The Alchemist review

"The Alchemist" is one of the most reviewed books. The book starts with the beautiful prologue of Narcissus that certainly gives a deep feel to initiate the book at earliest.

It is a story of a young Spanish shepherd boy who has chosen his profession due to his liking of wandering. He often dreams of a treasure lying under the pyramids of Egypt but when he is about to reach the exact location of the treasure, he wakes up.

On the journey of achieving his dreams (treasure) he meets some people who help direct him towards his destination. He learns to believe in "omen" and to feel the "soul of the world" - a term frequently used by Coelho, meaning to relate with the soul of nature. He starts his journey to Egypt from the Tarifa through the deserts of Sahara to the oasis of Al Faiyum. There he meets 200 year old wise man, an alchemist. He mentors Santiago to learn through out his journey of life and to achieve the actual treasure.

This book is about following and achieving your dreams, and in this process the whole universe conspires for its happening. 

The beauty of Al Faiyum is described in the most alluring manner by mentioning oasis, horizon, campfires, 50,000 date palms, colorful tents, dunes, dark chilly nights and Arabic people.

Nature is the supreme power but it has limitations too. Santiago's conversation with desert, wind and sun is the phenomenally written part of the book. This fantasy full episode to blend in with nature is absolutely soulful.

An alchemist converts lead into gold which is something unrealistic yet the most relevant gesture to maintain the essence of the book.

This is purely a quest genre philosophical book: focusing on fight with fears, being real and passionate.

Think and Grow Rich review

Think and Grow Rich is one of the most selling self help book ever published. The author Napoleon Hill did enough hardwork and toiled 25 years in reasearch, writing and publishing this book. This book is a must goto book for anyone who wants to know how to make fortune at a beginner level. It is an incredible book in its genre. It is although a bit old fashioned since it was published way back in 1937, so anyone may feel that its technique are old and not useful in today's world but this book has some certain techniques which time can't fade away. This book is still relevant because financial things have become even more complicated today than it was back then.

The style of writing is worth applauding and the flow of information and guidance is smooth. This book describes Hill's famous 13  principles to success and he has dedicated a chapter to each success principle. This book was a huge success for Hill as at the time of author's death , about 20 million copies had already been sold worldwide. Some of the most inspiring lines from it were "riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose,with little or no hard work",

 " We foolishly believe that our own limitations are the proper measure of limitations" , 

" Success requires no explanations , failure permits no alibis"

Many successful leaders and personalities have claimed to have read this book and applied it's principles in one's life. For example, Sportswriter Jim Murray said Ken Norton used the principles of this book to knock out Muhammed Ali for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. This is the reason why its millions of copies are sold and it has been bestseller for over 100 years.