The Alchemist is a novel by Paulo Coelho first published in the year 1988. Originally written in Portuguese by its Brazilian-born author, it has been translated into at least 56 languages as of September 2012. The book is an international bestseller. According to AFP, it has sold more than 65 million copies in 56 different languages, becoming one of the best-selling books in history and setting the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.
Coelho wrote The Alchemist in only two weeks in 1987. He explained he was able to write at this pace because the story was "already written in his soul".
The book’s main theme is about finding one’s destiny. According to The New York Times, The Alchemist is “more self-help than literature”. An old king tells Santiago, “when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”. This is the core of the novel’s philosophy and a motif that plays all throughout Coelho’s writing in The Alchemist.