The Madman: His Parables and Poems

by Kahlil Gibran, Khalil Gibran, Gibrán Khalil Gibrán

Book Overview

Widely known in America as author of The Prophet, which sold more copies in the 20th century than any other book but the Bible, the great Lebanese-American poet and artist Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) first became known to Americans in 1918 with the publication of The Madman.
Thought-provoking and inspiring, the book is a collection of memorable, life-affirming parables and poems, many of them casting an ironic light on the beliefs,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486419118
• ISBN13: 9780486419114
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Soulful

I bought this for my son who loves the works of Gibran. He refers to the book often.

Calming and Peaceful Reading

Like all Gibran's writings, The Madman puts the mind in a peaceful and tranquil state. The Madman is a collection of 35 short moral stories and poetry that tell the tale of an individual who had all his self-imposed illusions and artificial faces stripped from him, leaving him just with the truth of his life, his observations and his surroundings. It shows the irony of sanity and it's status as a social construct. This book is very short (only around 71 pages, depending on your edition) and can be read very quickly. This is useful, because I've found I wanted to read it several times over. It's especially great for plane rides or any other situation in which you might find yourself harried or stressed with things beyond your control.

Perfect

This is a collection of short parables ranging in length from a single paragraph to a few pages. They are individualist in nature and center around a single soul's dealings with the world around it. Notions of truth and being are communicated in that soul's interactions with God, friends, neighbors, strangers, animals and itself. It is quite possibly the most perfect writing I have ever read. Fans of prose should enjoy Gibran's style immensely. I prefer it to the general colloquial style of writing and it is more expressive than similar styles of essay and short story writing. Gibran also has several other books, in addition to "The Prophet," that are worthy of reading. I own "The Madman, "The Voice of the Master," and "Sand and Foam." This one is my favorite. It is an astoundingly eloquent, but still clear and expressive collection of writing on the most fundamentally important of all topics.There are very few human beings capable of rivaling scripture in the emotions that their writings invoke. Kahlil Gibran was one of them.

Gilbran's first masterpiece

Kahlil Gilbran's masterpiece has always been considered THE PROPHET. In addition to writing this profound and inspiring poetry, he composed 12 other books of verses. However, none of these are as renown as THE PROPHET. In fact, many Americans who love THE PROPHET don't realize the existence of his other work. This is too bad.THE MADMAN was first published in 1918. Although written nearly 100 years ago, it remains timely. In addition, it was Gibran's first published verse. It went out of print several years ago, but has recently been made available. This book of verse is a real treasure. Of all Gilbran's writing, THE MADMAN is my favorite. In fact, I like it more than THE PROPHET. I found it thoughtful, insightful and most importantly self reflecting.

a bit of wisdom

this book is amazing. gibran has a sense of wisdom in his words that makes us think about who we really are. truly a beautiful work.