Book Review- The Archer by Paulo Coelho

Archer with companion

 

Image from Internet

Disclaimer- This book review is majorly a self-contemplation. The personalized meaning derived from books vis-à-vis life experiences. The quotes are used directly from the book.

This sleek volume (barely one hour read) is filled up with a profound message of the archer. This book is an experience and requires re-reading (A New Year self-promise!!). Paulo Coelho reflected in these few pages numerous values that facilitate everyone’s day-to-day work: companionship, flexibility, adaptation to changes, passion, collaboration.

This book is a life-changer or not will bank upon relatively on what the reader brings to… and seeks from its pages. For some this book may deliver deep truth in spare sentences; for others, this metaphoric tale could be a trite yawn. 

"The Archer" relates the tale of Tetsuya, the best archer in the country, who disseminates his teachings to a boy in his village. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya demonstrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life. Paulo Coelho's story suggests that living without an alliance between action and soul cannot fulfill, that a life constricted by a concern of rejection or failure is not a life worth living. Rather, one must take risks, mold courage, and embrace the surprising journey destiny has to offer. With wisdom, simplicity, and compassion Paulo Coelho provides the framework for a rewarding life: hard work, passion, purpose, thoughtfulness, the readiness to fail, and the impulse to make a difference.

The following quotations from “The Archer” have now become part of my thinking notebook. I believe that each of these quotes need in-depth deliberation …and action to experience plausible meaning. 

Quote 01- 

Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt, and then take more risks. Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticize those who do not think like them, people who have never once taken a step unless they were sure they would be respected for doing so, and who prefer certainties to doubts. Join with those who are open and not afraid to be vulnerable: they understand that people can improve only once they start looking at what their fellows are doing, not to judge them, but to admire them for their dedication and courage.

Quote 02-

They have the qualities of water: flowing around rocks, adapting to the course of the river, sometimes forming into a lake until the hollow fills to overflowing, and they can continue on their way, because water never forgets that the sea is its destiny and that sooner or later it must be reached.

Quote 03-

We should never judge people without first learning to hear and to respect them.

Quote 04- 

Use your bad moments to discover what makes you tremble. Use your good moments to find your road to inner peace. But do not stop either out of fear or joy: the way of the bow has no end.

Quote 05-

The bow is life: the source of all energy. The arrow will leave one day. The target is a long way off. But the bow will stay with you, and you must know how to look after it. It requires periods of inaction— a bow that is always armed and braced loses its strength. Therefore, allow it to rest, to recover its firmness; then, when you draw the bowstring, the bow will be content, with all its strength intact.