The Alchemist

OK, the fastest novel I've read in my life, I think. Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist.

 

Well, I guess this is not my type of novel. Its kinda like philosophy encoded in fiction. Nevertheless, I always want to blog. So here we go :) I think I can sum it all up in one question, but that'd be boring. So there are 4 main ideas.

1. Religion

There's a whole lot of religious views in there. Some embedded deep, and others fairly direct. Such as those of the 5 Islam obligations, the Roman Centurian prayer, and another direct quote from the Christian Bible. The direct quote from the bible (about what goes in and out of the mouth) was without citation. I don't know how I feel about that yet. Because, some people read novels just to pick out awesome phrases, words, and descriptions. If one doesn't know, one would think that Coelho came up with it. Its not just about the bible, but generally one would assume the quotes that appear in a book is written by the author (that's why we bother getting to know the author right? haha). Anyway, what Coelho was trying to do through this novel is to find a common denominator between all religions, bending it here and there, and yet again, I really don't know whether it's a good idea. He is walking on thin ice! There were some sort of Hinduism (fortune through sticks, birds, cards), and Pantheistic (all elements being one) views being surfaced throughout the novel.

2. Omens

Honestly, I didn't have a clear understanding of the meaning of this word, until now. So basically, its something like a sign or symbol that signifies the future. It could be good or bad. A lot of emphasis throughout the novel about how the boy (implicating that we should too I guess?) followed or should follow the omens. But then it was inconsistent towards the end (the convo between the alchemist and the boy) when "following the heart" was mentioned. There Coelho gets himself entangled again. Following your heart and following omens are two very different things, and could probably mess up your life, forever. He tried to explain the difference, however I think he wasn't very successful. Again, very dangerous topics Coelho is touching on. 

3. Destiny

Here again, he confuses the readers between destiny and dreams (life goals). In the end, we aren't really sure whether finding the gold at the pyramids was his life dream that he achieved, or his destiny that he fulfilled. In the beginning he says : "...that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie." He portrays fate as a negative thing (I would assume), but the vision in his dream came true. There's a difference between the dreams in sleep, and dreams as in your life goals. The treasure at the pyramids was just a sleep dream, and when compounded with the Gypsy fortune teller reading his palms, it almost points to fate. We would like to believe he is making a choice to go for it, but the Gypsy was so sure it would happen that she asked 1/10 of the treasure before hand. So was his destiny predetermined, or he made a conscious choice to go for it, to realize a dream during sleep? I am not sure either. 

4. Treasure

Gold was symbolically used as treasure, but the end-note was the treasure lies at Home. I guess that's the best place one would want to be. But then again, for me, really? Nahh, I'm not sure. I'm just waiting to travel, just like the boy (but not as a shepherd of course). Perhaps I will understand what 'Home' means in the future (I hope).  

Overall

Language wise, no complexity. Reason being, he is a male writer perhaps? (No, I'm not a feminist). Depth, no. He superficially touched on many issues. That's the other thing. He touched on many issues all at once, and they were huge topics - topics even some experienced writers wouldn't dare travel to. Usually a good director or writer would focus on one main theme at a time. In this novel, his sub-themes seems like they could have stood alone. The novel being short is not an issue. Some people can mesmerize within a short period of time, but for me Coelho could not deliver. Also, there were a lot of repetitions in ideas. For a very short novel, if you keep reminding the reader about the themes, I think that's suicide. 

The one question that sums this novel is, should one strive to be better? As in, give up what you have in hand right now, for something bigger (that you might not necessarily have yet - but Coelho tries his best to convince you - You Can!). Throughout the journey he could have settled, with his sheep, at the crystal shop, at the oasis. Everywhere along the way was just fine. He could have even get married, but he literally threw it all away in search of treasure that he dreamt during his sleep. Making the dream recurrent doesn't make it convincing. If he was a treasure hunter, it would have been a different thing altogether. I'm not going to write about the love part of the novel, because its kinda like 'love at first sight' (and don't bother giving me that love at first sight can be your mom thing) and I hate that idea.

However, I felt rather happy after reading the book. I felt like a little adventurous boy. Sometimes we should just chill. Haha. Anyway, I need my dose of awesomeness. I'm going back to Picoult. See you in the next review!

 

Gone Girl

Okay. Another book. Here.We.Go.

 

Sigh, where should I start? Honestly, the ending made me wanna puke. Literally. 

Spoilers ahead. 

I'll make the plot as short as possible so I can get into the analysis. Two main characters, Nick & Amy. So, Nick stopped loving Amy the way they first started off (duhh). Nick cheats on Amy. Amy goes on a [insert word]. I can't call it revenge, you will soon know why. Drama starts with Amy missing from home on their 5th anniversary - and Nick is framed for it (murder).

Analysis ahead. 

1. Her Problem

Shes truly a controlling, manipulative, obsessive, psychotic, maniac, liar, psycho, psycho, psycho. The thing is, she was faking herself all along. Ever since she met Nick, she pretended to be the 'cool girlfriend' (eventually wife). The one that wouldn't get upset if he missed dates, would buy him beer, get disgusting, and mainly swallow every useless feelings that if brought up and argued - would make her seem like an annoying girlfriend. She says (fake) - she doesn't need a 'dancing monkey' as a bf. But that's exactly what she needs - a puppet. So for her, its tiring, being the cool girlfriend. She could have continued all the way, if it wasn't for Nick's big f*k-up. Nick started to change (like all men do after marriage) and with whip cream on top - he cheated on Amy with a 23 year old (Andie - unimportant to the analysis). For her, Nick was amazing in the beginning. He was everything she wanted, so she pretended to be everything He wanted - basically. But when Nick screwed up, its game time. 

2. His Problem

His main issue was his masculinity. Everything threatened it. Amy was richer than him. He had to borrow money from her to open The Bar. He lost his job, he couldn't provide. She was perfect, he felt incompetent. She grew up the girl everybody looked up to, he was a nobody. Main problem or trigger was his job issue. On top of that, he had parental issues. Useless dad, and a dying mom (eventually died of cancer). Hopeless childhood, parents divorced. However, he had his sister all throughout (Margo). Although, I was thinking, if the Margo character was chipped off, I think it would have no effect to the storyline. When things started to get tough, he wanted to quit. Everything started to annoy him, Amy's voice for example. So when this hot 23 year old comes along - to the room they go. He is shocked he is capable of cheating, but he doesn't flinch.

3. The Mechanism 

How did she do it? Basically, made him run around by remote control. She framed him for her murder (well obviously shes not dead). She is so calculative, she had it all planned out. She staged all the evidence and made him play a treasure hunt (which they do every anniversary - but this time its not funny) that will place him at certain places at certain times. She even faked an entire diary. Its not a one day written diary. To show you how long she has been planning, she actually took a year plus (the duration of him cheating) to write a seven year diary - just to make it seem natural. In the diary of course are fake stories of her being abused and what not. But whats her main motive? Its not to get him into prison. Not at all. She wants the world to know he cheated. Because when the media digs in, they will eventually find out about his affair and he would have to publicly apologize. She wants to humble him. Her moves are so epic, it puts him in a terrible situation. 

Can you read this move?

The picture above. She is the knight in the red box. She literally put him in such a situation where, if he told the media about his mistress, they'd hate him and want to crucify him. If he didn't, his mistress is gonna put it on blast through the media, and they are still gonna hate him. There were many situations like this. This is just one of the shitty situation. The iwannakillmywife desire started to burn in him. But in order to do that, he needs to flush her out, and so he does exactly what she wants. He begs. Begs, begs, begs for her to come back, begs her forgiveness through the media. How does she return? - Amazingly. She makes use of one of her ex. Kills him, but tells the world he raped her multiple times. How, you ask? Well she plans. Everyday while a refugee in his house, she abuses herself with a winebottle, then she keeps twisting some stuff around her ankles and wrists to make it look like she was bound. Yes, she did it for some time. Then one day, just cut his jugular when she was satisfied with Nick's begging for forgiveness on the media. So she not only lets Nick off the hook (because now the media thinks the ex kidnapped her all along), and also she gets a clean return.

4. Is that all?

Just for him to ask for forgiveness? Now what, that she has returned? She wasn't planning to let him go anywhere, do anything. Be her dog - for life. The story continues her mind-fking him into staying. She threatens. First with small things such as some of the attempted murders in the diary[fake]. So he stays awhile. She forces him to sleep with her. She forces him to comb her hair. He pretends, he pretends, but eventually finds himself doing it like a habit. Actually even realizing that, maybe he does really love her. But theres still that small rebellious fire in him, that she has to put out. She even asks for an affidavit (sworn statement that can be used in court) of him saying:

     4.1. He actually cheated on her

     4.2. Thought that she framed him

     4.3 Now everything is okay

     4.4 He loves her.

He then starts to write. Writing his story, hoping to publish it to the world. Took him months to write. Something he could threaten her with. Something he can use to take over control of the marriage. She sees this coming and has the ultimate trump card. The day he shows her the manuscript, she tells him to delete it, because she is now pregnant with his child. So he stays. Mouth shut forever, to be the husband and father. When he threatens with the manuscript, she pats her tummy. Get the point?

He is stuck forever. He, my dear people, is fucked, because he loves the child.

5. Unconditional love

The last justification chapters brings out this theme. For Amy, this is her justification. To love no matter what. So he has to stay, and she will make him stay by whatever means, because - unconditional. There's no right way, there's no wrong way. For her - the definition of love is shallow, visible love. If he treats her really well, makes her happy, takes care of her, its love. So even if he pretends to do this, its fine and good. After all she is pretending to be the cool girlfriend. She wants him to pretend as well, to be the cool husband. The dancing monkey. Step his game up to be an awesome non-cheating husband. For her its acceptable that we fall in love with a fake, because being a fake is hard work, and hard work in a relationship is crucial. So you fake, being the ultimate husband, in the process making the wife happy forever, and the wife, fake being cool, in the process making the husband happy eternally. 

Now, just kill me already.