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chloe aridjis sea monsters DIALOGUE WITH A SOMNAMBULIST: STORIES, ESSAYS AND A PORTRAIT GALLERY b – Good Press — good books & more112 x 179mm, 336 pages, Black & white printing, Perfect bound, Softcover, 2nd edition, 2024 Renowned internationally for her lyrically unsettling novels Book of Clouds, Asunder and Sea Monsters, the Mexican writer Chloe Aridjis crosses borders in her work as much as she traverses them in life. Now, collected here for the first time, her stories, essays and pen portraits reveal an author as imaginatively at home in the short form as in her longer
112 x 179mm, 336 pages, Black & white printing, Perfect bound, Softcover, 2nd edition, 2024
Renowned internationally for her lyrically unsettling novels Book of Clouds, Asunder and Sea Monsters, the Mexican writer Chloe Aridjis crosses borders in her work as much as she traverses them in life. Now, collected here for the first time, her stories, essays and pen portraits reveal an author as imaginatively at home in the short form as in her longer fiction.
At once fabular and formally innovative, acquainted with reverie and rigorous report, sensitive to the needs of a wider ecology yet familiar with the landscapes of the unconscious, her texts are both dream dispatches and wayward word plays infused with the pleasure and possibilities of language. Conversations with the presences who dwell on the threshold of waking and reverie, flâneuses of the dusk and dawn, these pieces will stay with you long after the lamps have flickered out.
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4.1 ★★★★★
Based on 638 reviews
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★★★★★ 5
One Of The Most Important Books Ever Written
Format: Paperback
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is in my opinion, one of the most important books ever written. It's no wonder that it's one of the best-selling books of all time with more than 150 million copies sold. Those numbers are in spite of and defiance to the author's encouragement to file share his now legendary novel.
But sales statistics are not the criterion on which I stake this claim. It is the impact on the lives of those that have read it, and the impact on the lives that have not yet been born, that I boldly state the above.
The simplicity of its unfoldment may at first belie the depth of its wisdom. But the simplicity is part of the profundity that allows the reader to assimilate the messages without resistance.
The first time I read The Alchemist;, I read it cover to cover in one sitting. No bathroom break, no cup of water pause, no telephone distractions. I read it from the first word to the last in what seemed like a single breath.
I simply couldn't put it down.
I was swept, swung, and swallowed up by this extraordinary narrative. The result was transformation. I was not the same man that began reading the novel by the time I finished it.
I would thereafter read it again and again. The messages are so layered that with every new pass comes new understanding and enlightenment.
At the core of the novel is the fulfillment of one’s destiny. There is a force in the Soul of the World that wants us all to live out our personal legend. When we truly desire something, the entire Universe conspires to help us achieve it. With love, all things are possible. With love, we can perform miracles.
These themes are artfully integrated and clothed within a modern day fable. They come in varying iterations from a string of colorful characters that propel the protagonist towards a profound and satisfying ending.
The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy from Spain that crosses the desert of Africa in search of a hidden treasure. It was revealed to him in a reoccurring dream that the treasure is buried by the Ancient Pyramids in Egypt.
What he naively believes will take three weeks to complete becomes a journey that expands nearly three years. After miles of traveling through the desert, the boy arrives at an oasis where he falls in love with a beautiful desert woman named Fatima. The boy is willing to abandon his dream of finding his treasure for the procurement of her love.
But one night, beneath the light of a full moon, he meets a man straddled upon a mighty horse. This elusive man is known in legend and folklore as The Alchemist.
The Alchemist is a man imbued with profound wisdom and mystical powers. He is reportedly over 300-years-old and can turn lead into gold.
He reminds the boy that his destiny is to find the treasure. That he must continue. If it is true love, Fatima will be waiting for him after his destiny is fulfilled.
Reluctantly, the boy continues his journey deeper into the desert accompanied by The Alchemist. But the desert is at war, and they are soon captured by Bedouin sentinels and accused of spying for the enemy.
For this crime, they are sentenced to death.
The Alchemist saves them temporarily by proclaiming that the boy is an Alchemist. He tells the general that if he wanted to, the boy could turn himself into the wind and destroy their entire camp. The general is intrigued! He wants to see this happen. He promises to spare their lives if it is done. He grants them three days.
But how does a shepherd boy from Spain turn himself into the wind?
Paulo Coelho says that he wrote “The Alchemist” in two weeks. It is almost hard to imagine that something so far-reaching could have been conjured up in two weeks time. He said it was his own journey that he was writing down, parabolically speaking.
The impact of “The Alchemist” comes from the realization that Santiago’s journey is Everyman’s journey. His story is our story. If we tap into the Soul of the World and dare to live out our destiny, we will discover that within us all is The Alchemist.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2017
★★★★★ 5
A must read
Format: Kindle
A must read for everyone even remotely interested in self fulfilment and awakening. Can be read in an afternoon and echo for a life time.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2026
★★★★★ 5
A Beautiful Edition of a Timeless Journey
This deluxe edition transforms Coelho's beloved fable into a truly special keepsake. The larger format, quality paper, and thoughtful design details make it feel like the gift it's meant to be—whether you're giving it to someone at a crossroads in their life or treating yourself to an upgrade from a worn paperback copy.
The story itself remains as powerful as ever. Santiago's journey across the desert in search of treasure is deceptively simple on the surface, but Coelho's allegory works on multiple levels. Yes, it's about following your dreams, but it's also about learning to read the signs the universe offers, understanding that the journey itself transforms us, and recognizing that what we seek is often closer than we think.
I know some readers find the philosophy too simplistic or New Age-y, but I think that misses the point. Coelho isn't trying to be subtle—he's distilling universal truths into their essence. Sometimes we need straightforward wisdom delivered clearly, especially when we're overthinking our own paths.
This edition makes a perfect graduation gift, retirement present, or milestone marker for anyone embarking on something new. The story has earned its place as a modern classic, and this deluxe version does it justice.
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." Still resonates.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Reading this book was an enlightening experience for me.
Format: Kindle
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho provided hours of magical reading. It isn’t a plot-driven book, but rather a novel that provides a quiet sense of purpose and a deeper understanding of the universe. The period the story takes place isn’t clear, but it begins in Spain.
Santiago, a young man, perhaps in his teens, studied to be a priest, but realized what he really wanted to do was to be a shepherd, to move around, see new places. With the blessings of his family, he sets out with his flock of sheep and discovers not only the world, but himself. It soon becomes clear that what he searches for is an alchemist, a person who transforms things for the better.
Santiago meets people along the way who teach him many truths, some good, some evil, but each experience leads him closer to life’s true meaning.
This novel has an interesting history. “The Foreword” written by the author in 2014 speaks about the interesting path the novel has taken. The book was first published in 1989 in his native Brazil. Only one person bought a copy the first week of its release, then six months later another copy sold to the same person! His publisher cancelled the contract. Another publisher agreed to take the book and gradually had great success. An American read the book and wanted to translate the book from Spanish to English and find a publisher in the United States. It didn’t happen overnight, but the book became a phenomenon, has been translated into more than eighty different languages, and has sold thousands of copies.
Paulo Coelho never wavered in his faith in the book because it speaks of his own beliefs: A man sets out on a journey seeking a beautiful or magical place and then realizes the treasure lies within himself.
Reading The Alchemist was an enlightening experience for me. I highly recommend it for those who appreciate life’s purpose and who seek wisdom of the universe.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2025
★★★★★ 3
Good book, but I think the ending is a betrayal
Format: Kindle
As I write this I realize that I am talking about a modern classic, one that I must admit I did enjoy reading overall. But that said, I simply didn’t find this book to be as moving a book as I thought I would.
The novel tells a simple though interesting tale about a boy’s attempts to search for a treasure revealed to him in multiple dreams. Along the way he encounters many people and situations that enable him to learn and grow spiritually, aided by either his clever and inquisitive mind or the guidance of others who effectively serve as mentors.
For the most part, I did like THE ALCHEMIST. I enjoyed the simple style of writing and the stripped-down nature of the tale. We don’t get into the “five senses” kind of environmental description – Coelho’s tale is more of a parable at its heart, and in fact is a story OF the heart and of the mind. I also admired the central character as well: Santiago is not only aptly named, but he is a likable boy full of pleasant good will and a gentle disposition, ready to work and clever when it comes to the things one must do to succeed. He is also brave, and remains positive whether things are going well or they are not, choosing to do the best he can at whatever hand he is dealt by life.
Here, however, comes the problem. While I felt that the book worked for a good deal of the story, it weakened a bit toward the end. Part of it was the story’s mumbo-jumbo manner of religiosity; while I understood the author’s decision to tackle his subject in this simple, unadorned manner, it didn’t hold up at times. Certainly, the notion that there is a hidden one-ness at the heart of all matter is a notion that works well through a simplistic style, a la the clean, stripped-down beliefs at the heart of innocents or the way we conceptualize the purity of, say, the Native Americans culture when it came to nature. But when the boy began addressing the wind and other elements (a point I’ll get to further in a moment), it really broke down for me. It stretched credulity, reducing Nature to a kind of repertory theater. I will speak further on this scene in a second.
HERE I ONE ASPECT THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER – SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH.
What I particularly disliked about THE ALCHEMIST is that I felt it broke its own rules. Again, I’m discussing the ending here, so beware. It bothered me that the ending should have been a point when the boy’s budding spirituality took its hold upon the lad. I ask: why would a person who is in essence learning so much about what really matters about life still keep seeking money? His interest in gold is not the same as the alchemist’s interest in it: the elder character is a man who can manipulate the elements in a near-magical manner, a process he leaves the boy to discover for himself (like when he fact almost comically abandons him to magically “make like the wind” for men who will otherwise kill him – comical because once the alchemist places the boy IN the situation, he simply goes off to play with his birds. And one more thing: while the twist at the end was clever, it disappointed me for two reasons: the first, for point I made above, but the second is trickier. The boy learns that the truth the material treasure HE sought is NOT there; it is, he learns, where the OTHER character says it is. Clever, sure… but is the author telling us the other character’s “information” is more true? Why is that? Was it that the other boy was favored? OR, which is probably more true, is it because whatever force it is that imparts such “wisdom” does so knowing that one boy WILL follow his heart and the other won’t. Think: if the other boy does follow his quest then Santiago’s info is going to be wrong. But IF things are meant to work out the way they actually do, then is Coelho indeed telling us that these actions were predetermined? This sends, I think, the opposite message the author wants to send.
THE ALCHEMIST is a book that people will enjoy for its simple values, and the tale of this young boy’s spiritual quest has satisfied many. While I too enjoyed it and liked the boy, I ultimately felt a bit disappointed in what I felt to be a contrived ending. Though I initially liked the twist at the end, the story could have ended on that exact moment and left me happier. As it is, I felt the final portion of the boy’s quest betrayed his AND the author’s intentions, which hurt the novel for me.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2016
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