The Alchemist was published years ago (1988, according to GoodReads), so … I’m a bit late getting to it. I picked it up because a friend said if I enjoyed Silk then I might enjoy this. He was right; I did, though I don’t think it was the story as much as the simple, poetic writing and the insights into the human condition it presented.
The story is about a shepherd boy who embarks on an adventure to find a treasure buried near the pyramids. Along the way he meets a king, a merchant of fine crystal, bandits, men of learning and of course … an alchemist. But this wasn’t really about finding the treasure, it was about the journey the shepherd undertook to reach it, and how the people he met along the way changed him and his perspective on life and his future.
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