So, on this, my favorite number post, I am pleased to add two more books to my "done-and-done" list: Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.
Neverwhere is the story of an average joe who gets lost in a world that exists in the same time and place as his own, but is unrecognizable to him. After helping what seemed like an injured, homeless girl, Richard Mayhew was thrown into a world he never knew existed. No longer recognized or remembered, Richard had
no choice but to join the girl, Door, on her adventure in "London Below."Gaiman does an excellent job creating his fictional world. Instead of being only a world of magic and mystery, London Below is also full of people passed over by London Above. There are magical and mystical elements, but for the most part it is made up of the ignored people of our own world, whose lives are richer, more interesting and more adventurous than those lived by the people of London Above.
I am beginning to wonder if Neil Gaiman is capable of writing something I won't love. I have read Stardust, Coraline, and a collection of his short stories and I have loved them all. His ability to combine the mundane elements of the contemporary world with the magic and intrigue of a fairytale. Perhaps the most appealing aspect of his stories is that instead of the campy, happy (and, admittedly, delightful) fairy tales a la Disney, Gaiman seems to draw more inspiration from the darker and richer fairy tales of the brothers Grimm.
I rarely listen to recommendations, mostly because it is a small way for me to rebel against "the man." Seriously, if you ever really want me to watch/read anything, feel free to casually mention it to me, but it would be better if you did not outright tell me I absolutely HAVE to see/read it. If you do the latter, I probably will never get around to seeing/reading it. However, this trait of mine is particularly annoying to my mom, and so in an effort to prove to her that YES I CAN read something she read first, I read The Alchemist.
I would not say that I liked this book and I would not say I disliked it either. It reminded me of the books I read in my World Literature class in college. In fact I would not be at all surprised if college student are currently reading it in their own World Literature classes. It is well-written and interesting enough. It is not a difficult read, nor is it tedious, so you can read it quickly. It also has great value intellectually. I did not find myself agreeing with Coelho, but I found myself thinking about what he was saying. I love to make notes in my books, in the margins. Sometimes I just read to read, but there are certain books where I find myself without a book friendly pen/pencil and I lament it. This is why I dislike borrowing books, certain types of books anyway. I borrowed this book from my mother and regretted it almost immediately. If ever there was a book made for notes in the margins, it was this one.
My main problem with book, or rather with the content of the book, is the questionable message that it sends. Essentially Coelho is telling his readers that everyone has to identify their own "Personal Legend," what is it that that person is supposed to be doing with their life. What do they desire most out of life, what do they want most. Once this "Personal Legend" is identified, they must then stop at nothing to accomplish it. There can be no compromise, everything must be done with the intent to succeed. If you work long enough and hard enough toward your single goal you will not fail. Those that fail simply stopped believing or working toward their goal. If they had continued on they would have gotten what they wanted.
This sounds good. Much like telling little children they can be anything they want to be when they grow up. They can do anything they want to do, they just can't give up.
Let's be honest. Sometimes people work hard their entire lives and never realize their ultimate dreams. You really want to be the one telling them it's because they didn't work hard enough? They gave up too soon? They didn't want it badly enough? Sometimes you don't get what you want. Sometimes you don't realize all your dreams. Sometimes you try and try and work and work and still fail. Telling people that if they work hard enough they'll get whatever they want is like telling people if you pray the right prayer God will give you whatever you want. What happens when a person prays and prays and prays for something and doesn't get it? You want to tell that person it's because they prayed wrong? No. Because sometimes you can pray and pray and pray and the answer will still be "no." Sometimes Mr. Coelho, you can work your ass off to get a certain goal and you still won't reach that goal. Sometimes the real treasure is not at the end of the rainbow, but it's the people you meet and the things that you learn as you're walking to the end of the rainbow.
16/25 :-)
