Fiction
Verdict: Maybe
Hello Interwebs. I know, I know, I'm hopelessly nerdy and cringy and out of touch....but it gives me a lot of joy. I've been off to other adventures than writing lately and it seems I'm a bit behind if we're going to judge by my 2 large stacks of books + Digital Books to review. My (suspected) ADHD brain would rather build a business and garden these days. I'm gonna start collecting blogs again and write about those too, just not right now, I need to finish this work first.
Ahem. On to the book. So I was binging Pinterest for new reads (the bookstore is expensive yo!) and I kept coming across Elif Shafak as a must read author. Ok cool. I'm up for trying just about anything.
I'm not much for gimmicky writing, but this one slowly reeled me in. The novel is about a marriage that is falling apart. It's been a comfortable one (read, they thought they were happy), but they have reached midlife and are drifting slowly and inevitably apart. A parallel story runs about Rumi and his soul mate, Shams of Tabriz. Shafik examines relationships from a very multi-dimensional approach. But the theme continues to come back to love.
From a personal point of view (having had a marriage fall apart) it was a painful read. It was also difficult to watch Rumi and Shams have a relationship that was encompassing for both of them and exclusionary to everyone else. I have had some unfortunate experiences in that way too. But the way Shafik explored love was beautiful. There was no condemnation nor trying to shuffle things into the conventional way that everyone accepts and is comfortable with. He also made a point of relationships sometimes having a timeline - even when we want them to last forever they may not and it's painful.
I think this book is worth it in spite of the kitch, but it requires some life experience and reflection. I personally find those some of the best. It's not a complicated story, but it's a complicated theme.
Verdict: Read it!
~Becky~
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