GOC Book of the Month: April
Good news, fellow book nerds – Geeks of Color has started a Goodreads book club and we are doing a book challenge. The challenge began this month and will continue for the rest of the year. Here are the challenge rules and the link to our Goodreads page where you can find each month’s theme:
– Choose any book that fits the theme of the month. Novels, comic books, short stories – they all count!
– Find suggestions and make recommendations in the main topic post under the month
– Create a new discussion topic inside the month’s folder for your book so you can discuss it with others who have also read it or are interested in reading it
– TAG YOUR SPOILERS!https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19284292-2018-reading-challenge-themes-and-rules
Since our Goodreads theme for April is philosophy, we are sticking with that theme for our April book of the month. This month we recommend The Alchemist by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.
Paulo Coelho’s most famous work is The Alchemist. If you have read and enjoyed this book, some of his other works to look into include The Pilgrimage and Brida. Coelho has a very interesting background. He was born in Brazil into a traditional family that did not approve of him being a writer. After briefly enrolling in law school to satisfy his parents, he dropped out and lived what some would call a “hippy lifestyle”, moving around and living in places such as North Africa, Mexico, and South America. During this time he also worked as a song writer. Upon returning to Brazil, he was arrested by their military government, who viewed his songs as leftist and dangerous. In 1986, Coelho embarked on a 500 mile walk down the Road of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, and he describes this as a “life changing event” and a “spiritual awaking” that lead him to pursue writing as he always wanted to. Only two years later he published The Alchemist.
This philosophical and allegorical novel, published in the late 80’s, follows a young shepherd boy as he goes on a journey to the Egyptian pyramids after he has had many dreams of himself finding treasure there. The Alchemist carries strong themes of following your personal dreams, oneness with the nature around us, and that fear is often times our enemy holding us back. Here is a quote from the book to get you hooked!:
“We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
