group discussion
topic:
Loathed Titles >
The Alchemist
I've never read a more overrated book in my entire life. (I've never read the Bible, to be fair.) The only concept that I took away from the Alchemist is how to stretch a ten minute children's parable into a full on 100+ page book. There is no way that so many lives have been changed by this book. It's fifth grade book report material at best.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! We read it in 9th grade literature and I was very underwhelmed. I tried to read it again recently to see if the effect was different when I was not being forced to read it but no- I still hate it. It also couldn't have helped that my teacher pronounced Andalucia as "And-uh-luz-a" rather than the way to say it in Spanish. I'm twitching thinking about it.
I really hated this book and felt like it had just wasted my time. I kept expecting it to get better, for it to justify all the hype, but it never did. Actually, it was kind of like a really pretentious hybrid of a self-help book and The Horse and His Boy. But I actually like The Horse and His Boy.
