Spirit Brides

October 15, 1993
These two collections, which inaugurate a five-volume series, are not likely to enjoy the popularity of Gibran's The Prophet (1923). Originally published in Arabic in the first decade of this century, these stories and prose poems are chiefly vehicles for the writer's vague spiritualism, nostalgic idealism, or gloomy condemnation of society. The narratives themselves are either entirely symbolic or mere frames for the messages (such as belief in the transmigration of souls, exposure of the wickedness of established religion, and censure of the oppression of the poor and weak). Since the translations are new, the self-conscious literariness of the high-flown style must be Gibran's own. Some wisdom can be gleaned from these tendentious pieces (a brief essay on slavery in The Storm is moving), but the combination of mysticism, melancholy, and mannerism here ranks no higher as philosophy than it does as literature.-- Patricia Dooley, Seattle

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October 15, 1993
%% This is a multi-book review. SEE the title "The Storm" for next imprint and review text. %% ((Reviewed Oct. 15, 1993))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1993, American Library Association.)