📔 Book Review
Intro
The book I want to talk about today is The Forty Rules of Love. This is a book written by Elif Shafak and it is a very famous book.
About the Book and Author:
If you hear the name of the book for the first time, The Forty Rules of Love then like most people you may think that it will be a romantic novel. The Forty Rules of Love gives off a romantic vibe, doesn't it? If that's the case and you're thinking this way, then you're in the majority. And you and I are all wrong. I also think it will be a romantic novel. But it is not even close to romanticism. It is very interesting that the book is not at all what you would think after hearing the title.
So what is the book about? The book is basically love but spiritual love. Today I will tell you what this book is really about, what this book is about, what you will learn from reading this book and whether I recommend this book to you.
So this book is Eliphak's most famous book in my opinion. He is a Turkish British author. He has created magic in this book 40 Rules of Love. It means that he has told the whole two stories and also the two stories of two centuries as parallels. One is the story of the 21st century and the other is the story of the thirteenth century.
Story plot
The book begins with Ella, a gentle woman in her 40s. Who has three children and who has a husband. Very loving husband, very rich husband. Meaning if you look at Ella from the outside you might think that Ella is
Someone from a very happy family. But if you look inside you will see what it really is. So it starts with this area and in between this writer will take you to the Thirteenth Century and also take you back to the story of the famous poet Rumi.
Many of you may know Rumi and have read Rumi's poetry. Now we all know Rumi as a poet. But she was not a poet, she was a mother Maulana, she used to give mainly different religious speeches in different places. So how did a Maulana become a poet from there. Whose influence? He is the poet. That story will tell you the story of Rumi in the thirteenth century. Rumi's life will be shown to you from one side to the other.
When you start reading the book, Ella's personality will be crystal clear to you. Ella is such a person who is very logical. When he thinks, he's straight. Like Arrow Thinks with Her Head. Not with her heart.
You'll find in one conversation that he says, a dialogue that's very good, "Girls don't marry the man who loves her. Girls marry the man who will be a responsible husband. A loving father."
It means that you will seek security. Don't look for love when you get married. He will show you his character by speaking some hard brutal truths like this logically. He is a very logical person. It starts out like this and she's a housewife with three kids but at one point it turns out that she takes a job at a literal agency and is sent a manuscript from there. The manuscript is titled "Sweet Blasphemy". And this manuscript is written by someone whose name is Aji Zahara. This manuscript is the story of Rumi when Ella starts reading it.
Now here is a very interesting thing you will find that while reading that book you are ultimately reading that book. So it appears that you are looking at Ella from this side and that you are also reading the book she is reading, so the author has inserted two books inside one book. I like this very much.
Shams of Tabriz was the greatest influence behind Rumi becoming the poet we know today. .How Rumi met Shams of Tabriz and Rumi was still very famous as Maulana and when Shams of Tabriz became involved in Rumi's life how Rumi started to change under his influence and because of this change he became very famous in the 1300 century. But after starting to change, how does that affect the fame she has around her, the fact that you're reading Sweet Blossom from this side and you're seeing Ella from that side. And a very funny story happens, when Ella starts reading this book, Sweet Blossom, Ella literally falls in love with the writer who wrote the book. Yeah and pretty much they get in touch and meanwhile a story goes on while that 1300 century story goes on in sweet blast pheleme. Elle Shafaq has written the parallels of the two stories so beautifully that it is unbelievable.
About the Story Characters:
And another thing that will impress you in this book is that every character is a self-narrative character in this book. If you think that no one else will ever tell you my story, I will tell you my story. For example, when Maulana Rumi is talking, Maulana Rumi is talking about himself. When Shams of Tabriz speaks he is speaking for himself. Explaining itself. Self-explanatory, self-narrative will appeal to you.
Different characters in this book I think 30 to 40 characters etlist. And you understand the main characters, there is Ella, there is Shams of Tabriz, then Rumi is definitely the main character. Besides the site characters that are there, to be honest, I like some of the site characters more than the main charactersIn fact there was a site character called Desert Rose. She is a prostitute. And a drunk is shown. It is said that Solomon was drunk. And another girl is shown, she is introduced to you from a very young age, her name is Kimia. These three characters are site characters. They are not main characters. But I think that these site characters are more than the main characters, especially Desert Rose, the prostitute I talked about, her story will touch you the most. How she became Desert Rose, how she moved from a noble family to a well-to-do family, and how she moved to Brothal.
When that delivery story starts being told when his mother conceives three babies at once, holy crap, you're going to love it.
My Review:
This was the first book Elif Shafak read. But it's amazing to me that a 1300 century story is feeding me history and I swear he knows how to tell a story. The similes he has used in this book and the dialogues he has given you will be just mesmerizing. Yes, that means a variety of beautiful dialogues. I would say that ornamentation is embellished.
I used to read a lot before I don't normally read fiction. I used to read fiction as a child but after growing up I am getting into non-fiction and lately I don't read much fiction. But my friend recommended me this book. I started reading this book to see what's up and when I was 2 centuries together, spirituality was being swallowed again and the way he was telling the stories, I really liked it.
My Recommendation:
If it was written by someone else, you'd probably be bored. But Shafaq has written the book in such a way that I don't think anyone will be bored. This is a great book for those who love to read books, who love to read about different things. Those who are new to reading may not like the book very much. But those who love to read who understand the difference between religion and spirituality,
Those who look for story telling, who can tell a story beautifully, if you are like that then you can read Four Rules of Love.
This book will change your perspective to make you think differently. And above all if you are a new reader of Ellip Shafak, after reading this book you will want to read more of his books. Because he has written the characters of this book very well, some characters will touch you very much.
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Translated by Bengali-English Translator