A Treasury Of Kahlil Gibran

Gibran's Treasury #2

by Kahlil Gibran

see photo-scan of dust jacket flyleaf

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Philosophy, Classics, Spirituality, Religion, Literature

417 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Kahlil Gibran (Arabic: جبران خليل جبران ) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer.
Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of Ottoman Mount Lebanon), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States where he studied art and began his literary career. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.
He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again, especially in the 1960s counterculture.
Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

Reviews

[Ren · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Broken Wings

"The sensitive boy who feels much and knows little is the most unfortunate creature under the sun because he is torn by two forces. The first force elevates him and shows him the beauty of existence through a cloud of dreams; the second ties him down to the earth and fills his eyes with dust and overpowers him with fears and darkness." (p.19)

After reading 'The Prophet' I was curious to know more about the mind such a ubiquitous, oft-quoted text came from. A quick peruse through his Wikipedia page yielded fruit: he was, in fact, an interesting guy. In addition to producing much more than just 'The Prophet," he was also a visual artist and you can see a large collection of his work at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. He was also involved in promoting Syrian independence from the Ottomans, though he seemed to have been more involved in writers' circles than political ones.

In any case, there's a lot of material for anyone out there wondering 'I wonder what else 'The Prophet' guy ever did.'

'The Broken Wings' predates 'The Prophet' by about a decade, and that does somewhat show in the writing, which is much less polished, but that lavish lyricism is still there. This is a straightforward novella rather than, essentially, a very pretty self-help guide, and follows our narrator as he tells us of his tragic first romance with a young woman named Selma.

We learn from the very first page that their story is an unhappy one and that at the time of narration, Selma is dead. What follows is your sort of typical star-crossed lovers romance: the protagonist and Selma are in love, but they can't be together because she is promised to a richer man, a particularly cruel individual (this is all we know about him: he's cruel and mean and womanizing and he sucks).

Not an earth-shattering plot by any means. Indeed, the plot itself is very basic and paint by number. However, lest we forget who our author is, it is written very beautifully, although, this being an earlier piece, there was definitely a proclivity to overuse certain images and words (everything either caused sorrow, was sorrowful, or in some other way full of sorrow).

What was actually pretty interesting was his characterization of Selma, and the understanding of the tragedy of their love story he imbues her with. She speaks often in the narrative of the powerlessness imposed on her by virtue of her being a woman. She chastises her lover at one point as he's lamenting how sorrowful their situation is, saying:

"You can walk freely upon life's spacious path, carpeted with flowers. You are free to traverse the world, making of your heart a torch to light your way. You can think, talk, and act freely; you can write your name on the face of life because you are a man." (p.69-70)

This is a point she brings up a number of times to explain the context of her own grief at being married off and how it extends beyond just a broken heart. At one point the narrator even points out directly that Selma is a victim of having been a woman born too soon for society to have caught up to her desire to be as free as he was.

I wonder since, per the Wikipedia article, many of Gibran's close relationships were with women some of that insight doesn't stem from listening to them talk about their experiences of womanhood. And good for him if that was the case, because this was published in 1912 at a time where the women he would have been hanging around wouldn't even have the right to vote for another nearly another decade, and certainly most of them wouldn't have been out and about traveling the world writing their names on the face of life.

I'm not sure I liked 'Broken Wings' enough to plow through the rest of the stories in this collection, but I imagine there's something in it for anyone who enjoyed 'The Prophet' enough to want more of that.

[Desca Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The most beautiful word on the lips of mankind is the word "Mother," and the most beautiful and the most beautiful call is the call of "My Mother." It is a word full of hope and love, a sweet and kind word coming from the depths of the heart. The mother is every thing- she is our consolation in sorrow, our hope in misery, and our strength in weakness. She js the source of love, mercy, symphaty, and forgiveness. He who loses his mother loses a pure soul who blesses and guards him constantly."
.

The second treasury of Kahlil Gibran contains of four stories. The first one is his unrequited love towards Salma Karamy in the Broken Wings. The story was sad and ends up with Gibran asking the grave digger where he buries Salma and Farris Karamy. As the grave digger points out the place, Gibran says "in this ditch, you have also buried my heart." The ending may remind the readers of the ending of Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. .

The second and third story is a full of fanthomless wisdoms compiled in The Voice of Master and Thoughts and Meditation. Gibran's second treasury ends up with the chapters writing about his self-portrait- or the letters he sends or he receives from his friends. .

Definetely a book one should read...and I am sorry for taking a long time just for me to love Gibran. .
.
.
 #literature #booklove #booklover #bibliophile #kahlilgibran #asecondtreasuryofkahlilgibran #thebrokenwings #ilovereading #igreads #igbook #instaread #instabooks #bookish #bookshelf #bookaholic #letsread #ilovebook #bookstagramindonesia #bookphotography #booknerd #lovereading #bookofinstagram #bookstagram #shelfie #descaslibrary #descalibrary

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The butterfly that hovers around the lamp until it dies is more admirable than the mole that lives in a dark tunnel" - This book gives a more personal account compared to 'The Prophet'. You get to glimpse the man behind this beautiful prose. Not many will understand Gibran's writing and those who do will never forget.

[Jupri Zulprianto]

The translator did a great job

[Meena Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This magnificent volume has 4 great books. The Broken Wings, The Voice of the Master, Thoughts and Meditations & Self Portrait.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful and heartbreaking

[Janice Raquela · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT'S A MUST READ FOR GIBRANITES

[Kt Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing like intricate embroidery. I love every word even when they hurt.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

so far very interesting. I like the story.