The conference of the birds

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Farīd al-Dīn Attār: The conference of the birds (1984, Penguin)

234 pages

English language

Published Oct. 11, 1984 by Penguin.

ISBN:
978-0-14-044434-6
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3 stars (1 review)

Translated with an Introduction by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis

2 editions

reviewed The conference of the birds by Farīd al-Dīn Attār (The Penguin classics)

charming, to a point

3 stars

I was quite charmed by The Conference of the Birds for some time, but eventually it became rather repetitive. The basic theme is delightful: the hoopoe painstakingly convincing all the other birds to join it on a spiritual quest, which they keep making excuses to cover up their cowardice about. But I was hoping a work of this length would have more breadth of discussion, without which it starts to feel like the same argument over and over again.