The first book I’ll write about is “The prophet” by Khalil Gibran.
Actually I haven’t read it yet, but.. It was recommended to me by a stranger last year on my summer vacation, and I bought it 6 months ago. Now I’m on my way for another summer vacation and I’m bringing “The prophet”.
I believe that it’s a book that needs to be read slowly and without stress and disturbance from the everyday life. So with my feet in perfect blue water, sun warming my body, I will block out the noices of the other people on the beach and enjoy the thrill of living a new and unexplored (for me) book.
…. Vacation!!….
Well rested and back from vacation, I have as promised read “The prophet”. The book is about Almustafa and the day where he is about to leave from his 12 year long stay in the city of Orphalese. I don’t know if there is any meaning to the wordplay towards “orphan”, does he regard himself as an orphan or the people of Orphalese as orphans? Well this is the day the ships comes to take him home to his isle of birth.
Khalil Gibran writes quit beautifully and has some wonderful ways to say things or emotions. I will mention some of them here:
“Suffer not yet our eyes to hunger for your face”
What a brilliant way for the elder of the city to express they feel about his departure. It is so simply and yet the sentence says all there is to say.
The book brings a very philosofic view on mans view of the world: Filled with questions most people have asked at some point of their lives. The people of Orphalese ask Almustafa in hope that he can answer them for them. Khalil writes short and precise, he doesn’t need 10 sentences to get to his point, he can do it in 1 sentence. And he’s done it so well that the book that is almost a hundred years old is still a very popular book to read.
All in all the book has a somewhat religious view on things and at the same time mixes beautifully with philosofical thoughts and spirituality. The book is for everyone who thinks and wonders about humans relationship with each other and nature and the universe.
It also makes you wonder. Why is Almustafa at Orphalese? Why does it take 12 years for a ship to arrive to take him home? Why does he still feel like a stranger after so many years? Has he really lived in his 12 years in Orphalese?
You can take as much as you feel like from this book. It is beautifully written and it is absolutely worth a read.
Enjoy 🙂