Reviews

I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy by Daniel Ladinsky, Hafez

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margztgz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

my god i finished this in tears. this writing is so divine and at peace and it soothes my soul and grounds me in time. this touched me as a book i will hold onto and it's antiquity entices me to it more. there is something so special about a book that affirms your meaning and being. i could only wish to hear how beautiful this sounds in persian <3 i am so happy and grateful to have found this.

"I am happy even before I have a reason. I am full of light even before the sky can greet the sun or the moon. Dear companions, we have been in love with God for so very, very long. What can Hafiz now do but dance!"

peytonhhill's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

What a fascinating poetry collection. This was my first time dipping my toe into Sufism, and it was very interesting. This collection of poems also has an interesting forward by the translator and some background information about Hafiz at the end. I found this collection mostly quite easy to understand, and the common message throughout was very clear. What an interesting way to learn about a belief system and time in history I know little about! Despite my distance of time and space from the author, I found his poems to be very accessible and his ideas to be very applicable to my modern context. These poems reminded me to rejoice in life and love!

affyfe's review against another edition

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1.0

This was a book I read for my read harder challenge and I didn't like it. I'm not much of a religious person, but I can enjoy uplifting spiritual reading sometimes. This was not that. Nothing about this was of interest to me, it was very God heavy and more about a "him" than anything else. I kept thinking I'd stumble on one poem that would speak to me but none did. Not recommended.

kathrun006's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing

5.0

This poetry is so beautiful it made me want to learn Persian so I could read it in the original language.

kalanadi's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

3.5

hindyjoyce's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

11/60 poems were 5 stars for me which is above average for me and poetry. Other poems either didn’t fully resonate with me, wow me, or just confused me but i would definitely reread this!