[MPOV] The Forty Rules of Love

My rating: 4/5

Goodreads rating: 4.13/5
Published: January 1, 2009
Author: Elif Shafak
Genre: Spiritual, literature, historical fiction

Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent. Her first assignment is to read and report on Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to her 2007 novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.

My gratitude to Revitalise Books for this copy of Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love. This is my first read from this author and I'm in between 3 to 4. In the end, I've rated it 4/5 as it was well written, it was easy to navigate between the past and the present. I liked that it has been tagged or titled for each chapter, so I didn't get lost at all.

Ella's story is from the present where she is living a typical housewife with 3 kids kinda life. She was given an assignment to read and report an unknown author's book, Sweet Blasphemy, which has slowly intrigued her and changed her way of life. Sweet Blasphemy brings us to the past with the likes of Shams, Rumi, Kimya, Aladdin and lots more.

"Although it clearly says in the Qur'an that slandering is one of the gravest sins ever, most people make hardly any effort to avoid it. They always condemn those who drink wine, or are on the lookout for adulterous women to stone, but when it comes to gossiping, which is a far more serious sin in the eyes of the God, they take no notice of any wrongdoing."

This may not be a popular opinion as I did find the religious teachings incorporated into the story kinda dragging as such I tend to skip more. However, the overall story is actually quite interesting with each individual sharing their side of the story. This is where I find myself more engrossed especially when they share their thoughts of Shams and his relationship with Rumi. Who would have known, bromance from way back then!

The one thing which is hard for me to grasp was Ella's choice after reading Sweet Blasphemy and having communicated with the author, Aziz. It's a little hard to accept that each time we read something enlightening that will lead us to a life-changing decision. A little too farfetched in my opinion. It was her decision to get married in the first place and also her choice not to question her husband's infidelity. So, to suddenly follow Aziz after having read Sweet Blasphemy was more of Ella running away IMO. 

Other than that, it was an interesting read with much of its religious context differed from the local ones which was eye-opening for me. I thought it should be universal but then again, many preachers have preached it differently, so it has changed through the years. If you are looking for something spiritual, unorthodox historical, this is a choice for you. 

"Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire!

The universe turns differently when fire loves water."