so-soThis book was ok as an introduction to or broad overview of Ottoman history. However, it jumped around alot, such as to different time periods, topics, and such. Generally, it seemed to try to cover too much in too short of a book.
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so-soThis book was ok as an introduction to or broad overview of Ottoman history. However, it jumped around alot, such as to different time periods, topics, and such. Generally, it seemed to try to cover too much in too short of a book.
so-soIm just not a fan of this author. Her character dialogue is juvenile, basic. This is a adults fiction book with fully grown adults as characters and honestly there's better dialogue out there in YA.
There's also a lot of personal rants in here. The whole rant about fish and sanitary towels is one example of how information is shoe horned into the narrative. Its awkward.
And there's no trust of the reader. A good author will show not tell.
pickMy daughter asked me to have a book club with her and I‘d just bought this book so we took turns reading sections. A lovely short classic from 1943 dealing with a love affair and feelings of isolation. From my 50+ yr perspective - it reminded me of other books and ideas - from her 20yo perspective it was utterly new and devastating. Also: spring blossoms!
pickWow! Gorgeous, creative, heartbreaking, and hopeful. The story of a Greek and a Turk who fall in love in Cyprus while a wise fig tree and their future daughter try to make sense of it all. Some passages read like poetry. This wonderfully complex novel lives up to the hype!
pickread There Are Rivers in the Sky in record time—it completely drew me in. It‘s a fascinating account of how water has shaped lives, cultures, and history. The characters and settings were vivid, and I especially loved learning about Mesopotamia and the modern countries that now exist in that region. The multiple timelines were equally compelling, and the depiction of the atrocities people endured was heartbreaking. A powerful, immersive read.
Halfway through Somewhere in the Balkans, the 1st tome of a family saga trilogy about an Armenian family from Rodosto (now Tekirdağ in #Turkey) at the turn of the 20th century. Written in Bulgarian by an Armenian Bulgarian author. I am reading the French translation. Loving it so far, but I know the 2nd tome will be difficult to find, and it looks like the 3rd never was translated (unless it's included in the 2nd - informations are unclear).
pickA sprawling tale starting in 600BC and then through 1840, 2014 and 2018, on the banks of the rivers Thames and Tigris. This was a very slow burn for me, taking me an age to get into and I did find the interweaving stories differed in strength. That said in the final third all strands pull together in a really beautiful way. Largely a great read, huge amounts to learn and think about, but something held me back from truly loving it.
pickI'm not all that knowledgeable about Turkish literature, so it was nice to get an introduction to a writer I hadn't heard of before and who is so revered in Turkey. It was also fascinating learning about the difficulties in translating Turkish to English (I love modern translator notes), and in translating Atay's complex sentences specifically. Weird, dark existentialism of the best sort. I especially loved 'A Letter - Unsent'.
pickHeartbreaking and beautifully written story about three people whose lives and fates intertwine throughout time, history and the Epic of Gilgamesh. I‘m enamored with Shafak‘s prose —I will definitely read more of her backlist. My only criticism would be that the ending felt a bit too abrupt after 430 pages of build up to find out how and why all three characters were connected.
