1 The Alchemist is a story told fable-style. It has the feel of a story passed down through the ages; yet, it was written in 1988 in Portuguese. It has since been translated into many languages and sold 21 million copies worldwide. It reminds me of The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom and The Immortal Nicholas by Glenn Beck. Each book has the main character go through an epic journey to tell us a lesson about the true meaning of life.