Writing style
Essayistic · Lyrical · Ornate · Poetic
Apple BooksThe Prophet
Religion and spirituality · Fable
- First published
- 1923
- Print length
- 96 pagesAlfred A. Knopf, 2007
Description
After twelve years in the city of Orphalese, the prophet Almustafa prepares to board a ship and return home. Before he leaves, the people gather around him and ask for his thoughts on the experiences that shape a human life. His answers form twenty-six prose-poetry fables or poetic essays, moving through love, marriage, work, freedom, suffering, self-knowledge, beauty, religion, and death. The impending departure gives these reflections both intimacy and urgency: each address responds to a communal question while widening into meditation. Rather than building a conventional argument, the book uses image, paradox, and compressed speech to consider how attachment and independence, joy and sorrow, and body and spirit remain inseparable within ordinary existence.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Earnest · Intimate · Philosophical · Reflective
Structure
Episodic · Framed
Focus
Ideas · Voice
Emotional intensity
3 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 4 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
Themes
Series
The Prophet Trilogy · Book 1
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780394404288
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