The Bastard of Istanbul!!
I have a deep-seated urge inside me, to wander through the old cities in Turkey. Sometimes, I envision myself as an explorer, amid the bustling local bazaar in Istanbul. Staring at their artistic ceramic crockeries, mesmerized by its vibrant geometric shapes, floral patterns, and stylized calligraphy. Smell the freshly baked bread with feta cheese, relish the whole city from the sky touching Galata tower, find the scenery in the sound of the evening player, while gazing at the amber-coloured sky, enjoy the sunset setting on the top of any century-old stoned building. And when the dark comes out, I feel the warmth of love, counting the steps in the cobblestone-paved street.
And I got fortunate to have experienced much of what I described above through the pages of the book "Bastard of Istanbul". It brings out the raw image of Istanbul, showcasing the over-protective love from the tightly-knit family, the power of home-made desserts, the essence of affection from different characters, the boldness and madness among the girls all these things make the novel utterly enchanting.
I was already a fan of Elif Shafak, after reading her "40 Rules of Love". But the Bastard of Istanbul can't grip me tightly, as the excellency of 40 rules somehow overshadowed it. Still, I should say this novel is unique in it's own way. Each of its chapters is named after a food ingredient which embeds its presence along with the story.
This book especially deals with Armenian-Turkish history, the crisis created for knowing identity, and how people deal with cultural differences. I think the controversies with the geo-politics which are shown by Elif couldn't be done if it wasn't published in English. And I really appreciate her courage to show her boldness on Armenian deportations and massacres.
The plot of this story spans three different cities, Arizona, San Francisco and Istanbul. Still having huge distance, all the characters get interlinked with one another which is a common trait in Elif's novel. The way she penned the whole novel, the metaphors, the poetic style everything inspires me to become a good writer. It makes me wonder how gorgeously she wrote in English which is not even her first language.
I don't want to go with the storyline, as you can get that by googling, but the way she makes me feel heartbroken is still aching me, though I finished it a few days back. And this feeling will stay with me for a long time for sure.
As we the Muslims share almost a common culture, I was totally getting the vibe of the norms in their society. How wrongly people judge around us, where they don't has the gut to know the truth. The pregnancy story behind the most powerful character Zeliha brings out that on the table.
I also appreciate the depth of character development by Elif. Although I never had the experience to meet a nihilist before, this book gives me the essence of it. Though the book is mostly feminism based, I think no one can find room for having a debate on it.
Elif always loves to put some personalized philosophical notion in her characters, which I enjoy the most. It helps me to be more mindful, to think a little more about our existence.
Lastly, this novel dragged me to be consistent with my reading habit. So I can assure you, some more book reviews are coming! Happy reading!
It seems like you possess more knowing acquaintances than most other natives of this land.
Thats surpassingly true. Yet when you talk about Turkey,the top two thoughts come to my mind are the historic facts which are hard for me to forget.
Number one, The Magnificent Century, the teli-drama of turkish media which depicted a legendary portrayal of the 10th sultan of Automan Emperor and most of the hidden truths that the pre world war history have to say. Watching Yuziel series,gave me sone sort of Idea of how the culture,trends of society and psychologies were there few centuries ago.
Number two,the Erdogan and NATO alliances, some of the political saga to the Khilzi narrative which we studied as the first Musilm conqueror to attack Sen dynasty in ancient Bengal.
But, what can I say? Every time I go through reading you, I get impressed by the aesthetics and beautiful mind that you have, its so good. It seems like, I just cant get away opining how I feel about your posts.
Anyway,happy reading.Pray that the recent hurricane in Bay of Bengal doesn’t turn to be dangerous.God bless you.
💖💐
Yeah, I got along with some of these "behind the scenes" parts from my father. In my young age, I sort of had to listen to his lectures on these historical issues. So thanks to him, from where I've some খোরাক in acquaintances :3
To some point, the same kind of feeling comes in my mind when people ask "which country suffers most in WW2", history cheers for Soviet Union, where I believe it should be Japan. I know, it's a long debate, going out of track again!
And couldn't thanks more for your appreciation and well wishes! Oh hey, I've got a great news which you'll find interesting! Here's my mail address. Kindly knock me wherever you're free. ([email protected])
Second world war most probably had their top collaborators written with golden letters, names that history wouldn’t dare to forget. Aimless imperialism was behind such acts and Hitler had kicked off the grand finale back then.
But, the rise of Atomic (the absolute weapon) bomb had lot of things to say, including Einstein's prognosis of ww3 and the stakes of another war, the fate of humankind and earthly existence, very awful and frightening - turning out to be.
Make an excuse for being slightly irrelevant,but the key point was about - turkey and culture,since your book review revolves around these topics and socialism.
Whats the news? Is that bit confidential?🫡 ok,through mail then. But, do you have discord?
Yep, I got your point.
Have you read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl? That's the book I recommend everyone whenever this topic arises.
I will check and tell you how I felt reading the write.
Thanks. 💐