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The Alchemist - paolo Coelho.

I guess Samir would agree

Absolutely i do!

I read The Alchemist years ago... and a few months ago I found it in a bookshop again. I just wanted to read it again. It's about a boy called Santiago who travels through the world to find his destiny. An old mysterious King helps him to listen to the voice of the world. The One Voice and Language of the Universe, which guides us all. You have to listen to your heart in order to understand the one voice, and see why certain things are done in a certain way.

I think there's some truth in it... in that there is one voice (God, Allah... something.. whatever you choose to believe in) which determines our destiny. And a destiny we can change by trying to listen to our heart and the higher means. Not just think of our own goals, but work for a higher purpose. Eventually you will end up in the place you belong.

I think it should be Euripides' Hippolytos, a Greek Tragedy. By translating that text for about a year you not only get to know the story itself, but also how tragedies and more or less most of the contemporary literature is build up. So the thoughts behind it and what I've learnt from the story/technical aspects sort of became one of the more influential books.

Otherwise it'd be Watership Down by Richard Adams. Magnificent story.