| It's a choice store because of its selection
of quality used books. I picked up copies of two books that
had been recommended to me for some time: Paulo Coelho's The
Alchemist and Daniel Quinn's The
Story of B. Both are adventures... well, uncommon adventures.
The
Alchemist could have jumped off the shelf, and I would have
had the same reaction when I saw it across from the cash register.
Carlos Nagel, a good friend from Tucson, Arizona - though I
would suspect he would say he is "from many places" - told me
I had to read this. Subtitled "A fable about follow in your
dreams," The
Alchemist (available in Spanish as El Alchemista) delivers
the goods. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho's clear language translates
easily in any language and underscores the simplicity in this
hero's journey.
Young Santiago, a shepherd boy, follows a particular dream
to the Egyptian pyramids. While Santiago's pilgrimage may be
following his dream, it's certainly not blissful. True to life,
the hero continually gets robbed, pummeled or deceived. But
these are lessons and despite the incessant string of frustrations
and misteps, Santiago continues his journey.
Early on, Santiago meets with an old man, the King of Salem,
who sets not only the story in motion, but the book's lesson:
"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping
you to achieve it." This wonderful philosophy is repeated throughout
the book, but such optimistic thinking does not mean that a
journey through life is without perils.
Santiago perseveres and follows a series of omens to his sought-after
treasure. More importantly, he uncovers the truth about his
destiny - that which mysterious forces continually guide us
toward. And he meets the novel's title character, the alchemist,
only in the last section of the book. On their mutual trek through
the desert, Santiago asks, "Why don't people's hearts tell them
to continue to follow their dreams?
"Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts
don't like to suffer."
Santiago learns to see omens as well as other human beings
clearly. He develops a sense of whether a person was near to
or far from his or her destiny. Think of all of the bureaucrats
whose hearts are not in their jobs, or those who believe that
they will have time to pursue their dreams after they retire.
This tale shows, there are alternatives. The
Alchemist is a fable extolling the pleasures and challenges
of behing human. It's a must-read.
To find Daniel Quinn's The
Story of B I had to search the back rooms of the store.
No, the book wasn't in the general fiction category but placed
in the fantasy and science fiction section. "Not that I have
anything against science fiction," the bookstore manager told
me.
The
Story of B repeats much of his environmental ethics discussed
in Quinn's previous bestseller Ishamel.
This time he offers a radical spy thriller that plunks deep
ecology into the mainstream.
The book's plot seems to fill in the space between the discourses
of a mysterioud figure "B" lecturing on the European coffeehouse
circuit. Our hero is Jared Osborne, a simple priest. His mission
is to uncover "B"'s identity and mission. There are some in
the chruch who believe that "B" is the Antichrist. Despite his
best intentions, Jared becomes enamored "B" and the coffeehouse
lectures.
Characters are relatively unimportant in this book, as Quinn
focuses his attention on developing his environmental philosophy.
The book deals with our modern understanding of "pre-history."
What happened before we got ourselves cities and other forms
of civilization? How did we forget or ignore the millions of
years of humanity?
It was another good friend, Mary Uebersax, who steered me
toward this book. When Mary and I were discussing the merits
of organic agriculture, she pointed out the problems with traditional
agriculture: it monopolizes crops for human consumption. Quinn
- labeling this "totalitarian" explains:
"Totalitarian agriculture is based on the premise that all
the food in the world belongs to us, and there is no limit whatever
to what we may take for ourselves and deny to others. We hunt
down our competitors, we destroy their food, and we deny them
access to food."
Quinn calls for a change in culture, the way we understand
how our human destiny is intimately connected with the world.
As our population continues to expand, we grow more food - the
more food we grow the less other species have access to.
The growing rate of extinctions does not bode well for the
planet or our species. Quinn's solution - we need to change.
"We are not humanity," he writes, "we are a culture." We can
learn, we can change - we can follow the lessons of those who
indeed have found ways to live in harmony with the world. Quinn
points out the success of tribal peoples - in a way that does
not patronize or sanctify "indigenous peoples."
Because I found Quinn's previous book Ishmael was both captivating
and inspiring, I expected the same from this one. The
Story of B is a good read - but without well-drawn characters,
it would make a lousy movie. If I'm disappointed though, it's
because I think Quinn has to be one of the best thinkers of
our time. Pick up any of his books and you'll see the world
in a different light.
Perhaps it was going back home to Indiana to find these gems
of wisdom in a favorite bookstore that endear them to me. But
these novels - bestsellers both - are not just idiosyncratic,
political tracts. They speak of a hunger for knowledge as well
as innate wisdom found the world over. Together, both novels
call for deeper understanding - of our own personal lives and
our collective lives as one of earth's species.
You may or may not be able to find these books in your favorite
bookstore. To use Amazon.com to order The Story of B,
click here.
To order The Alchemist, click here.
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