The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I wouldn't have heard of Elif Shafak if it hadn't been for a talk of her's I heard on Ted.
The famous Turkish writer spoke eloquently about the need to urge aspiring writers to write about what they do not know rather than the usual trend of writing what they do know.
This intrigued me as did the rest of her talk on imagination, creativity and djinns.

I searched for her books and bought two.

The Forty Rules of Love was the one I chose to read first and I'm glad that I did.
This is the story of two love stories intertwined though set in entirely different geographical settings and in two different eras tied together with the binding theme of Sufism and love, unconditional, all-consuming love.
One between a middle aged American housewife Ella Rubenstein and a mystical writer Aziz and the other between 12th century poet Rumi and his spiritual mentor and companion Shams of Tabriz.
The book is structured as a book within a book that cuts from character to character telling us of life as it happens from their perspective.

I loved the book for the wonderful gems of quotes it had to offer like these -
"Having roots nowhere I have everywhere to go."

"It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied."

"What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the Dawn."

"Fret not where the road will take you. Instead concentrate on the first step. That's the hardest part and that's what you are responsible for. Once you take that step let everything do what it naturally does and the rest will follow. Do not go with the flow. Be the flow."

I loved how the book also focuses on the feelings of Kerra and Aladin and others affected by this almost other-worldly relationship between Shams and Rumi though I wish the same consideration had been given to the characters that inhabit Ella's world as well.

All in all, a book I am glad to have read and one that will stay with me for a long time.



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