On the recommendation of a very good friend I read The alchemist by Paulo Coelho several years ago and it has remained one of the most inspirational, thought provoking books I've ever read. It surprises me now to think that it took me years to read anything else by Coelho but I finally did with Aleph and I almost wished I hadn't.
There is something to be said for building up expectations, which is why I generally tend to expect less; that way it lessens the blow and if it turns out to be better than expected then it is a nice surprise. With Aleph I was bringing in all the emotion and high hopes from The Alchemist and that was a big mistake.
Aleph, although classified as fiction is more biographical in nature and tells the story of Coelho's train journey across Russia for a book signing. I hate to drag this book entirely through the mud because there are some absolute gems of thought and wisdom that only writers seem to be able to portray. Several times through out reading this book I had to take a moment to let some of the words truly sink in. But for the majority of the story I was not engaged. There is a young woman who appears to me as a type of stalker but is said to be a reincarnation of someone Coelho has known previously. Their interactions seem strange to me and I didn't find myself liking either of them as people. The entire story changed my perspective of Coelho and his work. He is obviously a very spiritual man and has an affinity for philosophical thought but he claims to have re visited several of his past lives, being able to almost time travel among them through the 'aleph' which he describes as a moment of complete spiritual awakening and transcendence.
I like to think of myself as an open minded individual who doesn't shut out others beliefs because who am I to say I know anything is a certainty? But multiple times I felt myself rolling my eyes and being put off by the expressed spirituality's of this story. The thought provoking nature of his writing is interesting but I found myself on the side of severe skepticism so much so that I had to force myself to finish this book.
It's hard for me to decide how to rate this one seeing as I had such a personal aversion to it. I think Coelho's work is phenomenal in his other writings and has much more validity to them so I would suggest starting elsewhere from Aleph. The Alchemist will always be very high on my literary list and I would strongly suggest introducing yourself by that avenue. Aleph is a tough stretch for me because it isn't intended to be fantasy but real experiences. I personally was not a fan, who's to say how others will feel, but I stick to my previous sentiments of enjoying his work from a different avenue.
