Reflections [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Idries Shah (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

Read by David Wade, this unabridged recording of Reflections contains Shah’s own observations, fables, comments, and aphorisms. They not only entertain and amuse but, in common with all genuine Sufi literature, have an instrumental value, enabling the reader to glimpse alternative modes of behavior, thought, and understanding.

When it was first published in 1968, Reflections was acclaimed by the BBC’s The Critics program as an OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR.

David Wade is a playwright and dramatiser, mainly for BBC Radio, for which he has also made documentaries and educational programs. He was a founding member of The London College of Storytellers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... a lively collection of fables, comments, aphorisms, its quality astringency." -- Doris Lessing, The Observer, January 19, 1969

"... tremendous application for NOW." OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR -- BBC's The Critics

"... witty, tart and instructional - they tend to come into your mind at appropriate moments." -- New York Times Book Review, May 7, 1971

"Very funny ... more wisdom than I have found in any other book this year. I found myself sitting up straight." -- Pat Williams, BBC's Review of the Year --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

As the urgency of our global situation becomes apparent, more and more readers are turning to the books of Idries Shah (1924-1996) as a way to train new capacities and new ways of thinking. Shah has been described as "the most significant worker adapting classical spiritual thought to the modern world." His lively, contemporary books have sold more than 15 million copies in 12 languages worldwide and have been awarded many prizes. They have been reviewed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Times, The Tribune, The Telegraph, and numerous other international journals and newspapers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Ishk Book Service; Unabridged edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188353609X
• ISBN-13: 978-1883536091
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,430,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful tonic for the brain, January 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)

In its own quiet way, this pocket-size gem of a book offers something that's often claimed but rarely found: a true means of rousing the sluggish brain from its customary, comfortable state of automatic-pilot torpor. Comprised of bite-size sayings and stories, it avoids the emotional, the obvious and the sententious in favor of an entirely different approach that nudges the attentive reader in new and unexpected directions, chipping away at assumptions and habitual thought-patterns that screen us from seeing things the way they really are. I found it thought-provoking, bracing and a pleasure to read as well as a real eye-opener. Its size and format also make it an ideal gift.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Punch, July 19, 2001

By 

Leonard Robichaud (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)

Despite its diminutive size, this book packs a powerful punch and is probably unlike anything you have read before. Although it is well-written and entertaining, it is by no means a comfortable or easy read. Be prepared to be taken in different directions and to be confronted with unaccustomed perspectives. There is a passage from the book which gives an indication of its effect: "A pungent thought is a corrective to deterioration of the thinking: like cold water helping slack muscles to work again..." This book is full of such pungent thoughts...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my life, September 2, 2005

By 

Roger L. Schultz (Loveland, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reflections (Hardcover)

And here's one clause among many that changed my life: "...I and my associates have,instead of taking people's actions at face value, assumed that people are trying to score a point, or to assuage anxiety, or to manipulate." It's not the sentimental mush one finds in other books with similar titles. It's practical, bracing and interesting. (For practice, try to not take the above at face value.)