Translated into over 50 languages and selling over 40 million copies worldwide, Paulo Coelho’s best known work really has a lot to live up to.
The work is clearly an allegorical novel; though the author does state in the foreword that he tried to put as much ‘Truth’ as possible into the story.
The story tells the tale of a young sheepherder named Santiago from Andalusia who dreams of a great treasure in Egypt. After consulting with a gypsy fortune teller and the king of Salem, Santiago sets out on a journey of both distance and self-discovery in order to find his own destiny.
Overcoming hardship and distractions, he travels through the desert towards the pyramids and his goal. Along the way, he meets both the love of his life and an Alchemist who is able to transform lead into gold. They both have important lessons to teach him about himself, the world and the truth of existence.
The book is a very light read and is a decent enough fable with fairly clear and timeless metaphors that could, I imagine, be applied to most peoples lives. However, I was disappointed in the stark simplicity of this book. Some argue that its strength lies in its clear and easy prose, straight forward story and easy to read narrative, but I disagree. For me, the lack of detail is both shocking and distracting, the moral is overly simplistic and the story itself is optimistic to the point of naiveté. It works as a simple fable but it’s not what I would consider a decent read.
Rating: 
