I wonder why it took me so long to read this book. I saw it mentioned somewhere and checked it out from my local library; I've had this book checked out for almost two months and never read it. Finally, I made myself open it up. I was instantly amazed and finished in two days.
I don't even know how to describe what happens in this book except to say that it's a path to wisdom. Santiago is a shepherd who is called upon to go on a journey  to find a treasure but the treasure is not what he thinks it is. He encounters a king, a merchant, an alchemist, and a desert warrior who all teach him something different about the nature of wisdom.

This is another book for the shelves. Put this along side other modern classics, Beloved, The Heart of Darkness, Things Fall Apart, and 100 Years of Solitude.