Reviewing "Forty Rules of Love" by Elif Shafaq

The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The title of this book is quite misleading. In fact, it is so misleading that I was exposed to some raised eyebrows and snide remarks like "Why are you suddenly so interested about the rules of love, at this age?". Anyway, jokes apart, this was a nice book to read. I would put it beside some of the books of Paolo Coelho.

After reading a difficult to grasp; non-fiction book, this was a welcome change for me.

So what are these rules? The concept of love is quite different in Sufism. It is more about the love that exists between human beings and the creator, as well as a version of mutual admiration, which is not necessarily comparable with the love between a man and a woman.

Although the book has some deeply philosophical and religious undertones, it never becomes too heavy to grasp or too cryptic to read. It mostly speaks about the extraordinary friendship between two men; the poet Rumi and his spiritual companion; a wandering Dervish called Shams of Tabriz.

There are several other characters, along with the author herself; referred to as "Ella". Most of the characters get enough time and space within the three hundred and fifty pages long book to make a lasting impression.

The story itself was a bit predictable, but the way the author took me, the reader to the ending was a worthwhile journey. In fact, the ending was disclosed at the very beginning of the book, but still it didn't seem to be harming the story telling by any means.

I really liked reading it. There was a certain flow to it. The initial buildup was slow, but the book literally became unputdownable in the last 200 pages (which I finished in one day, while it took me 29 days to read the first 150).

I think I will re-read this book a number of times in the future, with special focus on favorite parts. I already know them.

The summary of my review is that it's a must read book for people who are interested about the life of the poet Rumi.

A word of caution though; there's very little on his poetry in this book--it rather focuses on his transformation from a religious scholar to a Sufi poet.

Still a great read by all means. Highly recommended.

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