The Alchemist

By Lisa Hymas

I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I really enjoyed it. The book was first published in 1988 in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.
 
After the first few pages, I knew I would enjoy the simple writing style. This book in not about religion, but about spirituality and the main character's, Santiago, journey to fulfull his peronal legend.
 
I think it would be a good first book for someone wanting to read something soul searching, intriguing, and yet very easy to read and makes you smile at the end. The content was clean and took me only a few days to finish (and I'm not a fast reader).
 
from Amazon.com:
 
"The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams."