The Forty Rules of Love
Elif Shafak
2009
Penguin
This fictional narrative between Rumi and Shams Tabrizi is set parallel to the story of Ella’s life and her encounter with the author of the book Sweet Blasphemy. The book has been written in many voices. The four leading characters and the lives that they touch are given space. It gives a chance to understand the world from the point of view of each of these characters.
Among the many things that the book covers, the central argument that I caught was that love has the potential to transform anyone. Further, almost any kind of love can be seen spiritually, provided one chooses to do so. In the name of spirituality, everything is justified. I am not sure it is significant but I don’t remember any of the forty rules that the narrative puts forth although I do remember repeated mentions of the same.
I found it most intriguing that people find meaning in a variety of different activities including violence, cooking, relationships, and reading. Each character in this book is thus a good study theme.
I heard it on Storytel in Hindi and I think I would have found it easier to follow if I had read it in English. This is a difficult book to track in the audio form as each chapter is in a different voice. The rendition is good though. The audio editing is not good.