Fue el segundo libro que leí de este señor, y la realidad se ha convertido en uno de mis favoritos pues es de los libros que te hacen ver que si tienes sueños debes ir tras ellos, que todo esta a tu alcance para lograrlo solo tienes que tener el valor necesario para ir tras ellos, una autoayuda muy buena, muy bien redactado y enriquecedor en palabras y frases. ( )

This is an easy-to-read book about a boy on a quest. He is a shepherd, happy in his work until he has a dream about finding treasure. He speaks with a king, interviews a gypsy fortune-teller, and meets a wise and respected alchemist, all who point the young boy forward to the pyramids of Egypt, where it's told that he will find his treasure. The author entertwines Biblical teachings with the visions and storytelling of persons the boy meets while on his quest. ( )

I was told a long time ago by someone that once meant a lot to me that I absolutely had to read this book because it would speak to me and change my life. Four years later, I finally picked it up. My life was not changed and it didn't really have much to say that I hadn't already heard. While the tale was decent, and the message was pleasing, nothing about this book jumped out at me as anything incredible. Sometimes I find that deeper meaning piled upon deeper meaning just becomes a little too contrived for my taste. ( )

I can't write a fair review of an "inspirational" book, because I'm not a fan of the genre. I suppose theses tales are *supposed* to be filled with cardboard characters that represent Ideas.

To the extent that I pondered the ideas herein, I didn't agree with them. I detest the notion that all people are in complete control of their own destiny, as if any failure is their personal responsibility. And I'm infuriated by the notion that only men need to purse their Personal Legend; that woman's role is to love, and wait for, their men. ( )

Ok, so this book has been probably one of the most recommended books of the past few years, even residing on the New York Times best seller list for quite some time.

What did I think about it?

Well, I think sometimes one must finish a book and let it stew, to digest it, to mull it over, to think about it for a little while before forming their own educated opinions on it.

My first reaction was that this was a very readable, reading pretty much like a children's book, enjoyable read. The story was enjoyable and the message was a good one. That everyone has a "personal legend" or dreams and that not too many actually follow them, but that we should, and that when we do, we will find that the majority of the time, our personal legends reside right in our own back yards,within ourselves, not somewhere else, that's it not over the rainbow, but right here.

Very good and well meaning message. I'm just not so sure how profound it is. I mean, I read somewhere that this is one of Madonna's favorite books of all time. Makes me wonder how many books she has ever read. I'm willing to bet she has never read The Brother's Karamazov.

Don't get me wrong. I liked this book. I thought it was very simple and quite enjoyable. I just think it was marketed to the wrong audience, that it should have been marketed as a children's book, and not adult fare. That's not to say that adults can't get anything out of the book. There's just nothing truly profound or eye opening here.

I also think sometimes it is a good idea to read other reviews, before writing your own, not so much to form your own opinions, but to put your opinions in perspective, to temper them.

One particular review did that for me. Being a white male, I never even noticed the blatant sexism of the book. I don't think this was intentional on the author's part though, I just think, as other's have said, that the book was not fleshed out, that it did not tread in deep waters. Like the children's part of the pool, it never ventured out to the deep end, it stayed in the shallow end, never going more than 3 feet deep.

Allso mentioned are the millions of equally heroic people who stay home to raise a family, giving up on their dreams in the process and how they are equally heroic. I think though that this was part of the message of the book. That one can search the entire world for their "personal legend" only to find that it truly resides at home and that's where it has been all along. It's true that dreams change and morph over time, so if someone decides to change one dream in order to raise a family, well that IS their personal legend now right?

I just think fault is being layed on the book for not being deep enough when it was never intended to be profound. I think it was meant to be a light hearted and whimsical story with a good message. And the message is that we should all follow our dreams, no matter where it leads, even if it leads us right back home.

This book also showed me though that it is not always the most profound or the most verbose authors who are best remembered, but instead it's usually the ones who are the greatest story tellers. I love a good story and this was a good story. I think many authors could learn something from that. You can be as verbose and profound and intelligent as anyone out there, but if you are not telling a good story, then you might as well not even write. The trick is to learn how to do both, to both tell a good story and be profound at the same time. This book only succeeds at the former. ( )