|
Loading... The Bastard of Istanbulby Elif Şafak
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I love the way the various threads of each characters history are interwoven. A book of unique and beautiful women. My only complaint is that the there was alot of plot and chracter development at the beginning of the novel, but then this seems to be abandoned and it drives quickly ahead to a mediocre and rushed finish. Despite this it is worth the read (  ) trinibaby9 | Nov 24, 2009 |  This is an entertaining novel and a wonderful story of how the cultures of two families become intertwined with their personal relationships. Elif Shafak has created two fascinating young women, one a Turk living in Istanbul with her Aunts and one an Armenian living in Arizona with her mother and stepfather. Each girl is intelligent and they both enjoy reading although one is obsessed with existentialist authors while the other is immersed in modern literature. It is clear that the author has read Kundera and others, even though her book is sometimes a bit uneven and some of the large cast of characters are mere shadows. How the girls, Asya and Armanoush, come to know each other and their lives come together as the history of their families unfolds makes this a fascinating story. With the ghosts of the Armenian genocide in the background and other dark ghosts closer to home you are not surprised when one of the "Aunts" consults her jinns for help with the family mysteries. I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for those interested in Turkish and Armenian culture as it changes in the current world. ( ) jwhenderson | Oct 5, 2009 | I wanted to like this book. I listened to the interview that Shafaq gave to Eleanor Woktel and thought that I would thoroughly enjoy the book. The topic was interesting. The storyline was ... ... pretty good. The characters were overblown in some areas and two-dementional in others. The end was flat and left me wanting. Yet, I did learn something about the turks and the armeaneans. There is some good passages about the two women and I was glad that it was not a sappy connection. Also, the portrails of food and culture were quite exciting. I have not read anything from her, since. Jamily5 | Aug 18, 2009 | Beautifully written and full of life, this book is a must read. Every character has an amazing and powerful personality that defines both themselves and the lives of those around them. Welcome to a small world where families can be unknowingly reunited from across the globe and enemies find that some of the strongest friendships can be made with each other. Though touched with flashes of tragedy, this book was inspiring; it showed the strength and love of women and family. A moving read. ( ) Saieeda | Jul 19, 2009 | A florid hodgepodge of a book, The Bastard of Istanbul is too weak a novel to deal fruitfully with the issues it raises—the Armenian genocide of 1915; nationalism; how to navigate through your identity as the child of immigrants—and Shafak's ambition doesn't match her execution. It's cluttered and unfocused, and Shafak's characters fail to come alive beneath the weight of symbolism and stereotypes she heaps on them. The climactic revelations of the novel are also quite far-fetched and felt very manufactured. The one aspect of the novel I did strongly like, though, was the one area where Shafak didn't fall into stereotypes: depicting the multicultural, cosmopolitan nature of Istanbul, showing its mixed European and Middle Eastern influences, its secularists and its devout Muslims. (  ) siriaeve | Jun 14, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0670038342, Hardcover)From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two familiesIn her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:54 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
