Whenever im asked to talk about the worst books i've ever read the 2 books that immediately pop up are 'The Inheritance of loss' and 'The Alchemist'. I never managed to get past the first chapter of the former and i had to drag myself on all fours to complete the latter. And so every time anyone mentioned The Alchemist i'd burst out laughing. But surprisingly i never quite met anyone else who shared the same emotions for it. Most people around seem to have nothing but praises for 'The Alchemist', including my mom. They say something bout it helping them realize the true philosophies of life and helped them through many a rugged patches.
Part of the reason i feel i hate the book is coz i hate being told how to live my life. All this talk of ambition and hard work i find really boring. Not coz i'm arrogant or so, not as far as i know, but den i don like any1 messing around with my line of reasoning and bring about any unwanted deviations in there. But then thats me. And not everyone could be me. So all i could do is empathize with the other guys and move on with my life. After all not everyone requires a head on collision with a brick wall before they realize they were wrong.