This week in books
It just had to be done! I really needed to revisit this old classic. Who doesn't like a good adventure? An immaculately written story about a much sought after map that details the location of a notoriously cunning pirate's treasure. The real adventure begins when the map falls into the hands of our young protagonist Jim Hawkins. He finds himself on a ship with an interesting number of characters. And it soon becomes apparent that Jim and his close friends are not the only ones after the treasure. I couldn't stop reading and finished it in no time, though I did have to put up with feeling sleep deprived for the better part of this week...
This one right here, The Masnavi by Rumi, is a masterpiece! As the blurb reads: "Rumi's Masnavi is widely recognised as the greatest Sufi poem ever written.." and what a poem it is! This is Rumi's method of portraying his love for God. It is a poem but explores various tales and Islamic teachings and Muslim history. As the blurb says, this book is 'spiritually profound'. It's the background reading of the week. What does that mean? By no means does it mean that this book is boring and is therefore in the background. No siree! This is an intellectually and spiritually stimulating piece of work, thus it can't be read like any old novel in a single sitting. It must be read, digested, pondered upon and then understood.
This book I have just picked up from a friends shelf today. I was reeled in by the fact that it was written by Elif Shafak (I really enjoyed his book, The bastard of Istanbul). Then the blurb really had me. It's about an obese woman and her dwarf lover. They are sick of being stared at and decide they will switch roles. So the woman paints on a mustache and the dwarf puts on makeup (tell me that doesn't pull you in). The man embraces the world as it gazes at him, whilst the woman doesn't. He then compiles a 'Dictionary of Gazes' where he records the looks of the passers-by, in order to explore the boundaries between appearances and reality. I'm looking forward to this, the first few pages are so far so good.
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