Customer Reviews

Love Letters: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran to May Ziadah

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"A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand."

"Love Letters" is a collection of Kahlil Gibran's letters to May Ziadah. Unfortunately May's family did not want her letters published so we are left to imagine what they may have contained. Reading her responses would have made this book all the more interesting. From Gibran's letters we get the sense that he is lonely and unhappy and wishing for this soul connection between them to deepen and expand. Writing May seems to make him happier if only for a few moments. In his letters he admits to his profound longing for his homeland. He also says: "of all people you are the nearest to my soul".

Kahlil Gibran also invites May to visit him and talks about wanting to visit her. Apparently they never met and only continued their friendship in letters. It was interesting to see how Gibran first started signing his letters "Yours Sincerely," then "Your True Friend," then simply just "Gibran." So while we can't get a clear picture of how May felt it seems she was angry at him a few times and Gibran mentions enough information from her letters to give the reader a casual view of who May really was.

To be honest this book does not portray her as being consistently friendly and as it goes with most friendships there were times of discord. I would not say these were "true" love letters in the sense that two lovers were writing each other about their desire. The only desire apparent is for a deep soul mate type union, which seems to have been found by two Lebanese writers.

~The Rebecca Review