The Alchemist

I got this book from my daughter who read it as required reading for her English class. The Alchemist,written by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, is the story of a Shepard boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Santiago is quite content traveling in the countryside with his sheep, and dreaming of the merchant's daughter in the village where he sells his wool. That is until he has a dream in which a child appears one day and is playing with his sheep. Suddenly the child takes him by the hands and transports him to the Pyramids, telling him "If you come here you will find a hidden treasure." He meets a gypsy woman, a man who calls himself the king of Salem and an alchemist on his journey, all of whom point him in the direction of his quest.

Coelho writes with simplicity and directness. The whole novel is only 167 pages long and reads like a fairy tale. Coelho appears to be a new age proponent who in this novel borrows from various known religions to try an ecumenical approach to our journey on this earth. This is a very shallow tale disguised as a deeply spiritual fable. The Alchemist is a conflicting mixture of Christianity, just enough hints at mysticism to make it attractive to New Agers, the most simplistic of self-help guruism, and a random sampling of anything else leaning vaguely toward shallow spirituality.

I'm surprised and annoyed that this book is required reading at my daughter's school especially since it is a Christian school. If you are thinking about getting this book, please, do yourself a favor and steer clear of this inconsequential book.