Kahlil Gibran's Treasured Writings

I am not much of a reader. But from time to time, I force myself to read so that my mind won't be so idle.

It took me 4 months to finish reading this book.  It was not an easy read for me.  With its heavy content and the limited vocab of mine - payah bebenor nak fokus.

And then it took me another months to write this so-called review ehehe, reviewlah sangat.

It's a compilation of Kahlil Gibran' many writings and there are also his letters to his friends. Memang hebatlah, tulis surat pun guna bahasa tinggi.

But there's something about it - when I found out that most of his original writings was actually in Arabic, I felt slightly upset because all these while I was reading his material in English.  Because to me, the translations normally will not do the original masterpiece justice, tu macam frust sikit terasa.

Take the Vitagen's tagline for an instance:

"Be good to your gut" but when it's translated to BM, it becomes "Sayangi sistem penghadaman anda"

Haha. Bagi contoh Vitagen pulak. Okaylah, ambik contoh yang acah deep sikit.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed" = "Kawan yang baik adalah kawan yang ada sewaktu kita memerlukan"

See? The translation wording is not as precise and on spot as the original one even though it carries out the same meaning. But anyhow, yes, even translated to English, his masterpiece is still beautifully conveyed. Imagine reading in its original version.. 

But all in all, aside from the artistic content, it's informative as well. There are some historical and geographical info in the book. Like how the opening of Suez Canal had affected the Middle East's economic in the 19th century that forced most of the people to migrate to other countries, including US for a better living. (or was this actually covered in Form 5's History subject? sorry, Sejeq's totally not my favorite subject back then)

*please excuse the blurriness of this pic since it was taken using phone yang kena tumpahan minyak*