The Alchemist ( novel ) - wikipedia The Alchemist ( novel ) For similarly named works, see Alchemist ( disambiguation ). The Alchemist First English edition cover Author Paulo Coelho Original title O Alquimista Country Brazil Language Portuguese Genre Quest, adventure, fantasy Publisher HarperTorch ( English translation ) Publication date Published in English Media type Print ( hardback, paperback and iTunes ) Pages 163 pp ( first English edition, hardcover ), 208 pages ( 25th Anniversary Edition ) ISBN 0 - 06 - 250217 - 4 ( first English edition, hardcover ) OCLC 26857452 Dewey Decimal 869.3 Preceded by The Pilgrimage ( 1987 ) Followed by Brida ( 1990 ) The Alchemist ( Portuguese : O Alquimista ) is a novel by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho that was first published in 1988. Originally written in Portuguese, it became an international bestseller translated into some 70 languages as of 2016. An allegorical novel, The Alchemist follows a young Andalusian shepherd in his journey to the pyramids of Egypt, after having a recurring dream of finding a treasure there. Over the years there have been film and theatrical adaptations of the work and musical interpretations of it. Contents 1 Plot 2 Themes 3 Cultural influence 3.1 Film adaptations 3.2 Other media 4 References 5 External links Plot The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Believing a recurring dream to be prophetic, he asks a Romani fortune teller in a nearby town about its meaning. The woman interprets the dream as a prophecy telling the boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. Early into his journey, he meets an old king named Melchizedek or the king of Salem, who tells him to sell his sheep so as to travel to Egypt and introduces the idea of a Personal Legend. Your Personal Legend `` is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. '' He adds that `` when you desire something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. '' This is the core theme of the book. The Pyramids of Giza Early in his arrival to Africa a man who claims to be able to take Santiago to the pyramids instead robs him of what money he had made from selling his sheep. Santiago then embarks on a long path of working for a crystal merchant making enough money to chase after his personal legend and go to the pyramids. Along the way, the boy meets an Englishman who has come in search of an alchemist and continues his travels with him. When they reach an oasis, Santiago meets and falls in love with an Arabian girl named Fatima, whom he asks to marry him. She promises to do so only after he completes his journey. He is frustrated by this, but later learns that true love will not stop nor must one sacrifice to it one 's personal destiny, since to do so robs it of truth. The boy then encounters a wise alchemist who also teaches him to realize his true self. Finally they risk a journey through the territory of warring tribes, where the boy is forced to demonstrate his oneness with `` the soul of the world '' by turning himself into a simoom before he is allowed to proceed. When he begins digging within sight of the pyramids, he is robbed but learns accidentally from the leader of the thieves that the treasure he seeks was all the time in the ruined church where he had his original dream. Themes Coelho wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks in 1987. He explained that he was able to write at this pace because the story was `` already written in ( his ) soul. '' The book 's main theme is about finding one 's destiny. According to The New York Times, The Alchemist is `` more self - help than literature ''. An old king tells Santiago that `` when you really want something to happen, the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true ''. This is the core of the novel 's philosophy and a motif that plays all throughout Coelho 's writing in The Alchemist. The Alchemist was first released by an obscure Brazilian publishing house. Albeit having sold `` well '', the publisher after a year decided to give Coelho back the rights. Needing to `` heal '' himself from this setback, Coelho set out to leave Rio de Janeiro with his wife and spent 40 days in the Mojave Desert. Returning from the excursion, Coelho decided he had to keep on struggling. Coelho was `` so convinced it was a great book that ( he ) started knocking on doors ''. Cultural influence Film adaptations Coelho said he has been reluctant to sell rights to his books. He believed that a book has a `` life of its own inside the reader 's mind '', and seldom did he find an adaptation that lived up to the book. Despite this, with time, Coelho decided to open up the possibility. In 2003, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film adaptation of The Alchemist. The project stalled and the movie never materialized, reportedly because of problems with the script. At one point, the script had a battle sequence with 10,000 soldiers, which was `` not what the book is about. '' Reportedly, Coelho offered US $2 million to Warner Bros. to buy back the film rights to The Alchemist. During the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Harvey Weinstein announced that he had bought the rights to the film and would serve as its producer. Laurence Fishburne is set to direct, and to play the eponymous character. It will have a reported budget of $60 million. Weinstein, who rarely personally produced movies, stated that `` My loyalty is not to Laurence ( Fishburne ), my loyalty is not to me, my loyalty is not to anyone other than Paulo Coelho. '' Coelho added, `` I am very happy that my book will be filmed in the way I intended it to be and I hope the spirit and simplicity of my work will be preserved. I am excited my friend Laurence Fishburne and Harvey Weinstein will be working together. '' In June 2015, it was reported that Idris Elba was set to play the protagonist and that Fishburne would direct the movie instead. Other media HarperOne, a HarperCollins imprint, produced an illustrated version of the novel, with paintings by the French artist Mœbius, but failed to convince Coelho `` to consent to the full graphic - novel treatment. '' In June 2010, HarperOne announced that it would publish a graphic - novel adaptation. The Alchemist : A Graphic Novel was published in 2010, adapted by Derek Ruiz and with artwork by Daniel Sampere. A theatrical adaptation of The Alchemist was produced and performed by the Cornish Collective, which is their most successful production to date. It was staged for the first time in India by Ashvin Gidwani Productions. Kajol and Karan Johar launched this book 's theatrical adaptation in India. In music, The Alchemist has inspired numerous bands of the same name. In 1997 the classical label RCA Red Seal released The Alchemist 's Symphony by composer and conductor Walter Taieb with the support of Paulo Coelho who wrote an original text for the CD booklet. In September 2009, an orchestral performance was conducted at the Ansche Chesed Synagogue on the Upper West Side. Inspired by The Alchemist, `` an orchestral performance '' was composed by One World Symphony for composer and conductor Sung Jin Hong 's wedding. References Jump up ^ `` Paulo Coelho in WorldCat database ''. WorldCat. Retrieved 20 December 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Alchemist > Editions ''. Goodreads. Retrieved 20 December 2016. Jump up ^ The Alchemist, HarperCollins paperback, 1998, p. 21 ^ Jump up to : Pool, Hannah ( 2009 - 03 - 19 ). `` Question time ''. The Guardian. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 27. Jump up ^ Cowles, Gregory ( 2009 - 10 - 08 ). `` Inside the List ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 28. Jump up ^ Flanagan, Mark. `` The Alchemist ''. ^ Jump up to : `` Interview with Paulo Coelho ''. Goodreads.com. March 2008. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 27. Jump up ^ Fishburne to direct The Alchemist The Guardian. June 27, 2007. Jump up ^ Doland, Angela ' The Alchemist ' to be made into movie USA Today. May 18, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Paulo Coelho ''. The Guardian. 2008 - 07 - 22. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 28. Jump up ^ Weinstein to produce ' Alchemist ' film adaptation Muzi.com News. May 18, 2008. Jump up ^ The Weinstein Company to Bring ' The Alchemist ' to the Big Screen Archived November 8, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Zoom In Online : Film & TV. Jump up ^ `` Idris Elba set for Laurence Fishburne 's film of Paulo Coelho 's The Alchemist ''. The Guardian. 2015 - 06 - 05. Retrieved 2015 - 09 - 30. ^ Jump up to : Itzkoff, David ( 2010 - 07 - 06 ). `` Graphic Novel of ' The Alchemist ' : Words Into Pictures ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 29. Jump up ^ The Cornish Theatre Collective Archived August 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. The Alchemist. Jump up ^ `` The week gone by... ( 11 Images ) ''. Movies.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on archive - url = requires archive - date = ( help ). Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 20. Jump up ^ `` How The Alchemist came alive on theatre ''. rediff.com. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 20. Jump up ^ `` The week gone by... ( 11 Images ) ''. Movies.ndtv.com. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 20. Jump up ^ `` Kajol and Karan at the launch of The Alchemist ''. Nowrunning.com. 2008 - 07 - 14. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 20. Jump up ^ Walter Taieb ( February 1, 2017 ). `` The Alchemist 's Symphony ''. Retrieved December 12, 2017 -- via YouTube. Jump up ^ Schweitzer, Vivien ( 2009 - 09 - 15 ). `` Inspiration From Bjork, ' The Alchemist ' and the Sea ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2012 - 01 - 30. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : The Alchemist ( novel ) Works by Paulo Coelho Novels The Manifest of Krig - há ( 1974 ) Theater For Education ( 1974 ) Hell Archives ( 1982 ) Practical Manual of Vampirism ( 1986 ) The Pilgrimage ( 1987 ) The Alchemist ( 1988 ) Brida ( 1990 ) The Greatest Gift ( 1991 ) The Valkyries ( 1992 ) Maktub ( 1994 ) By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept ( 1994 ) The Fifth Mountain ( 1996 ) Love Letters from a Prophet ( 1997 ) Manual of the Warrior of Light ( 1997 ) Veronika Decides to Die ( 1998 ) Essential Words ( 1998 ) The Devil and Miss Prym ( 2000 ) Fathers, Sons and Grandsons ( 2001 ) Eleven Minutes ( 2003 ) And on the Seventh Day ( 2004 ) The Genie and the Roses ( 2004 ) Journeys ( 2004 ) The Zahir ( 2005 ) Revived Paths ( 2005 ) Like the Flowing River ( 2006 ) The Witch of Portobello ( 2006 ) Life : Selected Quotations ( 2007 ) The Winner Stands Alone ( 2008 ) Aleph ( 2010 ) Manuscript Found in Accra ( 2012 ) Adultery ( 2014 ) Biographies The Wizard ( 2008 ) Jean Giraud Comics Airtight Garage ( 1976 ) Arzach ( 1975 ) Blueberry ( 1963 ) The Incal ( 1975 ) `` The Long Tomorrow '' ( 1975 ) Métal hurlant ( 1974 ) Le Monde d'Edena ( 1985 ) Adaptations Little Nemo : Adventures in Slumberland ( 1989 ) Cauchemar Blanc ( 1991 ) Blueberry ( 2004 ) Thru the Moebius Strip ( 2005 ) BNF : cb131828003 ( data ) GND : 4705652 - 6 SUDOC : 076921336 VIAF : 204618447 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Alchemist_(novel)&oldid=855097012 '' Categories : 1988 novels Novels by Paulo Coelho Portuguese - language novels Alchemy in fiction HarperCollins books Novels set in Tangier Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages with archiveurl citation errors Use mdy dates from November 2011 Pages to import images to Wikidata Articles containing Portuguese - language text Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2018 Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote অসমীয়া Azərbaycanca বাংলা Български Bosanski Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Latviešu Magyar മലയാളം Nederlands नेपाली 日本 語 Norsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Русский Shqip Slovenčina Slovenščina Soomaaliga کوردی Српски / srpski Basa Sunda Suomi Svenska Tagalog తెలుగు Türkçe Українська اردو ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche Tiếng Việt 中文 46 more Edit links This page was last edited on 15 August 2018, at 22 : 37 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: how many pages are in the alchemist by paulo coelho
Answer: 163 pp (first English edition, hardcover)