Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

The Alchemist is a book that I kept hearing about from other Peace Corps volunteers and friends so I decided it was a must read. Honestly, I think that I may have hyped this book up way too much because it didn’t quite meet my expectations, but nonetheless, there are beautiful points and an interesting perspective that I could appreciate. To me, the book seemed to be striving too hard to be profound and also had some strong hints of sexism that made me stop in disbelief considering the praise I have seen for it.  Overall, I am glad that I read this book but I would not recommend it as a must read.