The Alchemist
Classic · Fiction, Fantasy, Philosophy
The Alchemist
1988 · 181 pages · Fiction
65.6Must-Read
Score Classic
Score Classic
Lifetime bestseller
≈ 5 hours to read · about 10 days at 30 minutes a day
Is it worth reading?
On 2 canon lists, including PBS Great American Read. One of the best-selling books ever (about 150 million copies).
By the numbers
65.6Must-Read Score
- Readers6 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller94 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #270 of the 461 fantasy books we rank
- #517 of the 763 classics we rank
- #1804 of the 2,819 books we rank
Bestseller
- One of the best-selling books ever (about 150 million copies)
- 449 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2008
On the lists
- PBS Great American Read
- BBC's The Big Read
Reads as
Thought-provoking, Adventurous, Moving
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