I had high expectations and was looking forward to reading this book about an Andalusian boy, Santiago, pursuing his dream of finding a treasure in Egypt. Sounds exotic enough. The hype around how inspirational it is supposed to be turned out to be just that, hype. Omens, elixirs, and legends just don’t do it for me especially packaged in a simple tale without much dimension to characters or settings. The language of the book is unadorned and it actually reads more like a fable. The Christian messages are too strong; god will tell you what to do if you only just listen to your heart. OK. Maybe I am crass, but enlisting god in pursuing a dream of finding a treasure seems selfish and materialistic. I wish his dream had been greater and nobler. Maybe I just don’t understand the symbolism… Right. The complexity of the book is not exactly daunting. Trite and preachy. 4.
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