The Alchemist

I've never read a book like this. The boy (main character) undertakes his quest and along the way learns that if you look hard enough at the world, you'll end up seeing God. Every story ever was written by the same hand. Every part of the universe is just trying to live out its Personal Legend, and together those legends combine to form the Soul of the World.

As fiction, it wasn't shockingly entertaining, but I liked the plot. As a modern-day proverb, I felt uncomfortable and unsure how the story matched up with what I actually believe. I think if you dig through the hundreds of “easy” interpretations of this book that end up being lies, you might find one that has some truth to it.

I'm not sure about Paulo Coelho's spiritual background, but I would be very interested to read an article about how he was influenced by different religions.

Age range: 16+
This felt like a book you might read in a high-school lit class. Younger readers probably wouldn't be able to digest the story very well.