Review

Rating: 9

I am ashamed to admit that it took me as long as it did to finish this book. While committed to to reading the book, I wasn’t truly committed in that I wasn’t willing to give the book the few hours it required to complete from start to finish.
When I picked up the book after dinner Santiago was still in Tangier, having just been mugged. That was sometime after 8pm and here I sit, some 3 hours later feeling deeply moved and compelled to do something more with my life.
If religious overtones bother you then this may not be the book for you. The tale blends both Christianity and Islam with God and Allah being used interchangeably. It begins with a shepherd boy who has a dream, a dream that initiates a series of journeys that see him leaving southern Spain for Africa, getting mugged before the pyramids of Egypt and returning home again. It is a delightful and uplifting tell that reminds us of a few universal truths (which I will not recount here). If you have a spare evening then I would say that the book is definitely worth reading.