Why does this novel stand up among so many other romance novels?
Icono I took the liberty of quoting the English version:
It is the power of words like these:
It is said that unsophistication makes a man empty and that emptiness makes him carefree. It may be true among those who were born dead and who exist like frozen corpses;
**but the sensitive boy who feels much and knows little is the most unfortunate creature under the sun, because he is torn by two forces. **
**the first force elevates him and shows him the beauty of existence through a cloud of dreams; **
**the second ties him down to the earth and fills his eyes with dust and overpowers him with fears and darkness. **
**Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. Solitude is the ally of sorrow as well as a companion of spiritual exaltation. **
Khalil Jibran!