Categories | Genre Fiction |
Author | Paulo Coelho |
Publisher | Random House Large Print; Large type / Large print edition (November 24, 2020) |
Language | English |
Paperback | 160 pages |
Item Weight | 6.4 ounces |
Dimensions |
5.02 x 0.34 x 7.71 inches |
I. Book introduction
In The Archer we meet Tetsuya, a man once famous for his prodigious gift with a bow and arrow but who has since retired from public life, and the boy who comes searching for him. The boy has many questions, and in answering them Tetsuya illustrates the way of the bow and the tenets of a meaningful life. Paulo Coelho’s story suggests that living without a connection between action and soul cannot fulfill, that a life constricted by fear of rejection or failure is not a life worth living. Instead one must take risks, build courage, and embrace the unexpected journey fate has to offer.
With the wisdom, generosity, simplicity, and grace that have made him an international best seller, Paulo Coelho provides the framework for a rewarding life: hard work, passion, purpose, thoughtfulness, the willingness to fail, and the urge to make a difference.
Editorial Reviews
- “[Coelho’s] books have had a life-enhancing effect on millions of people.” —The Times (London)
- “His writing is like a path of energy that inadvertently leads readers to themselves, toward their mysterious and faraway souls.” —Le Figaro
About the Author (Paulo Coelho)
Paulo Coelho is the author of “The Alchemist“, he was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Being the author of 30 books that have sold over 320 million copies in 170 countries, he has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. Paulo Coelho has been a United Nations Messenger of Peace since 2007 and this has allowed him to continue to promote intercultural dialogue and to focus on the needs of children. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and the recipient of over 115 awards and honours, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Grinzane Cavour Book Award and the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, to name a few.
Paulo Coelho was born on 24 August 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and attended a Jesuit school. At age 17, Coelho’s parents committed him to a mental institution from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. Coelho later remarked that “It wasn’t that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn’t know what to do… They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me.”
On his parents’ wishes, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of becoming a writer. One year later, he dropped out and lived life as a hippie, travelling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and started using drugs in the 1960s.
Other titles include “The Pilgrimage”, “Brida”, “The Supreme Gift”, “The Valkyries”, “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”, “Maktub”, “The Fifth Mountain”, “Manual of the Warrior of Light”, “Veronika Decides to Die”, “The Devil and Miss Prym”, “Stories for Parents, Children and Grandchildren”, “Eleven Minutes”, “The Zahir”, “Like the Flowing River”, “The Witch of Portobello”, “The Winner Stands Alone”, “Aleph”, “Manuscript Found in Accra”, “Adultery”, “The Spy”, “Hippie”. Also “Journey” guided journal.
II. Reviewer: The Archer by Paulo Coelho
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1. MEGS reviews The Archer
This book has very mixed reviews, which I read after I read it myself. Reading those reviews had me questioning my own experience, but I can only share what I felt.
This is a very quick read and only very small parts of it include a story. The majority of it is an analogy and uses brief, simple terms to explain it.
This simple analogy will make you think. It can be related to any part of life and isn’t specific enough to give you a step by step guide to achieving your goals. But to me that is the point. This book wants you to think for yourself, to be brave and make mistakes in translating its meaning, to determine what it is saying to you. Not what it is saying to someone else.
There are plenty of self help books for those looking for guided plans but this is not one of them. Look to this book if you are in the mood for a more zen, thought provoking idea that will encourage you to come up with your own answers.
2. COLM HOLLAND reviews The Archer
What a delight to receive Paulo’s latest bestseller this week – it is a wonderful book for several reasons. It’s a beautiful keepsake volume with inspiring illustrations by award-winning illustrator Christoph Niemann that are in perfect harmony with the subject of this book: inspirational meditations on Zen and the art of archery.
Zen Buddhism can, for those of us growing up in the west, be very difficult to grasp with it’s multiple paradoxes, but this book eases the reader into the very essence of the philosophy through the analogy of archery. As Paulo says in his blog, ‘It is a short book, you don’t need to complicate things. In fact, life is simple. We complicate a lot. And a fable or allegory talks to the hidden parts of ourselves.’
Why did Paulo choose the art of archery to reveal the life-art of Zen? Besides being a weapon of war, in many ancient texts on Buddhism, listed among the sacred implements is the bow and arrow. The premise is simple; by understanding the art of archery, we can learn the art of Zen – which is the art of life. In addition to this, archery is Paulo’s favourite sports pastime, so he has a knowledge of the intricacies of the skills needed.
What can we learn from archery about Zen and the art of life? Through his poetic and soulful thoughts, Paulo offers insights into a number of key lessons from Zen:
Know and respect your allies in the contest, while learning from their successes and failures.
The bow is your greatest asset and is the source of your energy.
Your intention is within the arrow.
The object of your focus is the target.
How you execute a successful shot – from your posture, through letting fly the arrow, to hitting the target – is the same as the skills you need in life.
The Archer will not leave my bedside and my guess is over many years, I will subliminally commit most of the wisdom it imparts to memory. Even if I never become a full time student of Zen Buddhism, I will at least have learned to adopt it’s most essential life enriching lessons by making this book my daily companion.
Thank you Paulo!
3. MIILKYTAE reviews The Archer
“If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make. Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.”
This was a short but yet very inspiring book✨ Paulo Coelho’s writing really never disappoints~ As someone that took archery lessons for a few months about two years ago this book made me want to go back to that time and try to adapt to the teachings that were mentioned here. I learned a lot of things through this book that could be used in archery lessons and also in our daily lives. Also reminder that this book is not a novel but rather about inspiring teachings about archery, following your dreams and being one with your intentions…
4. LAURA reviews The Archer
In Coelho’s usual fashion, The Archer is poignant but uplifting! Using the craft of archery as an analogy for how to approach life, we watch as a master archer instructs a young pupil, with anecdotes and advice.
The illustrations were absolutely adorable as well!
5. CLIMB THE STACKS reviews The Archer
Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom
I found this small compact book very much chalk full of wisdom with a different type of yoga explained with living life in changing how you see God, intuition, and wisdom itself. I loved the artwork accompanied with the fictional story of a man teaching a way to see and live his path to another. Beautiful writing that is very much Paulo Coelho and, in my opinion, no one can match in the art of ‘his’ style. If there was a higher rating system, The Archer would be higher than 5 stars. My favorite part is when you find out where everything goes inside the bowstring. Read this book, you won’t regret it!
A book of supreme spiritually for everyone to enjoy.
On to the next!!!
6. RJG MCMANUS reviews The Archer
Excellent wisdom
Every once in a while, a book comes along and soothes your soul, encourages your heart, and leaves you full of hope and a renewed sense of purpose.
If you follow books by Paulo Coelho, that feeling comes fairly frequently.
Coelho’s new book, The Archer, was the encouragement I didn’t know I needed this month. I was first introduced to his work when I was gifted a copy of The Alchemist in high school, and since then, I will regularly turn to his books when I need something to put my heart at peace.
The Archer does just that. The story is about a man named Tetsuya, who was once a famous archer, a man who comes to challenge him, and a boy who witnesses the challenge. After the challenge, the boy asks Tetsuya to teach him the ways of the bow, and how he too can become a master. The book comprises of Tetsuya’s advice and wisdom for the boy–wisdom that extends beyond archery and can be applied to the lives of all who read it, advice that we can each integrate into our own crafts and passions. We can all be masters, if only we try.
Especially with being a newly self-published author of my first book, and admittedly some of the discouragement and frustrations that come along with that which I occasionally feel, I needed to read Coelho’s words. It was the encouragement and balm for my soul I didn’t even know I needed when I first picked it up. It’s a quick, easy read — I got it done in a little over an hour while my husband drove us home from visiting family for Thanksgiving — but its impact lasts much longer. It’s also visually lovely, the illustrations within it beautiful and simple.
Definitely an excellent read, and good for anyone who is striving for their goals and dreams. I give it a well-deserved five-star rating.
7. ARAN JOSEPH CANES reviews The Archer
A Meditation on What Makes for Success in Life
It might be easier to explain Paulo Coelho’s The Archer by stating what it is not. It’s not a book on spirituality despite many spiritual passages. It’s not an introduction to Eastern or Western religions though it draws inspiration from both. It’s also not a guide to meditation even though it’s written in a meditative spirit.
Instead it’s more a guide to life or what the ancients called ethics. By using the extended analogy of archery, Coelho means to impart a way of living to the reader: essentially, the need to treat life as a goal driven endeavor where proper preparation is necessary to attain mastery.
According to Coelho one should choose goals but know that one will never perfectly hit the target. One must cultivate allies who take their practice as seriously yet joyfully as you do. It is necessary to alternate relaxation and pressure just as a properly strung bowstring.
It’s hard to think of anyone who would object to this kind of advice. The major objection will be that all of this is obvious, we all learned this as kids, etc. But, like many teachings, the difficulty is not in skimming through the book in fifteen minutes, it’s in putting into practice the lessons Coelho imparts. If one carefully makes the maxims and lessons of this book their own, it’s hard to imagine not undergoing a significant improvement in one’s life experience.
Highly recommended to all who seek reminders and wise advice on the art of being human.
8. NATE PETTIT reviews The Archer
Great content but shorter than you might think!
I have read and recommended The Alchemist many, many times so I didn’t hesitate to buy The Archer. I saw that it was listed at 160 pages for the paperback and 112 pages for the Kindle version. I opted for the Kindle version and found that a great majority of the “pages” are between 1 and 3 sentences long.
I ended up finishing the book in a little under 20 minutes. I’m still giving this book 5 stars because I loved the content and message. Nearly every page, short as they may have been, still contained great messages that will stick with you after you complete the book. I just wanted to throw this out there in case you were expecting 110-160 pages of Paulo Coelho goodness; you are probably looking at closer to 40-60 pages if you condense the words into “normal” sized pages.
9. TIFFANY reviews The Archer
This is my first book by Coelho, though I have quite a few of his books in my collection. I don’t know what’s taken me so long to read his work, and I can’t say why his newest book is the first I’ve read, but I’m a new fan! “The Archer” can be interpreted in so many ways – as a lesson on life, following your dreams, honing your craft, overcoming your demons – all of these can be takeaways from this elegantly written story.
The illustrations were beautiful, as well. The simplistic – yet highly metaphorical – language within this tale is poetic and inspiring. Coelho has penned a book that I will return to on multiple occasions throughout my life.
I would recommend this book to fans of Coelho, and for readers looking for inspirational prose through the form of fable-like, or almost mythological, storytelling.
10. BREOBA reviews The Archer
Don’t go into it thinking it’s going to be a novel. After finishing this book, I had to take a second to comprehend what I just read. I sat there thinking about how this book relates to my own life, my own experiences, how I handle situations, what I want to do, what direction I want to go. For me, it was a great source of self reflection and it truly depends on your own interpretation. It was thought provoking with the beautiful metaphors. I would highly recommend!
III. The Archer Quotes by Paulo Coelho
The best book quotes from The Archer by Paulo Coelho
“People always judge others by taking as a model their own limitations, and other people’s opinions are often full of prejudice and fear. Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt and then take more risks. Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticise 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.”
“But never hold back from firing the arrow if all that paralyses you is fear of making a mistake. If you have made the right movements, open your hand and release the string. Even if the arrow fails to hit the target, you will learn how to improve your aim next time.”
“Join with those who sing, tell stories, take pleasure in life, and have joy in their eyes, because joy is contagious and can prevent others from becoming paralyzed by depression, loneliness, and difficulties.”
“If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make. Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.”
“Serenity comes from the heart. Although the heart is often tormented by thoughts of insecurity, it knows that – through correct posture – it will be able to do its best.”
“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.”
“Therefore, before you begin anything, seek out your allies, people who are interested in what you are doing. I’m not saying ‘seek out other archers’.”
“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 out of joy.”“What is a master? I would say that he is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to do his best to discover a knowledge he already has in his soul.”
“We should never judge people without first learning to hear and to respect them.”
“A prayer without a deed is an arrow without a bow-string; A deed without a prayer is a bow-string without an arrow. ELLA WHEELER WILCOX”
“Continue in the way of the bow, for it is a whole life’s journey, but remember that a good, accurate shot is very different from one made with peace in your soul.”
“Each arrow flies differently. You can shoot a thousand arrows and each one will follow a different trajectory: that is the way of the bow.”
“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 bow-string, the bow will be content, with all its strength intact.”
“Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.”
“Now, a few minutes ago, you called me master. What is a master: I would say that he is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to do his best to discover a knowledge he already has in his soul.”
“But never hold back from firing the arrow if all that paralyzes you is fear of making a mistake. If you ave made the right movements, open your hand and release the string. Even if the arrow fails to hit the target, you will learn how to improve your aim next time.
If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make.
Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.”“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.”
“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 in order to judge them, but to admire them for their dedication and courage.”“On a day when you are out of love with life, your aim will be confused, difficult.”
“Every second since then has been a struggle against my vices and against self-pity. I need to remain focused and calm, to do the work I chose to do with love, and never to cling to the present moment, because death is still very close, the abyss is there beside me, and I am walking along the edge.”
“The gesture is the incarnation of the verb; that is, an action is a thought made manifest.”
“they are people who are not afraid of making mistakes and who do, therefore, make mistakes, which is why their work often goes unrecognised.”
“You know how to shoot when all the circumstances are favourable, but if you are on dangerous ground, you cannot hit the target. The archer cannot always choose the battlefield, so start your training again and be prepared for unfavourable situations. Continue in the way of the bow, for it is a whole life’s journey, but remember that a good, accurate shot is very different from one made with peace in your soul.”
“Elegance is achieved when everything superfluous has been discarded,”
“Serenity comes from the heart. Although the heart is often tormented by thoughts of insecurity, it knows that —through correct posture— it will be able to do its best.”
“Join with those who have never said: ‘Right, that’s it, I’m going no further,’ because as sure as spring follows winter, nothing ever ends; after achieving your objective, you must start again, always using everything you have learned on the way.
Join with those who sing, tell stories, take pleasure in life, and have joy in their eyes, because joy is contagious and can prevent others from becoming paralyzed by depression, loneliness, and difficulties.”“It was chosen by the archer and though it is a long way off, we cannot blame it when we fail to hit it. In this lies the beauty of the way of the bow: you can never excuse yourself by saying that your opponent was stronger than you.”
“There are two types of shot. The first is the shot made with great precision, but without any soul. In this case, although the archer may have a great mastery of technique, he has concentrated solely on the target and because of this he has not evolved, he has become stale, he has not managed to grow, and, one day, he will abandon the way of the bow because he finds that everything has become mere routine. The second type of shot is the one made with the soul. When the intention of the archer is transformed into the flight of the arrow, his hand opens at the right moment, the sound of the string makes the birds sing, and the gesture of shooting something over a distance provokes —paradoxically enough— a return to and an encounter with oneself.”
“The gesture is the incarnation of the verb, that is, an action is a thought made manifest. A small gesture betrays us, so we must polish everything, think about details, learn the technique in such a way that it becomes intuitive. Intuition has nothing to do with routine, but with a state of mind that is beyond technique. So, after much practising, we no longer think about the necessary movements, they become part of our own existence. But for this to happen, you must practise and repeat. And if that isn’t enough, you must repeat and practise. Look at the skilled farrier working steel. To the untrained eye, he is merely repeating the same hammer blows. But anyone who knows the way of the bow knows that each time he lifts the hammer and brings it down, the intensity of the blow is different. The hand repeats the same gesture, but as it approaches the metal, it understands that it must touch it with more or less force. So it is with repetition, although it may appear to be the same thing, it is always different.”
“Your allies will not necessarily be the kind of dazzling people to whom everyone looks up and of whom they say: ‘There’s none better.’ On the contrary, they are people who are not afraid of making mistakes and who do, therefore, make mistakes, which is why their work often goes unrecognised. Yet they are just the kind of people who transform the world and, after many mistakes, manage to do something that can make a real difference in their community.”
“A leaf does not cease to be a leaf merely because a storm tore it from the tree.”
Excerpted from The Archer by Paulo Coelho
“Tetsuya.”
The boy looked at the stranger, startled.
“No one in this city has ever seen Tetsuya holding a bow,” he replied. “Everyone here knows him as a carpenter.”
“Maybe he gave up, maybe he lost his courage, that doesn’t matter to me,” insisted the stranger. “But he cannot be considered to be the best archer in the country if he has abandoned his art. That’s why I’ve been traveling all these days, in order to challenge him and put an end to a reputation he no longer deserves.”
The boy saw there was no point in arguing; it was best to take the man to the carpenter’s shop so that he could see with his own eyes that he was mistaken.
Tetsuya was in the workshop at the back of his house. He turned to see who had come in, but his smile froze when his eyes fell on the long bag that the stranger was carrying.
“It’s exactly what you think it is,” said the new arrival. “I did not come here to humiliate or to provoke the man who has become a legend. I would simply like to prove that, after all my years of practice, I have managed to reach perfection.”
Tetsuya made as if to resume his work: he was just putting the legs on a table.
“A man who served as an example for a whole generation cannot just disappear as you did,” the stranger went on. “I followed your teachings, I tried to respect the way of the bow, and I deserve to have you watch me shoot. If you do this, I will go away and I will never tell anyone where to find the greatest of all masters.”
The stranger drew from his bag a long bow made from varnished bamboo, with the grip slightly below center. He bowed to Tetsuya, went out into the garden, and bowed again toward a particular place. Then he took out an arrow fletched with eagle feathers, stood with his legs firmly planted on the ground, so as to have a solid base for shooting, and with one hand brought the bow in front of his face, while with the other he positioned the arrow.
The boy watched with a mixture of glee and amazement. Tetsuya had now stopped working and was observing the stranger with some curiosity.
With the arrow fixed to the bowstring, the stranger raised the bow so that it was level with the middle of his chest. He lifted it above his head and, as he slowly lowered his hands again, began to draw the string back.
By the time the arrow was level with his face, the bow was fully drawn. For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, archer and bow remained utterly still. The boy was looking at the place where the arrow was pointing, but could see nothing.
Suddenly, the hand on the string opened, the hand was pushed backward, the bow in the other hand described a graceful arc, and the arrow disappeared from view only to reappear in the distance.
“Go and fetch it,” said Tetsuya.
The boy returned with the arrow: it had pierced a cherry, which he found on the ground, forty meters away.
Tetsuya bowed to the archer, went to a corner of his workshop, and picked up what looked like a slender piece of wood, delicately curved, wrapped in a long strip of leather. He slowly unwound the leather and revealed a bow similar to the stranger’s, except that it appeared to have seen far more use.
“I have no arrows, so I’ll need to use one of yours. I will do as you ask, but you will have to keep the promise you made, never to reveal the name of the village where I live. If anyone asks you about me, say that you went to the ends of the earth trying to find me and eventually learned that I had been bitten by a snake and had died two days later.”
The stranger nodded and offered him one of his arrows.
Resting one end of the long bamboo bow against the wall and pressing down hard, Tetsuya strung the bow. Then, without a word, he set off toward the mountains. The stranger and the boy went with him. They walked for an hour, until they reached a large crevice between two rocks through which flowed a rushing river, which could be crossed only by means of a fraying rope bridge almost on the point of collapse.
Quite calmly, Tetsuya walked to the middle of the bridge, which swayed ominously; he bowed to something on the other side, loaded the bow just as the stranger had done, lifted it up, brought it back level with his chest, and fired.
The boy and the stranger saw that a ripe peach, about twenty meters away, had been pierced by the arrow.
“You pierced a cherry, I pierced a peach,” said Tetsuya, returning to the safety of the bank. “The cherry is smaller. You hit your target from a distance of forty meters, mine was half that. You should, therefore, be able to repeat what I have just done. Stand there in the middle of the bridge and do as I did.”
Terrified, the stranger made his way to the middle of the dilapidated bridge, transfixed by the sheer drop below his feet. He performed the same ritual gestures and shot at the peach tree, but the arrow sailed past.
When he returned to the bank, he was deathly pale. “You have skill, dignity, and posture,” said Tetsuya. “You have a good grasp of technique and you have mastered the bow, but you have not mastered your mind. You know how to shoot when all the circumstances are favorable, but if you are on dangerous ground, you cannot hit the target. The archer cannot always choose the battlefield, so start your training again and be prepared for unfavorable situations. Continue in the way of the bow, for it is a whole life’s journey, but remember that a good, accurate shot is very different from one made with peace in your soul.”
The stranger made another deep bow, replaced his bow and his arrows in the long bag he carried over his shoulder, and left.
On the way back, the boy was exultant.
“You showed him, Tetsuya! You really are the best!”
“We should never judge people without first learning to hear and to respect them. The stranger was a good man; he did not humiliate me or try to prove he was better than I am, even though he may have given that impression. He wanted to show off his art and to have it recognized, even though it may have appeared that he was challenging me. Besides, having to confront unexpected trials is part of the way of the bow, and that was precisely what the stranger allowed me to do today.”
“He said that you were the best, and I didn’t even know you were a master archer. So why do you work as a carpenter?”
“Because the way of the bow serves for everything, and my dream was to work with wood. Besides, an archer who follows the way does not need a bow or an arrow or a target.”
“Nothing interesting ever happens in this village, and now suddenly here I am, face-to-face with the master of an art that no one even cares about anymore,” said the boy, his eyes shining. “What is the way of the bow? Can you teach me?”
“Teaching it isn’t hard. I could do that in less than an hour, while we’re walking back to the village. The difficult thing is to practice it every day, until you achieve the necessary precision.”
The boy’s eyes seemed to be begging him to say yes. Tetsuya walked in silence for nearly fifteen minutes, and when he spoke again, his voice sounded younger:
“Today I am contented. I did honor to the man who, many years ago, saved my life, and, because of that, I will teach you all the necessary rules, but I can do no more than that. If you understand what I tell you, you can use those teachings as you wish. Now, a few minutes ago, you called me master. What is a master? I would say that he is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to do his best to discover a knowledge he already has in his soul.”
….
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