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Summary: Life-Changing
Review: A dear friend of mine bought me a copy of this book a few weeks ago while we were in a book store together. Inside the front cover she wrote the words, "never leave home without it". I thumbed through the book that evening, finding myself caught on passage after passage, and to this day I tuck it carefully into my bag as I leave the house every day. Divided into books or chapters by topic, each only a few pages long but full of remarkable insight and understanding, the book reads almost in parables. The individual sections are held together by the narrator, a man leaving a village he has lived in for years to return home. The book is written as his observations on the lives of the villagers. I find myself returning almost daily to a few selected chapters, and the few minutes it takes to refresh them in my mind are well worth it. If you've come far enough to find this review and the others alongside it, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of this book.
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Summary: It is a good book alright!
Review: The Prophet instructs us into the insanity of school bussing. When I read the Prophet I was struck by the love I felt of walking. Bussing, a government thing that provides a false desire cannot replace I walking and I love walking. The Prophet likes walking and probably most people that walk if they think about it like walking. Some things are sad, like lying in bed and not walking. Outside is pretty and you can walk there. The prophet saw pretty things when he walked and describes them to you and then you want to go for a walk and see them too. Once I went walking and I saw a dead bird. It wasn't pretty, but I bet it was once. The prophet said dead things are really alive somewhere and made GOD, but I think that thing looked pretty dead by the pizza place and the pizza place stank like money and other things that the prophet says are ok as long as you remember God when You are spending money. God is everywhere and he is there when you buy things. So don't buy pornography, buy the Propept. Thank you.
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Summary: A companion for all time
Review: I was given a copy of THE PROPHET in 1945 when I entered the army as a teenager in the closing year of the second World war. The little "shirt pocket edition" I carried with me in those army years sits today on my bookshelf, and now provides its inspiration and guidance on those days when my contemplative mood reminds to listen, again, to the poetry and love of this timeless author. Give this book that Gibran may give to those you love, as he has done, for so many years, to millions, worldwide. Frank Ferguson
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Summary: Audiobore
Review: The Prophet is one of my all-time favorite books. Gibran's writing is ingenious and The Prophet has definitely earned it's place in the canon of spiritual classics and masterpieces of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the audiobook version does not live up to the original text. Sparer's reading is blase' at best: uninteresting, uninspired and uninspiring ... plain dull. He merely read the words but put no heart or soul into them. I whole-heartedly recommend the book to everyone but the audiobook, no....I was very disappointed; I couldn't even finish listening. I wish someone would resurrect the Richard Harris recording -- that one was excellent!
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Summary: Elegant
Review: Intrinsically, this book utilizes a flowing a cleaver way to express the ideological interpretations of the author. While, personally, I found nothing profound in the ideologies expressed in the book, I did find it, simply a pleasure to read. Even with the lack of philosophical epiphany, the style of the book in its fluid manner, the parallel structure of the chapters, and the brevity combined with the larger font in the piece, leave the reader, whether they agree with the philosophies therein or not, in a state of solemn peace and the feeling that they have not wasted their time. As, really, they probably have not, it really did not waste my time anyway; it only took a little over an hour to read (with breaks).
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Summary: A vista painted with words...
Review: The Prophet is a work of poetry, not in the sense that its goal is to rhyme or to cleverly match cadence and syllable counts between fragmented sentences, as most works of poetry seem aimed towards, but rather because it is simply written artfully. It isn't clever, it isn't witty; rather, there is simply a deepness to it that can literally surround the reader. There is no need for artifice or embellishment because the work is simply genuine, elegant, and powerful enough to transport the reader not to another ->place<-, but to another ->state<-. Yes, it is a work of spiritual poetry. Personally, I think that adds to the appeal, though one need not be interested in metaphysics or so called new age philosophy to enjoy it. Regardless of one's perspective, it is very difficult not to find The Prophet a beautiful book.
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Summary: A masterpiece of life's wisdom
Review: Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is a book that has touched many people very deeply since it's publishing in 1923. It has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American edition alone has sold more than four million copies. It is considered both by Gibran himself, and by the general public to be his literary masterpiece. The Story is about a prophet leaving a town, and as he leaves he imparts some of his knowledge to the towns people. Gibran himself was born in Lebanon in 1883. He was a poet, artist, and philosopher. His fame and influence has spread through the world, superceding linguistic and cultural barriers. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages, and his drawings and paintings have been distributed and showcased all around the world. In the last twenty years of his life he lived in the United States, and began to write in English. The book The Prophet was written during this time period. His words and pictures change the way that people look at life, and people find them to be an expression of the deepest impulses of man's heart and mind. The Prophet is about a man who is leaving a small town called Orphalese where he has made his home for the past twelve years. He has, for that time period, been waiting for a boat to take him back to the land of his youth. We are not told where that land is, only that he has been waiting to return there for twelve years. The entire book occurs on the date of his departure. As he is about to leave, the townsfolk stop him in the town and request that he tell them about certain things. He talks to them about life's lessons and imparts his wisdom to them. He is asked about giving, and he tells the people to give without recognition, because their reward is their own joy. He also talks about things like marriage, work, friendship and also love. He speaks about each, and more, describing the way that people should deal with each issue. This book is an interesting book. It is ninety-three pages of life's lessons set down in writing. These are words to live by, and tell others to live by. This book is certainly a book that everyone should read. Even if people don't agree with some of the beliefs, they should still read the book, if only to get their mind thinking about life, and it's many quandaries from a different perspective. This book is not unlike the musings of an aging man imparting his life's lessons to an audience of just about anyone whom he can gather to listen to him. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's lessons and stories are wise beyond the ages, and still hold up to be as true today as they were when Gibran wrote them in 1923. The lessons enumerated within this pages are lessons that one would hope were followed by the general population, and I know that if more people read this book, then the world as a whole might become a more easily survivable place.
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Summary: A priceless jewel of a book. I have read it again and again.
Review: The book and the paintings of Gibran are a joy for the heart. I read the book again and again . Its is like an ever fresh flower which perfumes the reader with its fragrance. Any one who wants the book for free please contact Navinkumar@hotmail.com
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Summary: Robin from St. Paul, MN
Review: "The Depth of love, is not known until the hour of separation." I gave this book to a friend who then gave it to his wife who gave it to another friend who gave it to her husband. I loved the chapter on MARRIAGE.
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Summary: An amazing book
Review: This book has changed my life. A friend loaned me her copy of the book when I was going through a severe depression, and through reading it and pondering what the book says about understanding yourself, the world around you, and life in general I was able to get "back on track" in my life. I loved it so much that I purchased my own copy and have re-read the book several times since. I would recommend it to anybody who is going through a tough time in their life, or just wants a better understanding of what "the meaning of life" truly is.
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