Hello, I wanted to stop by and recommend a bokk that I enjoyed reading. It's called 'The Alchemist' and is written by Paulo Coehlo. The story is really basic and an extremely simple read. It took me approximately 2 hours and I recommended that if you do read it to make enough time to finish it at one sitting. The story is about a young shepherd that learns to acheive his destiny through 'signs' given to him from his surroundings along his journey. Here is a link to amazon that offers a better description of the book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...333405/sr=8-1/

Anyway, if you have read this book, I'm curious of what your thoughts on it are about.

I thought the book was piss-poor. I am a fan of "meta-fiction" (my abbreviation for spiritual/new-agey tales) but this was really lacking. I read it because it was so raved about by someone in my family. It was a series of pseudo-profound events and thoughts, weakly structured, then at the end, the fact that the 'treasure' was a total letdown.

If you enjoy this type of story, read it by one of the true masters--this book makes Alchemist look like amateur hour, and it honestly did change the way I think and feel about the world: Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda.

And although it's aimed toward children, it's one of the most profound and moving books ever written: The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.

I liked the book a lot when i first read it - but then i was a little on the new age side as far as my personal beliefs went at the time. If i read it now i'm not so sure i would "get" as much out of it as i originally did. I do however remember the other book i read by the same author (i believe it was the Valkries one) sucked really bad.

I'm in the middle of this book right now, and though it is never stated, I wondered if anyone could gauge when it takes place. The reason I ask is, all signs point to it being a story of the past, yet at one point a character is told to have been learning Esperanto. An anachronism?

Thanks,

Dan

<small></small>Apparently the first esperanto grammar was written in 1887 and the World Esperanto organization was established in 1908.

Yeah, but when I said the past, I meant further back than that even. Anyone else have an opinion?

Dan

Just finished this book, about 2 hours ago. Pretty simple, it made me think, but I learned very little and wasn't particularly entertained.