“Book Riot is dedicated to the idea that writing about books and reading should be just as diverse as books and readers are. So sometimes we are serious and sometimes silly. Some of our writers are pros. Many of them aren’t.”
The major topics on their Home Page are Listen, Read, and Watch.
And, something I found interesting for a bookish site—an offer to sign up as an Insider, with the top category “sold out”…
You might find that YouTube has put a short ad at the beginning of the videos—you should be able to “Skip Ad” a short way in—in the lower right corner…)
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Today’s video is a conversation between Ms Shafak and author Gaby Wood at the English PEN Literary Cafe at the London Book Fair (in 2013; but, still very relevant...).
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Coleman Barks, considered one of the best translators of Rumi, has said:
“Rumi is one of the great souls, and one of the great spiritual teachers. He shows us our glory. He wants us to be more alive, to wake up… He wants us to see our beauty, in the mirror and in each other.”
But Elif Shafak has written a novel about Rumi (and, Shams of Tabriz); plus, a host of other characters—including a modern woman and those involved in her life…
The book begins in the 2000s, then begins to shift back to the 1200s, then continues to move back and forth, in and out, round about, in a delightfully dizzying manner—enchanting, enticing, alluring, captivating…
A quote from the book:
“Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire!
“The universe turns differently when fire loves water.”
There is really no way to tell you how the book affected me.
I can mention the simple power of the writing, the charm (and, mystery) of the situations depicted, the intrigue of the plot…
But, to “explain” what the book is about would make what happened to me dry up…
Yes, I hope you read the book—you will take a trip—you will find something you may have lost…
Yet…
Well…
A quote:
“…when you have both eyes closed to the world, a third eye opens in your heart. And only then do you come to realize that eyesight conflicts with inner knowledge. No eye sees so clear and sharp as the eye of love. After grief comes another season, another valley, another you. And the lover who is nowhere to be found, you start to see everywhere.”
And, because this is not a book review; and, because I really hope you’ll read the book…
A last quote:
“The universe is one being. Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation.”
And, because an author is, somehow, always “in” the stories they write, here is Elif Shafak, such a movingly competent speaker, in a video I hope fascinates you and helps you find a reason to read The Forty Rules of Love : A Novel of Rumi………
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“…the legendary director and producer, Francis Ford Coppola, said he preferred being inspired by reading short stories rather than movie scripts.”
I’ve also said:
“As a writer, I think watching movies is an excellent way to absorb the craft of storytelling. Even though the approaches differ in certain critical ways, you can ‘translate’ between them.”
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Notes from An Alien 