Blurb:
Discover the forty rules of love…
Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella’s life - an emptiness once filled by love.
So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, her world is turned upside down. She embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.
It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored. . .
My Review:
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak showcases love as an aesthetic. Love in this book doesn’t necessarily mean romantic love but also spiritual and philosophical love. Love towards other living beings, love towards God, love towards a partner, intimate love, platonic love, and most importantly self-love.
Through this book, we see Ella’s journey as she tries to find herself and the meaning of love after years of a routine life as a homemaker.
I loved the use of both first and third-person perspectives as well as the use of multiple fonts. It helps add depth to the characters and narration.
“The Mathnawi starts with B, just like all the chapters in this novel….” – This style is brilliantly used in the book
This book is far away from being realistic. Through Rumi’s devotion towards the Shams of Tabriz and the latter’s devotion towards God, the story feeds on the idea of love in a way that not many have experienced or can experience. It is poetic love, sufi love, or even love’s idea of love if that makes any sense. The plot is quite interesting and the book has a lot of food for thought. It has quite a lot of contradictions in itself when it comes to love. But, the bottom line is love is really important. Whether it’s spiritual or romantic.
Story-wise it is a light and casual read. Talking about the title, the book offers forty thoughtful rules of love, again – not just romantic love.
One of my favourite rules is: “Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be so shortsighted as to not be able to see the outcome.”
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. Is it overhyped? Yes. Do I recommend it? If you liked The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, then you would enjoy this one as well. It’s just as philosophical and gives quite similar vibes. If you haven’t read any book in a similar genre, it is a good place to start.