Chew on this quote from the novel:
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."
Hmmmmm...
Well, it looks like me AND Tate missed the deadline here. It's awfully hypocritical of me to want everyone to read and post by the end of the month, and then to not do it myself. In a way, I'm kind of glad I have been too busy. This book group is not meant to be just another thing that we add to our to-do lists; rather, it is meant to be an enriching and challenging part of our life journeys. And so, with that in mind, I will post my comment as soon as I finish (or start) the Alchemist, and I will do that as soon as I am done with my thesis (60+ pages so far) and my theology paper (will be 25 pages when I am done), which should be in the next week.
ReplyDeleteThank you everyone who has joined in this journey. Whether you have posted every month on time, or have only read one of the books and posted once, your words have been a blessing. Keep up the good work!
So audiobooks are my new favorite thing. I haven't had time to read the Alchemist, but I had a 5 1/2 hour drive up to Visalia and back last weekend so me and Kim listened to the Alchemist along the way. What made it even better was that Jeremy Irons narrated it, and his voices for Santiago and the Alchemist were classic.
ReplyDeleteGiven that I listened to the Alchemist instead of reading it, I don't really have any specific quotes to share, but there were two themes that definitely stood out to me:
First, there was the theme of not losing control of your life and letting the world start to run it for you. This has been big in my life lately in a number of areas. Given my continued schooling, I have felt pressure always to look to the next weekend or the next deadline or the next graduation. In my life with Kim, I have felt at times my mind wandering to the future, how are we going to be financially provided for, when are we going to have kids (not for a LONG time : ] ), when are we going to be good little American homeowners. With my obsession with golf, I have sometimes allowed the desire to improve taint my enjoyment of the process and beauty and fellowship that the game provides for me. This quote from Samuel Johnson keeps coming back to me, “Our desires always increase with our possessions. The knowledge that something remains yet unenjoyed impairs our enjoyment of the good before us.” It is so true. The endless machine of our lives can take over and we lose control of the wheel. I’m not really sure how to stop that from happening, besides just intentionally trying to enjoy the life and beauty constantly surrounding us. This is something I’m definitely working on. This is something that Santiago was naturally good at, as opposed to the Englishman (who I would probably naturally associate myself with).
And second, there was the theme of the omens and the signs of the world. This kind of goes along with the struggle I just mentioned. I never have been very good at recognizing those kinds of things, probably because I am skeptical of their reality. In the story, the omens had power, but in the real world I feel like the only power they hold is in coincidence, and the power we give to them. Maybe that’s enough though. Maybe that’s better than living a life that is so self-absorbed that the beauty of the world and everything around us is ignored. My thoughts go to my friend Nick who is hiking the PCT. That simple existence seems to me to more naturally lend itself to a life that is appreciative of the simplicity and beauty of our surroundings (whether that is the scenery or people or places). Is that true Nick? Or is that simply another case of me looking to the future or something else in order to start appreciating and noticing the world around me instead of taking advantage of that now? Anyone have any advice in order to help appreciate the beauty of the everyday process of life instead of falling prey to the world of deadlines and responsibilities?
Overall, really good and entertaining book, especially when you can listen to Jeremy Irons read it to you. The audiobook route is a good route to go. Many can be checked out for free at a local library, or there are websites that offer them for a monthly fee (kinda like netflix). Or you can find random torrents to download online as well.