The Alchemist is really confusing

Santiago's journey reaches its climax, depicting him, quite literally, scrounging for scraps, desperate for a treasure he deems himself entitled. It is a good juxtaposition to the start of the book.

In the beginning, Santiago is a well-educated Spanish shepherd who wishes for treasure and prestige but denies it since not only is there no evidence that treasure is even there, but it's also selfish to his flock that he would have to leave or sell to do it.

To understand what it all meant, Santiago met with a gypsy who claimed to interpret dreams. As a gypsy, the woman offers a mythical solution to his dream and tells him “It’s a dream in the language of the world", explaining its meaning in exchange for a tenth of whatever treasure he finds. This encounter shows Santiago is not simply understanding his dream, but reassuring himself on an idea he couldn't rationalize. Throughout the story, Santiago progresses from depending on reason to a state of faith as he allows the people he meets to impose their ideals on him. I'm not saying you can't have faith in things, but this leads into his character flaw as he loses his sense of self.

What's up with this book, I heard a lot of praise for it, maybe that's not the consensus, I'm misinterpreting it...