Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Book Love

Written for the Write Tribe Festival of Words #3 Day 4 - Book Review


I'm taking part in the Write Tribe Festival of Words -3


Many years ago when I got married, my best friend had already moved to the US. Unfortunately she couldn't make it to my wedding but she sent me a wedding card and in it she wrote these lines:

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

These are words from Kahlil Gibran's book, The Prophet, my favourite book of all time. It's one of my most treasured gifts that I got from my workmates in India when I left for New Zealand.

The book opens with the Prophet Almustafa leaving the city of Orphalese. He's about to board his ship when  he is stopped by a group of people who ask him to enlighten them on life.

The book is divided into chapters dealing with different stages of life and circumstances, human values and conditions and each chapter is written in poetic form. As I love poetry, this style of this book  appeals to me greatly.

This is a book that truly grows on you. Each time I read it, I understand the words a little bit better. One can read this as a story or take a spiritual meaning from it.

But one has to read it to experience it for oneself.


My posts so far: Day 1  Day 2   Day 3


Drop by my facebook page Suzy's Ilation and if any of your posts needs some tlc, leave a link there and I'll drop by and give it some love.



Warm Regards
Photobucket

28 comments:

  1. Those words written by your friend on the card are so profound. You mentioned that "Each time I read it, I understand the words a little bit better", I feel the same when I read The Secret by Rhonda Byrne! Poems are really not my cup of tea so I'll let this pass! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilpa, read Ask and It is Given by Esther Hicks. The Secret I believe is an adaptation of that book. Actually the Prophet is prose written in a poetic style.

      Delete
  2. Kahlil Gibran is one of my favourite! And the lines your friend has shared are so profound, I am yearning to read this book now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a great book Bhavya. time for me to read it again too.

      Delete
  3. Ca I suggest you add a pic of its book cover pls?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mina, never judge a book by it's cover :)

      Delete
  4. Well you have chosen a most delightful author, his quotes and poetry keep the love of writing flowing in my veins I believe..

    Richa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Some books are meant to stay with you forever. I guess this is the one for you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is one of my all-time favourites too, Suzy! I especially love his verse on children. So very exquisite!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Shailaja. It's a great book - hard to decide which verse I like best, but the one on children is very profound.

      Delete
  7. Loved that quote. In fact I've heard The Prophet quoted many times over just never thought of reading the book. Must pick it up. Thanks Suzy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tulika. It's a great book and definitely worth a read.

      Delete
  8. Exactly...such things have a tendency to seem new everytime....the more we go through them the more we understand them ....lovely

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Shellymona. As I grow older I view things differently and there are so many aha moments with this book.

      Delete
  9. Wow.. it seems like quite an awesome book!
    how lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Kibran is one of my favourites, Suzy! I have a complete set of his book and often reread them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like his books to Corinne. They are amazing.

      Delete
  11. Ive got a huge Kibran book which I hardly read. I got it way back in 2010 and just imagine..time to get it out of the shelf. Thanks for the inspiration, Suzy:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad my post inspired you to read the book. So much of life described in it. Enjoy.

      Delete
  12. Did I actually type Kibran - oops........you know I meant Gibran, Suzy! :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No worries. I thought you and Vishal were being very clever (in a good way) combining Khalil and Gibran together!

      Delete
  13. Haven't read The Prophet but those words you've quoted are beautiful...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Psych Babbler. If you get a chance do read it. It's a great book.

      Delete
  14. I made the same mistake Gibran-apology to the God of poem:)

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment so I know you visited.

However, any inappropriate comments will be removed.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Copyright Protection