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This discussion is for the August �18 Modern Classic/Popular Group Read

The book selected is The Alchemist

*Spoiler-Free Please*

The voting is still on-going so the book selection may change. I got off by a day and announced this the winner and created threads prematurely, fyi. So I just left it in as a placeholder. Same goes for the other thread.

Ok, the final result didn't change and The Alchemist is still the selection.

Joanna

This is very confusing. I thought The Alchemist was the selection for August. This thread says it is for September in the first message. In the last message, you name a different book for September. Please clarify what month and which book.

Nell wrote: "Joanna

This is very confusing. I thought The Alchemist was the selection for August. This thread says it is for September in the first message. In the last message, you name a different book for ..."

Yes, it’s August. Sorry for the confusion! It’s fixed now.

Woohoo. It's nice to see updated pictures for our new reads.

Did anyone else notice that this book has been on the group home page wallpaper all this time? It is (or was at one time) one of the top 10 most widely read books, along with Harry Potter, DaVinci Code and the bible! So this really is a book that everyone has read but us.

I have three other books to read first but they're all short. I'll be reading Siddartha and someone told me it might be interesting to read them together as they're both on a similar quest.

No, I hadn’t noticed! I hope to join in also, checking my library for a physical copy. The wait time for audio and ebook is about 6 weeks unfortunately.

Nancy I really enjoyed Siddhartha! Very quiet and thought-provoking. Happy readings :)

Looking forward to reading this later this month!

I hated this book but I think I am in the minority there. Interested to see what you guys make of it.

Jess you are not in the minority. Its a book people feel they should like. In my rl book group only 12 of the 15 liked it. Most were glad they read it but they found it repetitive.


Jess wrote: "I hated this book but I think I am in the minority there. Interested to see what you guys make of it."

Renee wrote: "Jess you are not in the minority. Its a book people feel they should like. In my rl book group only 12 of the 15 liked it. Most were glad they read it but they found it repetitive.


Jess wrote: "I..."

It wasn't the repetition so much with that I disagreed with the moral and found it overly preachy. But I think that is precisely what a lot of people like about it so maybe it's a marmite book.

I am curious what is a marmite book?

Just downloaded my copy too. Hopefully I'll be able to start soon. Have some other books to finish up first.

Renee wrote: "I am curious what is a marmite book?"

Ah this might be a British term. There is a sandwich spread in the UK called marmite which is famous for being either loved or hated. So if something is loved and hated in equal measures it can be referred to as marmite.

Thank you. I agree the book is definitely a marmite book.

I've begun to think this book and I are jinxed!! I'm on my third copy and this will be my third time starting it in the past two years. This time I hope to get to the end without losing the book or having a not really closed water bottle soak it.

I will try to get to this one this month. I don't know anything about it, but if it is polarizing, I am interested to see what side I will land on.

Hi there! I'm planning to start reading this book today. I think this is one of those books that most of my friends on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ (and not only) have already read it but me. As Jess said, it's a marmite book, I'm curious to see on which side I'm going to end up with it.

I am definitely going to use "marmite book" in the future - accurate and funny.

Some people may be curious to know that the audiobook is narrated by Jeremy Irons. Definitely improves the reading experience. I would listen to that man narrate a textbook.

I’ve had this on my shelves for a couple of years and just haven’t picked it up for no reason. Good excuse to this month! Looking forward to starting it soon :)

Brian wrote: "I am definitely going to use "marmite book" in the future - accurate and funny.

Some people may be curious to know that the audiobook is narrated by Jeremy Irons. Definitely improves the reading e..."

I am going to disagree. Jeremy Irons is wonderful but I felt that the book is better to actually read as opposed to listen to mainly because of all of the nuances that make it more than just a story.

Just my opinion though.

Brady wrote: "Brian wrote: "I am definitely going to use "marmite book" in the future - accurate and funny.

Some people may be curious to know that the audiobook is narrated by Jeremy Irons. Definitely improves..."
Brady wrote, "I am going to disagree. Jeremy Irons is wonderful but I felt that the book is better to actually read as opposed to...."

I love Irons' voice, but as I noted in the spoilers discussion, I felt he adopted a scolding tone at some points that was distracting and probably made it "feel" different than reading w/o listening.

Picked this up from the library the other day & will be starting it tonight. Seems like it will be a decently fast read.

This is the March 2020 Catch-Up group read! Don't forget that this is the spoiler-free thread.

Is this a reread for you? What have people told you about this coming-of-age novel? Have you read any other Paulo Coelho books?

No, this going to by my first time reading his work. My mother says it's his best work and she seemed happy to lend me her copy. Now I'm worried it may be tooth rottingly sweet.

It going tobe fun to see if anyone likes it this time

Haha Renee I couldn't agree with you more. I will be surprised... I don't want to try it again.

I've read The Witch of Portobello and it was good. I haven't read this one yet though.

I didn't like Alchemist, but that might have been just me. I just don't like the genre and style, I felt like everything was too confusing and too in my face at the same time. I hope you guys like it though, I know many people who found great comfort reading this.

I'm actually thinking about re-reading this again for this. I had to read this for school few years ago and I might have been too young to understand it properly so I want to give this a proper chance this time.

I've never tried this but will for this group.