World Book Club

Elif Shafak - The Forty Rules of Love

15 snips
Mar 1, 2014
Elif Shafak, a celebrated Turkish-British novelist and essayist, dives into her bestselling novel, exploring love and mysticism through Rumi and Ella’s stories. She discusses the universal appeal of Rumi's teachings and reflects on how historical figures can be complex characters in fiction. The conversation also touches on navigating personal desires against societal expectations and the transformative power of Sufism. Elif shares insights on balancing solitude and connections in the creative process, making for an engaging dialogue on love transcending time and culture.
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ADVICE

Blend Fact With Fiction Carefully

  • Where historical facts support you, stay loyal, and where fiction serves the story, choose artistic freedom.
  • Balance respect for real figures with treating them as human, flawed characters.
ANECDOTE

Discovering Shams First

  • Elif discovered Shams's voice through books before Rumi's and found it formative in her twenties.
  • She describes being intrigued by Shems' questions despite her secular, leftist background then.
INSIGHT

Love As The Circle's Centre

  • Rumi's teachings frame love as the center that connects rather than divides.
  • Shafak describes love as the essence of life and the basis for human interconnectivity.
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