The Alchemist review

I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.  It is a fairly short novel and an "easy" read, but one that is loaded with quotes to ponder and thoughts to meditate on.

First, I must say I don't believe God is literally in everything nor do I believe everything has a soul.  I do believe God's fingerprints are on everything.  He created everything in this universe, so just as we can see glimpses of an artist in his work, so we can see glimpses of God in everything He has created.  If we immerse ourselves in nature and learn more about what God has created, we will see Him and learn more about Him.

"But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here." (p. viii)

In that quote Mr. Coelho is referring to not feeling guilty about getting what we want, but to accept what we have been given.  Not to "forget about all obstacles we overcame, all the sufferings we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far." (p. viii)  We should not refuse the gifts God gives us because we feel we do not deserve them.  "...every blessing ignored becomes a curse."  (p. 58)

"...for her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." (p. 27)

"The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."  (p. 32)

The shepherd learns to listen to everything--to nature, to the animals, and to the people around him.  He learns lessons from them all.  The "omens" he follows are the whispers of the still, small voice leading him in the direction he needs to go.

"If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path." (p. 89)

"Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children." (p. 103)

The basic premise of the book follows a shepherd who has the same dream twice and decides he must follow the path on which it is leading him.  His dream must be fulfilled, and he must not give it up.  "People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them." (p. 130)

This resonated with me.  I paused my reading quite a few times and thought about what my "dream" was.  What was it in my life that I have felt called to do since I was young?  What was that thing that I started doing when I was younger "because I didn't know better"?  

"From then on, the boy understood his heart.  He asked it, please, never to stop speaking to him.  He asked that, when he wandered far from his dreams, his heart press him and sound the alarm.  The boy swore that, every time he heard the alarm, he would heed its message." (p. 132)

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." (p. 141)

Am I ignoring my calling, my dream, because I'm afraid to fail?  Definitely.  Who wants to have people tell you that you're not good at the one thing you think you're supposed to do?  Perhaps even worse yet, who wants people to look at the thing you have produced and say, "Meh"?! 

The book has wonderful thoughts about continuing on your path even when there are pauses along the way.  Even when life gets hard.  It has inspired me, along with other "omens" God has brought into my life at this time, to get back to work.  I don't need to be afraid.

Then it probably should have ended.  Because the ending was a little disappointing.  The epilogue was even worse.

Because I like the idea of God taking us up to the "mountaintop" literally or figuratively and then, when we expect an earthbound treasure, an earth-shattering revelation, or something that will show us the secret to the universe, He simply turns to us with a grin and, with a flourish and perhaps a twinkle in His eye, shows us the brilliant view saying, "See?  Pretty amazing, huh?"

It's not a wild goose chase.  It wasn't a waste of time.  It just wasn't what WE were expecting.  And surprisingly enough, it is a treasure, it should be an earth-shattering revelation, and it shows us GOD, Who is THE Secret of the universe.

Lord willing, I will always remember the treasure I am seeking is only God.  I only need His approval.  I only need to follow Him.  I only need to glorify Him in everything I do.

Gone Girl review

I just finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn yesterday.  I will start off by saying I probably would have stopped a few pages in if I hadn't been reading it for book club.  It sounded interesting and the premise was fairly clever, but reading it was a chore.  There were times when I was so disgusted, I felt ill.  Frankly, I wouldn't care if this book was well-written (which it isn't), the subject matter alone makes it horrid.

[WARNING: Serious spoilers ahead.  Do not continue reading if you do not want to know the story.]

It was written in first person, which, I have decided, can be quite a lazy way of writing.  You can excuse your poor grammar, lack of imagination, and obsessive use of profanity because "that's how the character would act/think/speak."  Lazy.  

I won't go on and on about the profanity, but one paragraph...  It drives me crazy because it is happening more and more.  I understand people swear, and to each his own, but why are we using it so much in print?  What happened to creativity and using actual words?  Profanity implies lack of self-control and imagination.  Your brain is taken up with other functions--pain, frustration, fear--so you resort to cursing.  Completely understandable.  But if you do it all the time, where are your other more intelligent words going?  Obviously, in some ways we seem to be getting less intelligent, at least American society, though I know it is happening in other countries as well.  Texting does not happen in complete sentences or even complete words.  It doesn't matter if you spell everything incorrectly.  We are changing spelling and grammar rules to be "more natural" for everyone to use.  I could go on, but I'll stop.  Right after I praise author William Joyce for writing children's books that use a larger vocabulary to broaden our children's minds, rather than talking down to them.  Bravo.

Profanity aside, this book focused on two utterly dysfunctional people.  One an extreme psychopath, the other an extreme co-dependent mess.  SPOILER: But, hey, let's keep them married and living "happily" in the end.  Sounds like a great idea.  No consequences for all!  Lovely.  And this is what our society has become.  If you can get away with murder, especially if "they deserve it," go for it.  Definitely if you're not actually hurting anyone, go for it.  No consequences for the psychopath keeping her husband terrified of being killed in his sleep so he will stay married to her.  No consequences to the absolute evil of bringing a child into this dysfunctional catastrophe.

This book is basically saying it is okay to degrade and abuse someone else, as long as they are "okay" with it.  Or as long as you can guilt them into thinking they are okay with it.  Or threatening them enough that they have to be okay with it.  Allowing violence in some areas, opens the door for it in others.  At the very least, it leaves the door open for excuses.  Counseling might be helpful.  There are quite a few more books that are glorifying masochistic behavior and it needs to stop.  There is a reason it is defined as a "sexual perversion."  It's not healthy.  It makes me angry that society has embraced one trilogy in particular.  It makes me even more angry that some women are thinking maybe that's what is missing in their marriages or relationships.  It will not "spice up" your sex life.  It will slowly but utterly destroy it.  Your marriage is NOT missing violence, no matter how "mild" you think it is.  I promise.  If you think it is, again, counseling might help.

We are sliding quickly into the foul, depraved Roman lifestyle.  Well, we were already there, but we're getting worse.  We've already covered most of the Colosseum-type behavior with all of the disgusting reality shows on TV right now.  Rome FELL, people.

Back to this horrific book.  The violence and anger these two people feel toward each other is disturbing.  The fact that the woman is SO conniving and messed up that she would plan everything a year in advance is a problem right there.  I kept hoping she would "get what was coming to her."  Or something.  Anything.  But no, she gets her doting husband back because he's terrified of her and he can't kill her because somehow he "can't imagine life without her."  I don't like reading books unless the killer is brought to justice in the end.  I applaud Denzel Washington for only playing the bad guy if he is properly defeated (or thoroughly destroyed) in the end.  There is no justice in this book.  Nothing but a "happy" ending for a woman who nearly destroyed at least two lives, killed a man in cold blood, and then is having a baby she doesn't even want to keep a man she doesn't even truly care for and who very nearly hates her.  Dreadful.