Sid
First Stephen King novel I've read, and what a rollercoaster it was.
You will find yourself laughing and crying, exclaim in sheer magnificence at King's brilliance, and learn to jump at every shadow after finishing what I believe, is his magnum opus. It straddles a variety of genres (horror, mystery, comedy), and it does so with aplomb. The sheer scale of King's creation is unparalleled.
There is nothing more to be said about this work of art - it is simply one of the best works of art of our generation. Read, and be dazzled. Don't, and you will have missed out on so, so much.
I would like to agree with ‘The Independent', whose favorable review is written on the cover - ‘A masterpiece. One of the greatest works of our age.'
No review can do this book justice, as I am beginning to see. The ruminations of ‘Humbert Humbert', becoming more and more deranged as the pages fly by, is a chilling echo to the spiralling madness of the main character.
I couldn't put this book down, and it is shameful to realize how most people would not touch this book with a ten foot pole, due to them getting the wrong notion of this book encouraging paedophilia. Read and make up your own minds.
TL;DR - read it, if you haven't already. If you have, then you already know how haunting it is.
A fascinating book, and it is likely to be one of the only books in the self-help genre that will make a lasting impact on me. The Prophet is not preachy and doesn't aim to be. Contrary to what some people might think, I don't feel this book prompts you to believe in a Supreme Power ™ - if you believe in it, Gibran would be happier, of course – but at one point, Gibran states that, at the risk of not paraphrasing – ‘better to concentrate on people here rather than the God above'.
There's also an insane number of quotes spread about like diamonds – memorable examples of which include -
I teach you not silence, but rather a song not over-loud.Not yet have I been caged by wisdom. Too young am I and too verdant to speak of aught but self.The space between you and your neighbour unbefriended is greater than those between you and your beloved who dwells beyond seven lands and seven seas.Call nothing ugly, my friend, save the fear of a soul in the presence of its memories.I also loved that it's so short, and today's self-help books should learn a thing or two about editing from this one. The Prophet, in its essence, is a mishmash of inspirational quotes attributed to a fictional prophet, and it somehow works – and it doesn't look to have aged at all.
In hindsight, this book is so deceivingly simple that you are swept away in its prose - but you later realize that Harari's arguments either do not make sense at all or even if they sometimes do, they are not backed up with data. I'd rather read Piketty or Ferguson, who make for dry reading, but at the very least, they try to back up their opinions with fact.