Imagine every impractical, trite expression you have ever heard in your entire life. You know, the kind of philosophy you embrace when you're 13 and think you know everything and have no regard for those around you. Congratulations, you have just read The Alchemist. I spent so much time rolling my eyes during this book that I thought they were going to roll right out of my head. Perhaps something was lost in translation, but at its core, the "philosophy" of this book is so flawed and so self-indulgent that it was practically unbearable.