Aleph by Paulo Coelho - Book Review

There is no denying the prominence of Paulo Coelho as an author, especially in the self-development category.

This is accurately emphasized by the fact that his book, The Alchemist remains one of the most influential books in its category.

As great as that might seem, writing such a success, like The Alchemist can diminish the spotlight from the other respectable works of the author. However, this wasn’t the case with Aleph.

Aleph is the most personable book of the self-help giant. It is written in the first person and uncovers the journey of a successful writer fighting his life’s seeming staleness.

Paulo once again uses the pivotal push to the storyline using the mentor’s angle. The pieces are set in motion after the writer decides to alter the shape of his life, by moving forwards towards new ventures.

This decision takes him on a spiritual awakening journey that unlocks ancestral traumas, lost love, and deeply buried guilt. Like most of Coelho’s work, it doesn’t exactly fall under the mainstream motivational work umbrella; there’s always a tad of wonderment added to it.

This storyline can almost resemble the amazing journey of self-discovery, and reaching unattainable heights of gratitude and peace, like the one in Cloud Atlas.

One thing that differentiates this book from its predecessors is the amount of romance in the story. Despite it being a romantic relationship that can never reach its fruition, it is still incremented beautifully in the plot.

While each of Paulo’s books has a unique tone and theme to it, they all have one thing in common, which is the basis of Paulo’s appeal in the first place.

Paulo mainly attracts people who view life as a journey, and try to focus solely on the big picture, while just glancing on the inconsequential intricacies. Aleph definitely follows that notion, rather impeccably.