Title: Spirits Rebellious
Author: Khalil Gibran
Published in: 1908
Genre: Fiction
About!
This book is said to have been burnt after it came out because it proved to be very controversial. That is, mainly, due to the open question to authority that it contains. The book contains three stories centering around man, religion, law and authority all of which do not just depict the society in the early 1900s but the themes are universal.
There are many questions posed by Gibran in this book. His inquisitive thoughts are very provocative to the mind and conscience.
My thoughts!
Umm okay so I gotta admit that I don’t know how I felt about this book. Not putting you off from reading it, I feel that everyone should read this but there are things in it that I think can mislead a person if taken as they are but it is still a GREAT piece of work no doubt.
The first story is ‘Madam Rose Hanie’. Treatment/abandonment of women by men with their selfish motives is the main feature. It also talks about Materialism. Very deep and seemingly right questions are asked by the writer in the end of this story but again they can encourage people who are at the brink of morality to cross the line.
The second story is ‘Cry of the Graves’. It is a well written account of corruption, misunderstanding, cruelty and death. All done to man by man.
The third story is ‘Khalil, The Heretic’. Presumably the writer himself is the protagonist. His thesis is the doom of a society/community when its administrative/ruling class along with the representatives of religion is filled with corruption. He paints a very miserable picture of the common man who suffers in these circumstances. Khalil openly and boldly condemned all these evils which are pretty much the same or worse today.
Overall, I really liked the writing style. Khalil has written for a layman. Diction is beautiful. Almost poetic.
But I read this book a couple of months ago and I feel like if I read this now I might interpret it in a better way than I did before even though it has only been a couple of months but sometimes it doesn’t take long for one to change I guess.
I’d love to know your thoughts on this. How many of you have read this book? Have you read anything else by Khalil Gibran? I’m eager to know. Tell me in the comments below.
Herinkedsoul 