Algebra of Love
After Orhan Pamuk, another great storyteller from Turkey, Elif Shafak, is emerging onto the scene of contemporary world literature. She is as yet less distinguished than Pamuk, but she possesses an unmatched narrative prowess which places her in the ranks of world-class novelists. Turkey's bestselling female writer, Elif Shafak has authored 13 books, nine of which are novels. Her books have been published in more than forty countries, and she has been honoured with the distinction of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2010.
Elif's latest novel, The Forty Rules of Love, is not a love story or romance as the title might suggest, but a charming mix of occidental cultural ethos and Sufi philosophy, free from the constraints of genres. There are two interwoven tales. In one story, the protagonist Ella Rubinstein, an anguished housewife and a troubled mother, tries to find solace in her work of proofreading as a literary agent. Her marriage is loveless and her husband a philanderer. Another misfortune befalls when her daughter goes away from her to get married with a boy Ella disliked.
There is a novel, Sweet Blasphemy by Aziz Z Zahara, inside the novel that relates the story of Maulana Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Having read the opening pages of the novel which is given to Ella to read and report on, she is captivated by the magic of its prose and is curious to know who the author is; she locates Aziz's blog and sets off the correspondence with the author that burgeons into a intense love affair. Aziz has been living a nomadic life with a deep love for photography for which he roves country to country and finally visits Ella in Boston. She remains catatonically frozen when Aziz indifferently lets her know that he has malignant melanoma, a fatal form of skin cancer and death will be laying its icy hands upon him within next two months. Though he unflinchingly speaks on and says that he's enough time to visit a few more countries to savour the remaining moments of his life.
The dramatic encounter of Shams of Tabriz and Maulana Rumi in Konyo, and their inseparable companionship and spiritual journey to seek the oneness of God and the supremacy of love transform Ella's life. During the span of forty days, Shams of Tabriz exposes the 'Forty Rules of Love' to Rumi, which Ella reads in 'Sweet Blasphemy' and gets her life completely changed.
Sufi Philosophy, Magic Realism and Western Cultural ethics have been deftly woven into a unique story that showcases subtle observations about our life. The forty rules of love dotted throughout the text unfold the Shams' philosophy of love that not only penetrates the heart of Maulana Rumi of 13th century, but it also sows the seeds of unconditional love into the heart of a Western woman of modern time. The gist of the entire narration can be squeezed into a Latin phrase, “Amor Vincit Omnia” meaning 'love conquers all' on which the whole story seems to be plotted.
The best aspect of this novel is its story-telling. It doesn't have the flaws of superfluous vocabulary. The narration flows smoothly. Undoubtedly, Elif knows how to give motion to the story oscillating from one end to other, from Rumi's world of Sufism to Ella' life in modern era, from 13th century to 21st century without disturbing the pace of novel. Forty Rules of Love is in five parts and forty chapters each with a rule of love defined by Shams, each chapter is in some way about its rule. One of the interesting features of the novel is each chapter begins with the word, B because “Sufi mystics say the secret of the Qur'an lies in the verse Al-Fatiha, And the secret of Al-Fatiha lies in Bismillahir rahmani rrahim And the quintessence of Bismillah is the letter ba”.
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