The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Graphic Novel)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was originally published in 1988 and has since become a worldwide success. It is the story of a boy, Santiago, who became a shepherd to travel but then sells his sheep to head towards the Egyptian pyramids and find a treasure he has dreamed of. Not knowing what the treasure even is, he is forced to rely on himself and his faith to get him through the journey and the obstacles he will face. However along the way Santiago encounters many people including a man who says he was a king, a man who sells crystal, an alchemist, and a beautiful woman. As Santiago travels far from his homeland he learns to trust others despite being wronged, learns to follow his own personal legacy, and finally realizes that all he wanted was closer than he ever imagined.

I originally read The Alchemist as part of an extremely short-lived high school book club about six years ago, and I absolutely loved the book at the time. Earlier this year I picked up Coelho's Veronika Decides to Die and found once again both a powerful message and distinct ability to observe the world- so I certainly had high expectations for this adaption.  The illustrations in The Alchemist were gorgeous but personally the graphic novel lacked the power that the written version had. I felt like portions of the book the reader is able to soak up in the novel were simply skimmed over in the graphic novel and the power of Coelho's words were diminished. This was the first time I had read a graphic novel and so that was definitely a unique experience, but I found that as lovely as the illustrations were they didn't add anything to the book and I'm not sure how successful The Alchemist would be if the reader hadn't already read the novel. This is definitely a case where I'd recommend reading the full version first, and if you enjoy it then definitely pick up the adaption, as it is very well rendered but the graphic novel of The Alchemist just quite measure up to the original. 

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Number of Pages: 384 pages
Published: November 2010
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This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.