The Forty Rules of Love

Author's name: Elif Shafakdar Publisher: Dar Al-Adab for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2012 Literary classification: Novel Summary of the book: Hold a piece of stone between your fingers, lift it, then throw it into flowing water. It may not be easy to see that. A ripple will form on the surface of the water where the stone fell, and water spray will scatter, but the flowing river water suppresses it. That's all there is to it. Throw a stone into a lake, and its effect will not only be visible but will last much longer. The stone will disturb the still waters, forming a circle in the spot where it fell, and the eye will notice that this circle widens, forming a circle after circle. Soon, the ripples caused by the sound of the falling stone will spread across the water surface that resembles a mirror, and this circle will not stop or fade away until the circles reach the shore. If you throw a stone into the river, the river will consider it just another movement in the chaos of its noisy, turbulent course. Nothing unusual. Nothing uncontrollable.