Brazilian writer Coelho has published five titles in 45 languages in 120 countries, and has sold 23 million books. It's easy to see why. This charming, simple and well-written allegory tells of a boy, Santiago, who has the imagination and courage to follow his "Personal Legend." Santiago finds fairy godfathers at many turns who help him learn to keep up his courage, and to read omens and his own heart. The book's inspirational message—follow your heart and do your own thing—is oblique enough, to allow readers to interpret it in any way they choose, with whatever degree and form of spirituality one adheres to: "To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation." But apparently only men need apply; a woman's destiny is to wait for her hero to find his treasure and return home to her. The real treasure here is Jeremy Irons. His intriguing, subtle and powerful performance carries us along on the boy's adventures, into his confusions and insights, through discussions with kings and animals, through the desert and the sun and even through the philosophical passages. Based on the Harper San Francisco hardcover.