I recently joined a book club at work. Our goal? Select a book for next year's freshmen to read as part of their first year experience class. We are hoping to find one that will inspire them to make the world a better place and to give them some appreciation for a culture not their own (this year we are reading "Mountains to Mountains" by Paul Farmer.) The first book that was suggested was "The Alchemist" by Paulo Choelho. It came well recommended by a couple of friends whose bookish opinions I usually agree with, and when I looked at the Amazon recommendations they were very high. That being said, I was definitely not impressed.
"The Alchemist" is a quick read and takes place in some interesting places. The story follows a young shepherd who is determined to follow his personal legend- he sells his flock and journeys to the pyramids in Egypt to find his treasure, and meets various characters along the way who teach him lessons and give him advice. Parts of it I liked- there's nothing wrong with figuring out what your personal legend is and making the pursuit of it a top priority. In spite of that, I thought that the book was WAY too touchy-feely and had a strong new age tone to it that I was a bit uncomfortable with. I'm not so much into the mystical "listen to the desert and get in touch with the soul of the world" type of thing. I realize that this might paint me as too shallow to see the deep symbolism, but I just can't imagine trying to spend an entire semester with this as the main text.
Next up, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman. This one was my suggestion, so I realize that I'm totally biased, but I'm really looking forward to reading it again- it's been years.
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