Review : the Alchemist

Description
When Santiago, a young shepherd boy from the Spanish countryside of Andalusia, has a dream that reveals the location of a hidden treasure buried at the Egyptian Pyramids his simple life is suddenly torn in two. Part of him wants to take the chance to go searching for it, and the other part of him wants to continue his life simple and easy being a shepherd.
A mysterious king, named the King of Salem, in Tarifa convinces Santiago that he has succeeded in discovering his Personal Legend. The old king tells Santiago that a pesron's only real obligationin life is when he comes to the conclusion by following his Personal Legend.
Santiago listens to his heart and decides to go on a dangerous search for the treasure. He sells his flock of sheep and heads to Africa, where he is quickly robbed of all his gold and left despondent on the streets. He decides later that he was foolish to believe in his dreams and quickly finds a job with a crystal merchant in order to save up enough money to go back home.
After almost a year working for the merchant, Santiago has made a success of the shop and has plenty of money to do whatever he wants. As he’s walking the streets to go back home he suddenly decides to take a chance and continue his search for the buried treasure.
He joins a caravan to make the dangerous crossing across the desert and as he rides the long, slow days away he begins to listen to his heart and to the desert. He begins to understand what the Soul of the World is, and how he fits in.
When the caravan makes it to the oasis, Santiago meets a girl he falls in love with the moment he sees her. The local alchemist, a mysterious man who reminds Santiago of the old king, helps Santiago continue his journey across the desert and teaches him more important life lessons along the way. Although Santiago does not know it, he is becoming wise, and a master in the art of living to the fullest no matter what. Although he has left his true love back at the oasis, he is resolved to follow his dream to its end.
After many adventures, dangers, and important life lessons Santiago finally reaches the Pyramids. His joy at finally being at journey’s end overwhelms him, and he is grateful that he got the chance to follow his dream.
Santaigo is the man
He begins to dig deep into the sand looking for treasure, but before he can get far a pack of thieves shows up, beating and robbing him. They force him to continue digging, and then leave when no treasure is found. One of the thieves, as destiny would have it, tells Santiago an important clue and when they’re gone Santiago can’t help but laugh, because now he knows where his treasure truly lies.
It ends up being right back where his journey began, under the very tree where he had the prophetic dream years before. He digs and finds a beautiful chest full of gold and gems. His next and last journey will be back to the desert to be reunited with the woman he loves.

Review
To put it shortly, sometimes you need to travel a lot in order to find out that what you're looking for was all the time so close to you. Unfortunately, by the time you discover this, you already have left other treasures behind... which is still much better than not knowing and not caring. "The Alchemist" is full of hidden symbols. Almost each sentence has a double meaning. I wouldn't rate as a 5 star though, I felt it was lacking something.

Summary
Great book to read, writer used a very simple language to tell a meaningful story. Used story as a medium tell a lot about the journey called life , its surprises and elements of life like: goals , achievements, love, family,friends,nature,profession etc.

Reading level
Adult

Rating
4 stars