The Alchemist

I started reading The Alchemist today. It's an easily digestible read (similar to Tuesdays with Morrie in that respect), but I've been routinely surprised at the density of meaning contained within it. I think my principle source of enjoyment lies in the fact that, though the main "message" of the book is quite easy to understand, any number of positive sub-meanings can be derived from it. Also worth considering is the fact that it doesn't come across as blatantly pendantic as Morrie or other thinly veiled, moralist self-improvement narratives, making it a more pleasant experience in my opinion.

A predictable measure of a book's overall quality is, from my perspective, it's overall affect on the reader. In this instance, then, it bears mentioning that, after reading approximately half of The Alchemist, I felt reinvigorated, and promptly set about accomplishing a great handful of simple but important tasks that I had been neglecting to do. These actions took on a rediscovered hope and refined spirit of purposefulness that they had been lacking, enabling me to feel their importance instead of merely just knowing how significant they were.

To put it simply: I would recommend that any and every person read The Alchemist.