The Prophet

The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran

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Book Summary Information

Author: Kahlil Gibran
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1973-09-01
ISBN: 0394404289
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Product features:

ISBN13: 9780394404288
Condition: New
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Book Reviews of The Prophet

Book Review: has to be read to be believed, though I don't recommend it
Summary: 1 Stars

Kahlil Gibran, in his ostensibly didactic "masterpiece," The Prophet, grants his God such appellations as "master spirit of the earth" and "living ether," but nevertheless refers consistently to Him simply as "God" and has a "seeress" explicitly hail the book's orator, Almustafa, as a "Prophet of God." It must be noted that despite The Prophet's philosophical air, no philosophical conception of God is achieved, even by Gibran's tiresome metaphors, which are compounded in their pretentiousness by a series of ridiculous illustrations depicting them literally. The reader must keep the fact of a conventionally conceived deity in mind for when he is told near the book's conclusion that all of the preceding ramblings, many of which present purely intuitive ethics, are precisely what constitute religion. Piety and free-thought die at each others' hands. Nothing even resembling a coherent philosophy emerges, nor is the book an inspired or advanced treatment of a philosophy developed by Gibran elsewhere. Read as philosophy, this book amounts at most to platitudes steeped in undisciplined metaphor and expounded with an insufferable tone of self-assured profundity sure to leave the unsuspecting intelligent reader aghast. And any search for psychology in The Prophet will be as fruitless as that for philosophy. Almustafa's insights are hollow, and usually dissolve completely at the slightest probing. A few of his discourses - for example, those on "Joy and Sorrow" or "Self-Knowledge" - seem at their outset to show promise, or at least potential, but these, too, rapidly reveal themselves as only further occasions for his mystical jabbering. It could reasonably be supposed that this book might atone in part for its intellectual crimes with some kind of pleasantly numbing poetic, or even lyrical, quality. In this respect, though, if it is possible, the reader of The Prophet suffers even worse. Written only in 1923, it offers no excuse for its comical archaisms and stilted delivery apart from a vague imitation of Ecclesiastes, for which it praises itself highly in the dust jacket. Adding insult to injury, it reads as an insipid mimicry of a true masterpiece, written in the year of Gibran's birth. The oracular style of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is acceptable not only because the work is one of pure genius, but because of the brilliant injection of wit and humour counterbalancing its heavy style. Aside from its basic structure, though, only Zarathustra's tone is preserved by Gibran in his work-- and is taken to revolting depths of tedium. (Incidently, some of Gibran's other titles are suspiciously Nietzschean-- e.g. The Madman, The Wanderer.) The impression the reader gagging his way through these pages is left with is of absolute nausea; however, the instant The Prophet is set down, its lasting impression is one merely of an irksome literary blip, whose immortality was unfortunately secured for it during the sixties, though it is now often bestowed upon members of a new generation so that they too may be captivated by it. This enduring appeal of Gibran's work is perhaps most staggering, and disturbing, of all. Basking in the glow of its success, it informs the reader triumphantly that its ninety-six pages are "beloved" by millions, and have been "reprinted one hundred and twenty-eight times" in many different editions, including a fifty dollar hardcover. If not taken in by the efforts of The Prophet's publishers to exalt this odious little pamphlet to biblical status, one is sure to contemplate the better title: The Profit.

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Summary of The Prophet

Kahlil Gibran?s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.

The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran?s musings are divided into twenty-eight chapters covering such sprawling topics as love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, housing, 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.

Each essay reveals deep insights into the impulses of the human heart and mind. The Chicago Post said of The Prophet: ?Cadenced and vibrant with feeling, the words of Kahlil Gibran bring to one?s ears the majestic rhythm of Ecclesiastes . . . If there is a man or woman who can read this book without a quiet acceptance of a great man?s philosophy and a singing in the heart as of music born within, that man or woman is indeed dead to life and truth.?

With twelve full-page drawings by Gibran, this beautiful work makes an incredible gift for anyone seeking enlightenment and inspiration.

In a distant, timeless place, a mysterious prophet walks the sands. At the moment of his departure, he wishes to offer the people gifts but possesses nothing. The people gather round, each asks a question of the heart, and the man's wisdom is his gift. It is Gibran's gift to us, as well, for Gibran's prophet is rivaled in his wisdom only by the founders of the world's great religions. On the most basic topics--marriage, children, friendship, work, pleasure--his words have a power and lucidity that in another era would surely have provoked the description "divinely inspired." Free of dogma, free of power structures and metaphysics, consider these poetic, moving aphorisms a 20th-century supplement to all sacred traditions--as millions of other readers already have. --Brian Bruya

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