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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
"A gnostic says little, but inside he is full of mysteries."
- Rumi
God I love Rumi. Obviously, I'm not the only one. But beyond just poetry, I have always loved the mystical side of the major religions. Sufism, Zen, the Kabbalists, and gnostic anything. I think there is a truth that floats in the dance and patter of thy mystics that the dogmatic and the bureaucratic impulses of religion miss. Still, it isn't just Rumi's take on God (although I could make an argument that ALL his poems thread back to God), but his take on friendship, love, sex, wine, nature, etc., that all stand out. Rumi feels like a silk strand that connects the earth to the divine. It twists and flutters, but never breaks. His words just dance and remind us that the divine exists and the divine is closer than we imagine.
I read this book right as the Coronavirus hit, but previous to this recent apocalypse, I took my wife and kids to Istanbul and one of the highlights was watching the dervishes in Galata twirl as the poetry of Rumi was chanted in a small, beautiful space, men spinning to God while the world seemed ready to veer into chaos.
* I should also note that I went back and forth on whether to give this translation 4 or 5 stars. It is very approachable, but it also seems (again, I'm not a translator so I'm relying on those who know and comparing poems to other translations) to have muted a bit of the Islamic nature of the poetry. At once, he makes the poems more approachable, but also misses some of the point. So, Rumi I give 5 stars, but the translation drops it to 4 stars. At least on this spin.
- Rumi
God I love Rumi. Obviously, I'm not the only one. But beyond just poetry, I have always loved the mystical side of the major religions. Sufism, Zen, the Kabbalists, and gnostic anything. I think there is a truth that floats in the dance and patter of thy mystics that the dogmatic and the bureaucratic impulses of religion miss. Still, it isn't just Rumi's take on God (although I could make an argument that ALL his poems thread back to God), but his take on friendship, love, sex, wine, nature, etc., that all stand out. Rumi feels like a silk strand that connects the earth to the divine. It twists and flutters, but never breaks. His words just dance and remind us that the divine exists and the divine is closer than we imagine.
I read this book right as the Coronavirus hit, but previous to this recent apocalypse, I took my wife and kids to Istanbul and one of the highlights was watching the dervishes in Galata twirl as the poetry of Rumi was chanted in a small, beautiful space, men spinning to God while the world seemed ready to veer into chaos.
* I should also note that I went back and forth on whether to give this translation 4 or 5 stars. It is very approachable, but it also seems (again, I'm not a translator so I'm relying on those who know and comparing poems to other translations) to have muted a bit of the Islamic nature of the poetry. At once, he makes the poems more approachable, but also misses some of the point. So, Rumi I give 5 stars, but the translation drops it to 4 stars. At least on this spin.
Great book to read when you're stressed. This translation is excellent and makes all the difference.
I've finished Rumi. In a way. I've come to the last page. I've closed the book. But I'm pretty sure I will never really finish Rumi. I will come back to Rumi again and again.
Rumi is a mixed bag. Brilliant, so much is brilliant. And then there are a few pieces that I thought, Huh? Really? But mostly brilliant. And wise.
Read Rumi. You know you want to. See what you think. For yourself.
Rumi is a mixed bag. Brilliant, so much is brilliant. And then there are a few pieces that I thought, Huh? Really? But mostly brilliant. And wise.
Read Rumi. You know you want to. See what you think. For yourself.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I love Rumi, and Barks translation. I always feel like I can open this book to any page and find a friend from the past who has a kernel of wisdom I need to hear. Surprisingly relevant for being written hundreds of years ago. It is not a book to plow through for me, but a listening, a steeping. I get something different each time I pick it up. It's a book I treasure.
Rumi is an amazing poet of mystical friendship, using the elements of humor, soaring natural metaphors and earthy, sometimes surprisingly scatological or sexual ones, to obliterate the categories that separate us from union with the cosmic divinity. However, the effectiveness of this volume is hampered by two things: (a) the fact that Barks is "interpreting" Rumi rather than translating him, which really shows at times (e.g., I don't think a 13th century Sufi mystic was really talking about synchronicities), and (b) that the new material in this edition is, with the exception of a couple short pieces, almost wholly superfluous. It's worth reading because I still value elements of Barks' vision of Rumi as pan-ecumenical mystical trickster and his ability to draw out the humor and surprise in the works, but read warily as this hybrid work is almost certainly as much a creation of its interpreter as its source. If you can, just grab a used version of the older edition, as the new version is just a bloated cash-grab and now overlong.
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
I've been reading bits and pieces of Rumi's poetry in instagram captions for years. I really liked getting to read the full picture. I am learning more and more about poetry and I have to say this book of Rumi's poems was really eye opening :)
It was good and I really enjoyed the insight it gave me. Now I want to read it in the original Persian...