So, maybe I'm one of those highbrews, looking snootily down upon all "lowbrow" literature, but I think I'm one of the most staunch defenders of the "lowbrow". I say this because I was not super impressed by The Alchemist.
Granted, it is a very tightly written novel, and it addresses the themes of the class almost perfectly, but I was slightly irritated by the obtuseness of the novel. I felt like I was being told about finding and discovering my personal destiny almost every page. For me personally, it kinda takes the fun out of a text like this when we are reminded on every page that the character is going to succeed. So I want someone to explain to me that I should love this book, because I feel like I should like it, as it seems like everyone else is a pretty big fan.
Anywho, I was thinking for my thesis (for the paper) that I was going to contrast several highbrow works in the class with some outside works, specifically Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys and The Graveyard Book, and the movies The Fall and Big Fish. I might throw in a bit of Harry Potter as well.
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I loved the comments you made in class about being hit over the head over and over by the themes in this book. I agree completely, and not only because it's "lowbrow"....I think it's the narrative voice, and it reads like a self-help novel for me.
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