Words are, I'm told, intended to convey information. You know, communicate. Sometimes, when I'm feeling a bit weird, I'll think about how so many complex ideas can be conveyed with words. 
 Because in my head I hold an entire model of the universe. How things work, how people behave, all that sort of stuff. And inside of your head, dear reader, is an entirely separate model of the universe. Your model might be quite a bit different than mine. 
 And of course, the big deal with that, is that it's pretty doubtful either of our models are correct. There is, in all likelihood, an objective reality out there, but we tend to be poorly equipped to understand it. 
 My version of the universe, like everyone else's, is based on my experiences in life. 
 This book I just finished reading, the Alchemist, the person writing this novel, his experiences, I suspect, are so different than mine that I'm not sure we could even hold a conversation and understand one another. 
 Also, since the novel was translated into English, I wonder if we could converse even if we had very similar views on how the world works. 
 And I try not put insert the opinions expressed by characters in a fictional novel onto those of the author, or else every time I read about a particularly despicable character, I'd wonder if the author holds the same views as that made-up person I'm reading about on the page. 
 But in this case, I get the feeling that this is a very personal story. And it's one I really enjoyed. It's a universe that, as was stated in the book, whenever you really want something, the universe conspires to make it so. 
 Or something, I'm butchering that quote, which is why I didn't give it quotation marks. 
 So, all in all, I really liked this book. It didn't feel like a typical novel, it had a surreal quality to it that I'd compare more closely to a religious parable or something. 
 Which is probably part of reason I didn't think this was one of my all-time favorites. Not the religious part, that's fine. But in the same way that characters in a parable are not fleshed out in a way that characters in most novels or stories would be. But it's still very charming, warm, inviting, all that stuff. 
 So, I enjoyed. It was good. But I'm not moved by it. I suspect I'll forget it relatively quickly.