In which there are a mobile library, and whirling dervishes
- Village women reading, with Mustafa Güzelgöz and his mobile library, Turkey, 1940s-60s.
- Reading, books 2016, 20.
20. The Forty Rules of Love, by Elif Shafak, is a novel about Sufism. It should go without saying that this post is about a book of fiction published in 2010 by a Turkish author in an anglophone context (this isn't a review of Sufism or the poetry of Rumi, about which I have different thoughts and feelings). I note that, on 7 May 2014, wikipedia, with its usual atrocious level of reliability, attributed Ms Shafak's "Forty Rules" to Shams Tabrizi and added them to his supposed biography, lolololol, and they're still there in February 2016... and thus fiction becomes history!!1!!
This novel is technically well-constructed, and I enjoyed the first half until the chapter consisting exclusively of God says/He says/Him/His, after which the inane "love is all you need" platitudes infested the philosophical ruins like Bromides of Unusual Size, until the twist ending wherein it's revealed the best sort of love supposedly involves masochistically submitting to the will of a "god" who treats his submissives badly and is in favour of all forms of martyrdom*. It's not that I don't agree with the potential usefulness of some of the platitudes, but I see no reason to bury effective advice under fantasies about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. For example, unless you're already religious (in this case Muslim) then wedging in a concept of deity adds nothing to this description of an ideal mentor:
• "There are more fake gurus and false teachers in this world than the number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse power-driven, self-centred people with true mentors. A genuine spiritual master will not direct your attention to himself or herself and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate and admire your inner self. True mentors are as transparent as glass. They let the Light of God pass through them." [e.g. retaining the poetry but removing the religion: There are more false teachers in this world than the number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse power-driven, self-centred people with true mentors. Genuine teachers will not direct your attention to themselves and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate yourself. True mentors are as transparent as glass. They let enlightenment pass through them.]
Here's one oversimplified structural example of how wedging in unnecessary religious premises increases the potential number of paths towards conclusion fail:
• Ethic: You shall not murder.
• Ethic, with additional religious premise: You shall not murder, because god says so.
• Ethic, with additional religious premise, and conclusion fail: You shall not murder, because god says so, therefore only apply this to people who believe in an identical version of "god".
Also, because I can never quote this poem too often: Bonnie Lyons on "oneness".
I can't take this novel srsly within my reading context (although I understand it probably has much more to say to some Turkish readers, for one example), but if you're looking for barely subtextual historical-ish Shams/Rumi RPF then this is the book for you provided you don't mind wading through the framing story of a 21st century het romance and/or that this story bends history into the Happy Homos Must Die trope (in addition to the aforementioned preaching about the best sort of love involving masochistically submitting to a sadistic "god" who is into non-consensual torture and murder*).
(3/5 for novelistic competence, and due to my understanding that I'm not the intended reader. Warning for multiple negative disability metaphors: blindness/deafness to truth &c, and the most aggressive baddie has a strabismus [but not Dr Strabismus, whom God preserve, of Utrecht, obv. /rly old in-joke written in ink faded to sheep's-breath grey]. I refer Ms Shafak to one of her own Forty Rules of Love: "We were all created in His image, and yet we were each created different and unique. No two people are alike. No two hearts beat to the same rhythm. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would have made it so." )
* Same as the xtian "god", obvs.
This entry was originally posted at http://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/568912.html and has
comments Please comment there using OpenID.
- Reading, books 2016, 20.
20. The Forty Rules of Love, by Elif Shafak, is a novel about Sufism. It should go without saying that this post is about a book of fiction published in 2010 by a Turkish author in an anglophone context (this isn't a review of Sufism or the poetry of Rumi, about which I have different thoughts and feelings). I note that, on 7 May 2014, wikipedia, with its usual atrocious level of reliability, attributed Ms Shafak's "Forty Rules" to Shams Tabrizi and added them to his supposed biography, lolololol, and they're still there in February 2016... and thus fiction becomes history!!1!!
This novel is technically well-constructed, and I enjoyed the first half until the chapter consisting exclusively of God says/He says/Him/His, after which the inane "love is all you need" platitudes infested the philosophical ruins like Bromides of Unusual Size, until the twist ending wherein it's revealed the best sort of love supposedly involves masochistically submitting to the will of a "god" who treats his submissives badly and is in favour of all forms of martyrdom*. It's not that I don't agree with the potential usefulness of some of the platitudes, but I see no reason to bury effective advice under fantasies about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. For example, unless you're already religious (in this case Muslim) then wedging in a concept of deity adds nothing to this description of an ideal mentor:
• "There are more fake gurus and false teachers in this world than the number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse power-driven, self-centred people with true mentors. A genuine spiritual master will not direct your attention to himself or herself and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate and admire your inner self. True mentors are as transparent as glass. They let the Light of God pass through them." [e.g. retaining the poetry but removing the religion: There are more false teachers in this world than the number of stars in the visible universe. Don’t confuse power-driven, self-centred people with true mentors. Genuine teachers will not direct your attention to themselves and will not expect absolute obedience or utter admiration from you, but instead will help you to appreciate yourself. True mentors are as transparent as glass. They let enlightenment pass through them.]
Here's one oversimplified structural example of how wedging in unnecessary religious premises increases the potential number of paths towards conclusion fail:
• Ethic: You shall not murder.
• Ethic, with additional religious premise: You shall not murder, because god says so.
• Ethic, with additional religious premise, and conclusion fail: You shall not murder, because god says so, therefore only apply this to people who believe in an identical version of "god".
Also, because I can never quote this poem too often: Bonnie Lyons on "oneness".
I can't take this novel srsly within my reading context (although I understand it probably has much more to say to some Turkish readers, for one example), but if you're looking for barely subtextual historical-ish Shams/Rumi RPF then this is the book for you provided you don't mind wading through the framing story of a 21st century het romance and/or that this story bends history into the Happy Homos Must Die trope (in addition to the aforementioned preaching about the best sort of love involving masochistically submitting to a sadistic "god" who is into non-consensual torture and murder*).
(3/5 for novelistic competence, and due to my understanding that I'm not the intended reader. Warning for multiple negative disability metaphors: blindness/deafness to truth &c, and the most aggressive baddie has a strabismus [but not Dr Strabismus, whom God preserve, of Utrecht, obv. /rly old in-joke written in ink faded to sheep's-breath grey]. I refer Ms Shafak to one of her own Forty Rules of Love: "We were all created in His image, and yet we were each created different and unique. No two people are alike. No two hearts beat to the same rhythm. If God had wanted everyone to be the same, He would have made it so." )
* Same as the xtian "god", obvs.
This entry was originally posted at http://spiralsheep.dreamwidth.org/568912.html and has
comments Please comment there using OpenID.