Tag Archives: the prophet

February 17, 2012 · 3:46 pm

Review: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

 

  • Title: The Prophet
  • Author: Kahlil Gibran
  • Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923
  • Pages: 96
  • ISBN: 9780679440673

 

I’ve finally gotten around to re-reading The Prophet. I’ve been wanting to for some time now, but kept waiting for that perfect spring day when I could read it outside in the grass. But I got tired of waiting for that day (spring’s not for another month or two) and well… I felt like I needed to read something familiar, beautiful, and calming.
 
Wikipedia describes The Prophet as a book of “poetic essays”, and that’s really a perfect fit. The Prophet is about a man named Almustafa, who has lived among a group of people for 12 years but one day a ship comes to take him home. The people of the town ask him to speak on different themes (love, work, beauty, death, etc.), which he does before departing. So each chapter is a different “poetic essay” on those themes.
 
Really, you should read this for yourself – it’s less than 100 pages, so what have you got to lose? It’s spiritual and wonderful and… I have trouble describing it. It’s one of those books that’s just good for the soul, and best enjoyed when you have a nice, quiet hour to yourself.
 
So, since it’s kind of hard to review a book of poetic essays other than just saying “it’s really good”, here are some of my favorite quotes…
 

“For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.” (on Love)
 
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” (on Clothes)
 
“And in the summer heat the reapers say, ‘We have seen her dancing with autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair’.” (on Beauty)
 
“For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and silences of the night.” (on Houses)
 
“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.” (on Marriage)
 
Those are just a few of the ones I have marked in my book. I feel much better just having read it today… more peaceful and centered. Weird that a book can do that… which is why it’s one of my all-time favorites.
 
Sarah Says: 5 stars

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August 23, 2011 · 11:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved That I Haven’t Reviewed

Hey ya’ll it’s Tuesday and for once I almost FORGOT that it was time for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke and The Bookish). I was so excited to start reading for Day 2 of the Bout of Books Readathon that it slipped my mind until I saw a mention of it on Twitter. Oops.

So, this week’s topic is Top Ten Books I Loved But Haven’t Reviewed. For me, there are a bunch of books that I reviewed on Goodreads before I really got into blogging, so those are probably going to take up the majority of my list. Let’s make this quick!

1. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen – This is still my favorite S.A.A. book, but unfortunately I’ve only reviewed her latest book, The Peach Keeper, here on the blog. Ironically, that one is my least favorite of her’s so far.

2. My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares – I thought this was a lovely start to a timeless love story, and definitely gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. Sadly, I haven’t heard any news about a sequel yet, but if there is one then I’ll be sure to re-read and review this book before it comes out.

3. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran – This is a wonderful book / long poem, and I’ve read it twice but sadly not since I really got my blog up and running. There’s a reason it’s a candidate on my list of books for this readathon though :-)

4. White Oleander by Janet Fitch – This was one of my favorite books since I was about 15 years old. I re-read it a year or two ago, so probably won’t re-read it for a long while. It’s definitely a great book, one of those books that I think maybe isn’t that great until I re-read it and remind myself that it’s beautifully written and hard to put down.

5. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert – I know a lot of people don’t like this book, but I personally really enjoyed it. I devoured it in about two days, and was definitely caught up in Elizabeth’s journey. I think I may have to re-read this sometime soon and review it here, so that I can post my arguments defending it.

6. Philippa Gregory books – I have read at least nine of Gregory’s books, and she’s one of my favorite historical authors. The Other Boleyn Girl is still one of my favorite books. But somehow I haven’t really read any of her books since I started blogging. How is this possible? I think a re-read of TOBG might need to happen before the year is out…

7. Roots by Alex Haley - Yes, I read the book. I’ve never even seen the movie, which is what everyone told me to do instead. But the book was fantastic, and again I feel like I need to re-read it soonish.

8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver – Again, this is still one of my favorite books. I love it, I’ve re-read it several times, but somehow that hasn’t happened since my love of blogging arose.

9. Lamb, Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, and more by Christopher Moore – Another one of my favorite authors who has been sorely neglected on this here blog. I have been making a conscious effort to read the books of his that I haven’t read yet so that I can review them here, and I re-read and reviewed A Dirty Job, which is awesome.

10. The Help by Kathryn Stockett – Yes, that’s right – I read it before there was even MENTION of a movie. I read this back in 2009, way before I had started to blog seriously. It was an extremely well-written and likable book, and with all the movie hype I feel like I should re-read and review it, and then compare to the movie.

 

I haven’t even reviewed all of these on Goodreads – some of them just have star ratings. But for those of you that are interested enough, you can click here to see my Goodreads profile and browse through my “read” shelf to see what else I’ve reviewed that hasn’t made it to the Sarah Says blog yet.

What books have you read & loved but not reviewed?

~Sarah

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April 9, 2011 · 4:25 pm

>The Beloved by Kahlil Gibran

>The Beloved,Kahlil Gibran

I love Kahlil Gibran. He had such an amazing way with words. He also loved love. As the blurb on the back of this book says…

“For Kahlil Gibran (1883 – 1931), love was a way – perhaps the supreme way – of achieving self-realization and completeness as a human being.”

Essentially – Gibran was a romantic at heart. I’m totally one of those sappy gals who loves being in love. This book is right up my alley.

This here is a short (about 100 page long) collection of some of his writings, short stories, and poems revolving around love. If you are ever in the mood for some poetry, or for something beautiful and profound-sounding, read Gibran. His most famous work is The Prophet, which I HIGHLY recommend.

My favorite story in this book was probably “Rose al-Hani”, in which a woman defends her choice to leave the rich husband that showered her with wealth and riches for the poor man she truly falls in love with. I actually read it outloud (but quietly) to myself, because it just sounds good that way. Several of these stories also kind of ranted against the materialism of people, and that’s something I can always get behind.

Again, you should read Gibran. He’s awesome. And this book is definitely worth the read. Especially aloud to yourself if you’re alone and don’t mind feeling a little silly.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

And NOW… time to start my 3rd book of the readathon – not sure if it’s going to be Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, or a re-read of Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. Hmmmmm…

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