Rumi's Little Book Of Love And Laughter

by Coleman Barks

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Philosophy

240 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2018

About the author

Coleman Barks is an American poet. Despite the fact that he admittedly speaks no Persian, he is world-renowned as a translator of Rumi and other mystic poets of Persia. Barks taught literature at the University of Georgia for three decades. He makes frequent international appearances and is well-known throughout the Middle East. Barks's work has contributed to an extremely strong following of Rumi in the English-speaking world. Due to his work, the ideas of Sufism have crossed many cultural boundaries over the past few decades. Coleman Barks received an honorary doctorate from Tehran University in 2006.

Reviews

[Aishwary Mehta (The_Fugitive_Biker) · Rating 2 out of 5]

35th book of 2020 (159 Books read overall)

Quote from the Book I Liked - 'I will search for a friend with all my passion and all my energy until I learn that I don't need to search' (Page no. 20)

Rating - 2 Stars

*Important take from the book* - If reasonable people don't feel the presence of love within the universe, that doesn't mean it's not there. Eyesight is in conflict with inner knowing. (Page no. 72)

Plot Summary - Rowdy, ecstatic and sometimes stern, these teaching stories and fables reveal new and very human properties in Rumi's vision. Included here are the notorious "Latin parts" that Reynold Nicholson felt were too unseemly to appear in English in his 1920s translation. For Rumi, anything that human beings do however compulsive affords a glimpse into the inner life. Here are more than 40 fables or teaching stories that deal with love, laughter, death, betrayal and the soul. The stories are exuberant, earthy and bursting with vitality much like a painting by Hieronymus Bosch or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The characters are guilty, lecherous, tricky, ribald and finally possessors of opened souls.
Barks writes: "These teaching stories are a kind of scrimshaw intricately carved, busy figures, confused and threatening and weirdly funny.


My Review - Rumi is in our heart since the day we first read any of his work. I suppose it relates to everyone and touches everyone here and there. But from the very start I don't like the translation of Coleman Barks, he simply just translates the stuff which completely empties the essence of Rumi's work to just plain emotionless text. It's not the first book by the translator that I read, I've also read 'The Essential Rumi' and it's the same there as well. I don't know who claims him to be the best translator of Rumi's work. From the country where I belong (India) where Parsi, Hindi, Sanskrit and Urdu are widely used in everyday conversations, this translation feels like a very very bad attempt. I've even read many of Rumi's work in other native and original languages and those texts have the power to connect and invoke emotions even in the rocks. Coleman work seems just a plain translation which sometimes fit but mostly doesn't make any sense and feels shallow. I would prefer to check the work of others and keep a distance from such.

Conclusion - Didn't like the translation much.

Full Review on Blog.
Link to Blog - The Tales of Fugitive Biker

[Aneesha~BooksandBrownies_blr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐ 3/5

Rumi's Little Book of Love and Laughter serves as an introduction to the timeless wisdom of the renowned Persian poet, Jalaluddin Rumi. Coleman Barks' translation attempts to capture the essence of Rumi's poetry, making it accessible to contemporary readers.

However, this one left me longing for a more comprehensive exploration of Rumi's vast literary legacy. It feels like just a literal translation of Rumi's work. While the inclusion of humor adds an enjoyable dimension, it overshadows the deeper philosophical and spiritual themes for which Rumi is well known.

Overall, those seeking to discover Rumi's poetic brilliance may find themselves yearning for a more substantial representation of his work.

[Samir Ahmed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some stories were interesting and some were not so explanatory.

[Anshul · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you become addicted to looking back,
half your life will be spent in distraction,
and other half in regret.

(Mathnawi, IV, 1332-1342, 1353-1357)
Rumi's writing is filled with wisdom and charm although I give this a 3 star as Coleman Barks' translation felt hollow and bland which is a shame since it's his translations of Rumi which are widely in circulation.

[Ani Vardanyan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book on my trip to India because I had heard that Rumi was regarded as one of the greatest poets. The start was somewhat nice but then it just became 100% Islamic preaching and worship of the prophet Muhammad. Too religious for my taste so couldn't even finish the last 25% or so.

[KarnagesMistress]

I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Hina Javed · Rating 2 out of 5]

naaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Big fan of Rumi but this book is not at all written well

[Divya · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh god! its so bad, that i wont even give it any star!
so clinical.

[Ibrahim Hamza · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will conclude it with one word "Disappointing". I feel complete waste of time.

[Maham :3 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never thought I would say this about something relating to Rumi, but this book absolutely sucks! Mr Coleman is a horrible translator. He has reduced the essence of the original Sufi text.

[Maham Tariq · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think @elifshafaq is the one who sowed the seed of love for Rumi or Rumis' work in us when she published 'forty rules of love'. For me it was her, & after reading forty rules of love, (which lives up to the hype) , I wanted to read more of him.
❤️
So, I started picking up books which had 'Rumi' in the title. I was curious to give this one a read because most of the people didn't like this book for obvious reasons.Reading this one requires having an open mind & heart & definitely meant for a mature audience.
🤷‍♀️
This book was sensual and explicit, which came both as a shock & a surprise.its not something you'd expect.But, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The fables include very human attributes/properties - guilty, lecherous, infidelity and tricky. The book contains almost 40 fables about love, sex, laughter, betrayal, death and inner self aka soul.
🖤

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read parts of this to a lonely dog, who was howling because his family was gone on vacation and left him behind to tend the house, but with a sitter coming by every night to sleep over and keep him company. Sometimes he stopped and listened while I read to him, parked on a folding chair in the patio outside his picture window. A good read.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A curate's egg - good in parts.

[muaad the poet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but it didn’t make me feel special as some of the other Coleman Bark books have done.

[Navya!! · Rating 1 out of 5]

bruhh what to say? that's so bad like ewwww the language the meaning the concept was just out of my mind.. I seriously don't understand what the heck they were talking about like eww
I HATE ITTTTTTTT

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read this when I was outside and I highly recommend it. If you’re able to read these out loud thats fun too.

[Wulfred · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rumi, a Sufi poet and an Islamic scholar has a complete subject to himself. The art of submission to Allah inside out, no questions asked, no stones unturned on this road less travel HOWEVER to study Moulana Rumi through Coleman Barks is a mistake. Barks has jeopardised Rumi's work to being a minimalist idea of resistance to mainstream Islam. Not only that, Barks has translated rather transformed the meaning of Mathnavi to personal suiting of non Muslim audience. He has projected a very leftist view of Rumi that doesn't exist. Is it a bona fide effort from Coleman. God knows but surely he has destroyed the essence of Rumi's prime work to satisfy his white Catholic audience twisting the Persian Mathnavi into English language in such a manner that makes Mathnavi a universal feat whereas it is only truly Islamic in nature. This will be my last book from Coleman. Period!

[Priyanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not going to pretend that I understood the meaning of every metaphor in this book. Irrespective of that I found the book to be slightly pretentious. I couldn’t feel the depth of the words written in it. I can’t be sure yet if it was because of the way it was translated until I read other translators’ works on Rumi. I have also not read any other works of Coleman Barks therefore my review of his writing is based only on his translations in this book.

At the moment (when I’m writing this review just after finishing it) I’m neutral about recommending this book. It’s neither a ‘must-have’ nor a ‘never-have‘ book.

[Shumaila Meer · Rating 2 out of 5]

“ An empty mirror and your worst destructive habits,
When they are held up to each other,
That’s when the real making begins.
That’s what art and crafting are.”

[Ahmad Awan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it and learned alot just like i learned alot from forty rules of love.

[Maryam · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had huge expectations, but this managed to be... boring? i find the translation of this book mind-numbingly dull.

[Crystal John · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just hated this book. OMG very distasteful and disconnected!!!

[The Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ratings: 2.8/5 stars
This book was poorly translated 😑