First off, I just gotta say that since I've started this blog and done some exploring of the blogging community that's out there, I'm getting addicted really fast. I've already "applied" to join a group called 20something Bloggers which has tons of cool forums and discussions that I'm excited to join. Getting into the prime of my generation, I think. As I've been doing stuff and living and all that, at least twice a day so far has something come up that makes a little "ding" go off in my head and I think to myself, "I should blog about that!" And it's only been six days. This may be an obsession in development. Just a heads up (should that have an apostrophe? Head's up? I never really got that idiom).
I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I think most people have heard of this book ... I know I heardI the title a bunch of times and though I had heard rave reviews, I had no interest in reading it because, honestly, I had no idea what an alchemist was but with the word "chemist" in in it I was immediately turned off because I was terrible at and absolutely loathed chemistry in high school. Not only was it a first period class and I am NOT a morning person, but I am aboslutely terrible at anything scientific or mathematical (hence why I'm in writing and the arts) and my teacher was crabby and had purple eyebrows tattooed to her face. Seriously. Anyways ...
Just last summer a bunch of friends in my dance program in Italy were reading it and were also raving, so I decided to give it a try. It had nothing to do with chemistry, and I enjoyed it. It's about destiny, desire, courage, love, and spirituality. Considering the deep and broad subjects of the book, it is still simple. It's really a book of philosophy of life snuggled into a story about a boy on a journey. Some of it was a little bit too floofy for me (again, the second time I've used that word this week, not sure if it's real) and as a feminist the extremely traditional perspective of women in the book bothered me, but it does share some very interesting life lessons. There are just a couple quotes I dog-eared that I'd like to share. The book is full of quotes like these that are so deep and general, but what I like about them is that I think everyone can find some sort of relation and comfort in them. If you like those quotes, I recommend the book. It's a short and easy read and provides a lot of insight.
"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand our life stories and the history of the world are written by the same hand."
(This next one makes more sense in context--the boy and the Englishman are a part of a caravan that is moving through the desert towards Egypt.)
" 'You should pay more attention to the desert,' the boy said to the Englishman, after the camel driver had left. 'We make lots of detours, but we're always heading for the same destination."
"And you ought to read more about the world," answered the Englishman. "Books are like caravans in that respect.' "
"One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving."
Since The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has become quite popular, so I decided to read another one of his books. I picked up Eleven Minutes at a bookstore in Pisa, but I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped, but it was certainly an interesting story and had some roots in feminism (don't know if that was intentional by the author or not) and I appreciated that. But he has lots of other ones out and I'm going to give them a whirl.
