This fantastic book is "just fiction," just an allegory, but it's filled with the wisdom and philosophy of a self-help book. It mentions more than one religion, and it sort of shares the "point" of having religions (my opinion). The boy who didn't want to become a priest chatting with "The Hand that wrote all" seems like such a powerful way to link the near beginning and the near end of the book.

A pearl of wisdom that really struck me:
"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

Fans of The Name of the Wind novel by Patrick Rothfuss will love when the alchemist says the boy will turn into the wind in three days. "Well, you'll have to learn; your life depends on it." That same part of the book reminds me of my own characters from Fractions of Existence, especially how matter and the spirit are connected.

I'd also recommend it to people who are deciding the next phase of their life. Not everyone does this. Some people just follow the motions (school, job, marriage, offspring, retire, die). But some people wonder if they should break from the path. If they should travel. If they should give up all they have to perhaps find something more, or something different. And wondering how long they should prepare before embarking... the book has some lessons about that, too.

I like the 25th Anniversary Edition cover. The hand-drawn map, the hawks, and the pyramids all belong with the story. I got a copy on sale after hearing good things about it, that people enjoyed it. Yet everyone said it was about something different. Now that I've read it, I know why. This book brings out what you have in you. I imagine it to be the sort of read that changes if you pick it up every decade or two. Same words on the page, but never the same reader.

The characters are revealed slowly, one at a time, each having a chance to be memorable if they matter. The boy wouldn't have it any other way. It's not a very thick book, it wouldn't make for a good pillow, but it is a very good book. The title doesn't make sense until nearly halfway through, and then makes more sense, I think, toward the end.

I kept reading because the boy kept working toward various goals. I wanted to see how it would turn out. Honestly, I think the boy got the treasure without digging, but that's because of my own values. "Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."

While I do enjoy Philosophy, I don't read many books in the genre. Or many allegories. Mysticism, this is the only book in the current top 100 sales I've read. Yet this seemed like it's exactly the kind of book I would read. As if it were a book that people would expect me to have. I suspect I will read more works by this author. I gave this book five stars because I would probably keep reading it during a plane crash. (The book might tell me how to survive.) Most readers who dislike this book are probably the most like the Englishman character.

All the named characters of the book had goals. Sometimes not working toward them, or knowing they weren't working toward them, was part of the point of the book. The theme of the book is about knowing your biggest goal, your purpose, and doing what it takes to accomplish that goal, and the side quests that happen along the way to teach you everything that matters. It has a very natural plot flow.

It seems to be well translated. It's easy to read, even middle-grade students (pre-teens/ tweens) should be able to comprehend this book, though it will mean more as one enters adulthood and perhaps again as one nears middle age.

It's realistic fiction. It's predictable if you expect it to go a certain way, because there's a Happily-Ever-After. Definitely inspirational. It's a Diverse Book in that the shepherd boy, Santiago, is from southern Spain and travels across northern Africa, meeting people of different religions and cultures. Though the date isn't referenced, it's probably between 1830-1880 (there's a revolver but no cars). And yet it mirrors the same society we see all around us today. There are still some people doing everything and risking it all for their dream, and others who only talk about it, and a few who hope to find someone to pass wisdom onto.

I didn't care for the boy's feelings for the Andalusia girl with the raven hair. It seemed he mostly liked her because she couldn't read and thus he thought he could impress her. She seemed very much like an object, like lead that would never be gold for him.

Otherwise, I could relate to the boy. I've been at that crossroads, the moment of deciding between the known path or the adventure. (Except a king didn't show up to chat with me.) The setting is very important to the story, though it isn't very detailed overall.