Books and Movies similar to the Alchemist

     The Alchemist can be compared to the movie The Sandlot.  In this movie, there is a boy nicknamed "Smalls," he struggles fitting into his new community and finding friends to hang out with.  His dream is to find friends and develop the basic skills of playing baseball.  Later a boy named Benny feels sorry for him, and becomes his first real friend.  Benny teaches him how to play baseball and introduces him to his close-knit baseball crew, they play in a sandlot that is pretty worn down but it is almost the boy's second home.  Smalls fits in with them after a few rough days of criticism and failed attempts to pick up the game of baseball.  In the end, he becomes one of then best players and ends up with a second family.  For all these boys, baseball was life.  The connection that can be seen is that Benny acted as the "King" in the Alchemist, not only did he help guide "Smalls" into the community, but he also helped him achieve his dream of becoming a good baseball player.  The "King" guided Santiago to his dream. "Smalls" and Santiago are alike because they were the main characters trying to achieve their dreams.  The Sandlot was a truly inspiring movie and I would recommend it to anyone who liked the Alchemist.

     Next, a book that can be related to the Alchemist would be the Eat, Pray, Love.  In this book, a woman named Elizabeth Gilbert feels unhappy in her marriage, and an ugly divorce takes place.  She feels the need to be free and start a new experience.  Like Santiago, she doesn't take many possessions with her when she takes a road trip to discover herself.  Her road trip consisted of going to Italy, India, then Indonesia.  Along the way she experiences the pleasures of life through food in Italy, praying in India, and in the end she finds her true love in Indonesia.  This book shows how this woman took the courage to leave behind something she was familiar with and completely embracing a new experience to find happiness and peace.  Santiago did the same, he was comfortable with his flock, but he didn't seem fully satisfied, he felt like he needed more adventure and that's exactly what he did.  

     Through these examples, it can be seen that no matter how big or small the obstacles people are faced with, it is possible to achieve ones dream as long as they are willing and strong.  The Sandlot and Eat, Pray, Love are astounding.  These books/movies really do have the potential to inspire as well as teach about the beauty of chasing a dream, and the rewards from it.