/ dimanche, juin 05, 2005
A Book I've Read
yay yingling! I've finally managed to read Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist". fyi, that book has been left to collect dust since 7 January! I haven't read it since the time u gave it to me on my birthday! so much for claiming that I wanted to read it so much back then. On 2nd thought, it didn't actually collect dust. the plastic wrapper did. hehe...
Anyway, it was a pretty good book. Something nice to read. Although it touches quite a bit on religion and alchemy, the latter being a field in which I have negligible knowledge, I believe the some of the messages put across are pretty universal. It's something that you wanna read when you feel disillusioned and you're on the verge of giving it all up. But hey, that wasn't my purpose for wanting to read this book at first. that too shouldn't be the only reason you may want to read this book. I'm not exactly a book connoisseur who hunt for good books to read[nor was I extremely disillusioned at the point of time when I wanted to read it]. I didn't really know what the book was going to be all about actually. Think I heard about it from a friend, and I thought that friend was huiyu. but she's confirmed with me that she wasn't the one who intro-ed the book to me. so I have no idea who first talked abt the book.
So, anyway, it's quite an easy read except for some abstract parts towards the end. shall not say too much abt it, just in case there are ppl who are dying to read it but hasn't gotten hold of the book. You can borrow from me, before it starts collecting dust again! hehe...
I'll just highlight several snippets from the book that I found meaningful, interesting, and hence quotable:
....The boy knew a lot of people in the city. That was what made traveling appeal to him --he always made new friends, and he didn't need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people every day....they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
part one, page 16
..."Everyone on Earth has a treasure that awaits him," his heart said. "We, people's hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them --the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place."
part two, page 138
..."Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny..."
epilogue, page 176
that's about it for now. there are other nice quotes but I was reading the book while lying down on the bed so I didn't manage to keep track of all the nice quotes. I'll just end off with this:
Embrace Life, because Life is a world of possibilities.
I painted my dreams at
4:59 AM
