Paulo Coelho

I would like to ask you if you think that Santiago would have eventually found God in the seminary? One of my students and I were discussing how interesting it would be if you were to write a parallel novel to The Alchemist where Santiago actually does listen to his parents and does attend the seminary. What would his road be like there?

I can’t answer this since I would be re-writing something that has already an existence of its own. Of course, I can always wonder…

The Alchemist was thought at the time as a metaphor for my life. I wanted to tell my story through the life of a spanish shepard that goes after his dream. What would happen if I had never written my books? This would be as the story of a Santiago that never leaves his father and family. By putting things under this light – it becomes clearer to me: he would have abandoned his dream, his personal legend. The consequences of that would be dying while being alive.