
If there was anything else to do, I would have thrown this book across the room and forgot about it. But I read the entire pretentious thing. The Alchemist is a throw-everything-in-but-the-kitchen-sink parable that is full of condescending platitudes and dime-store spiritualism. The characters were all so one-dimensional that I wondered if I was transported to Flatland."Follow your destiny". "Home is where your treasure is", "Sheep are cute" etc. are not bad messages but using them as a hammer to beat you over the head with isn't going to get you many literary points. The only thing I can say good about this book is that I liked it more than Jonathan Livingston Seagull but not much. If you are looking for a parable about life as a spiritual journey, avoid this book and find a copy of the classic Siddartha by Herman Hesse.