This book just entered the public domain here in the United States and I heard good things about it so I thought I order a copy to celebrate Public Domain Day and introduce myself to this classic work of literature. This is a nice, sturdy hardcover edition from Penguin Classics with blue gilding on the pages and a sweet forward by Rupi Kaur who herself was inspired by the book growing up.
With the first page, I was hooked and read the whole way through. The language is so elegant and rhythmic, and the lessons being taught are quite profound, for example the section on "Crime and Punishment" and how it speaks about citizens viewing criminals as "strangers" when they themselves have the same propensity to committing similar acts really stood out to me upon my first reading.
Even though it's a very short book (about 100 pages long), it is so dense with imagery that it could take multiple re-readings in order to grasp every detail and inner truth being written. I plan to revisit this book every now and again in order to do so and it would serve as a nice companion for my life's journey. I highly recommend this to everyone.
was really looking forward to this book but when i received it, the pages in the book are upside down. i have to flip the book over and read from the back to read the book properly. seems silly to spend all the energy to return it when i can still read it...
Absolutely gorgeous book! I've read it multiple times already and still cannot put it down. I can't get over the blue of the pages.
Classic. A "must have" for any cultured library. One of the best-selling books of all time, Wikipedia reports that it has sold over 100 million copies since its original publication in 1923.
Like so many middle-eastern works, it contains a story within a story. A wise young man (the Prophet) visits a land only briefly and is asked questions which he answers in a deeply profound manner. Each question is a chapter love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death. Few would be able to top Gibran's tender insight and profound understanding. Written with such sensitivity, it is difficult to imagine the author was struggling with poverty in gritty NYC. Ars longa.
Illustrated by the author. If you don't have a copy and haven't bought one for each of your children, your best friend and your lover, you have missed one of man's most beautiful creations.
This is an attractive copy of this classic book. I’ve given dozens of different versions as gifts, sometimes for no reason except friendship, sometimes for special occasions where a bit of insight and good advice in poetic prose is especially appropriate. Having the book feature Gibran’s art in addition to his words makes it even more special..
Life changing. Inspiring. I’m grateful for this book! If you’re interested in our Universe and some peaceful, loving views on our existence then this is a must have. The messages are powerful and full of light & love!
I was first introduced to The Prophet when I was a college student in the 1950's and bought a copy then. In the flooding of Katrina, I lost all my books--1000 or more--including, of course, The Prophet. At the time, I said I would never buy another book; I would go to the library if I wanted to read. I do, however, like to have lovely things in my home, and Kahlil Gibran's masterpiece is not simply a book; it is a work of art, both the words and the illustrations. This recently purchased copy is identical to my previously owned copy, and I am so happy to find the replacement.
Powerful, incredibly moving book. You should read this and give it to someone you love to read. This version is beautifully made with blue text and images and blue on the side of the pages. The foreword by Rupi Kaur is also amazing.
