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The Bastard of Istanbul

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Manufacturer: Viking Adult
List Price: $24.95
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When The Bastard of Istanbul was published in Turkey, Elif Shafak was accused by nationalist lawyers of insulting Turkish identity. The charges were later dropped, and now readers in America can discover for themselves this bold and powerful tale. Populated with vibrant characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is the story of two families, one Turkish and one Armenian American, and their struggle to forge their unique identities against the backdrop of Turkey’s violent history. Filled with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the tension between the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it.


DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2007-01-18
Publisher: Viking Adult
Release Date: 2007-01-18
Studio: Viking Adult


SIMILAR ITEMS:

• The Flea Palace
• Istanbul: Memories and the City
• The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize)
• Snow
• Loving Frank: A Novel


CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: A bit of a mish-mash
Comment: As other reviewers have noted this story seems to eaither lose or gather speed towards the end, depending on what sort of story you prefer.

I found it very enjoyable, but probably side with people who have claimed that the resolution seems quite rushed and a bit ill-thought out compared to what we see during the rest of the novel.

Some of the characters are fully realized, most notably Aunty Banu, Petit-ma, Asya, Rose and, up to a point, Mustafa. Other characters are more described than realized, and as such their movements during the story seem almost random. Some sub-plots seem to more or less be forgotten: Asya's love life, Armanoush's problems with boys and anything to do with her Armenian family. In all it seemed like two novels were mashed together: one a gentle teen soap opera, and the other a tragic family drama harking back to Turkey's founding as a modern nation. I think the plot could have used a bit of work, or at least a bit more explanation earlier on, but the warmth of most of the story went some way to making up for this.

I would be interested to read Elif Shafak's other works.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not my Cup of Tea
Comment: This book wasnt really my cup of tea. It was not a bad book. I just didn't connect with it much like I thought I would. I did honestly almost give up on the book, but I didn't and I am glad that I read it. Although, I really cant say much more than that. The characters, are human, you follow their struggles, and their life.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A fascinating, humorous and painful tale
Comment: "The Bastard Of Istanbul" generated a controversy. Its Turkish author, Elif Shafak, was put on trial a couple of years ago for "denigrating Turkishness"(her own words) because the novel contains many references to the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Charges were dropped later on.

The book was written in English originally. The story interweaves past and present, Turkish, Armenian and American backgrounds. Many characters are depicted, the Kazanci family in Istanbul and the Tchakhmakhchian family, of Armenian origins, in the USA. Through the younger generations in the persons of Asya (Turkish) and Armanoush (Armenian American) we are taken back and forth in a sequence of names, places and events which will ultimately reveal a connection between the two extended families and a terrible, long-ago buried secret will be discovered.

This is an intricated story with many relevant characters and the tale is revealed almost entirely through the feminine side of each family, mothers, daughters, granddaughters and so on. To be more specific would unavoidably involve spoilers. Generally speaking however I would add a few comments:

Something negative:
. I thought some characters were underdeveloped with main reference to the Armenian/American side of the family, whereas the author seemed to concentrate on other, less important -to me- details.
. Some connections were a bit tricky to... keep track of given that there are so many characters described.
. I did not entirely appreciate the fact that some relevant aspects of the story were revealed to us -the readers- by Banu's djinns (Banu being one of Asya's aunts, a religious clairvoyant) but they were not shared later on with the main characters.

Having said that, here comes the positive:
. This book is reminiscent, in part, of some Latin American narrative tradition (the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez comes to mind) where magic merges with reality -magic realism- I am not comparing Shafak with Marquez, it goes without saying, but I read almost all of his books and would always find myself being pulled into his storytelling as in a vortex. To a lesser degree, this has happened similarly with this book.
. I loved the blending of so many characters and cultures, some of them spiced up by life events, others less flavoured. Mentioning different foods is almost inevitable as every chapter has a herb/spice/fruit title, each aromatic quality finding the relevant niche within.
. Foods (although not described in full) blend in turn with poetry or native songs. The narrative is sometimes bold but very effective. Some situations are peppered with humour, mostly sardonic, often caustic, some others are sprinkled with harrowing melancholy, a yearning for the past, for the roots. A search for the sense of belonging. It is all projected with great intensity through both sides of the story.
And the eternal questions lingers: is it better "to know or not to know"?

It all comes together, perhaps disjointedly at times, but beautifully, with an original quality.

"The Bastard Of Istanbul" is a strong title but it is not just about "the bastard", in this case Asya who has never known her father. Bearing in mind the controversy, the author seems to have "stepped on some toes". It is only natural that curiosity is piqued about her personal circumstances for the subject chosen as the main historical background for this novel. The Armenian Genocide is, to many, an open wound to this day. My standardly average level of information may not, in this case, make me fully "equipped" for a more knowledgeable opinion, but I have to say that, strictly speaking about the book, the main message I perceived is one of positivity, of hopeful integration, not forgetting or denying the past but looking at it respectfully, for a better present and future. Various characters are given a voice from both Turkish and Armenian perspectives. I felt as if a stretching hand was reaching out, trying to build an imaginary starting-over bridge through the new generations, represented by Asya and Armanoush. Commendable try for what still seems to be an unresolved and painful issue.
The result in my opinion is a fascinating and, to a degree, almost mystical novel. Engrossing until the shocking end (unrelated to the historical events).




Customer Rating:
Summary: A Seasoning of Secrets, with Uncomfortable Truths for Dessert
Comment: Nationalists in Turkey brought legal charges against author Elif Shafak, saying she had insulted Turkish identity by having the Armenian-American characters in this book discuss the 1915 genocide.

In actuality, this book is about the secrets that families do not discuss as well as the uncomfortable truths that nations want to ignore. It is as rich and spicy and filling as the Turkish food it describes in loving detail and its wisdom is seasoned with a healthy helping of humor.

The book opens with a beautiful, 19-year old woman walking in the rain in Istanbul, cursing the rain, the traffic, the men ogling her, her broken shoe and her lateness to an appointment. It is a masterful, revealing portrait. By the time she reaches her doctor's office we think we know everything important about her as a character.

Then we learn she is at the doctor's to get an abortion.

However, she screams so much under anesthesia that the doctor decides not to do the operation. Nineteen years later, the story begins with the daughter, named Asya.

Half the world away, an American woman named Rose is grocery shopping in Arizona. She's a bit of a ditz, dumping things into her cart for no good reason. She encounters a young man from Turkey looking at garbanzo beans and flirts with him, more because she knows her ex-husband, an Armenian-American, would hate the thought of a Turkish stepfather to their baby daughter. Nineteen years later, that daughter is a young woman, caught between cultures. She goes to Istanbul and meets Asya, a meeting fraught with disaster, salvation, grief and hilarity. Do I appear to contradict myself? Then read this grand rascal of a novel. You'll see...

Customer Rating:
Summary: simple book; good for a beach holiday
Comment: I agree with the 31/03/2007 review of "squashy". It is an overrated book. Simply a "no brainer", a translation writtten in simple language to please or simply make it easy for the English speaking reader. If you wish to take a break and relax your mind, if you like taking simple books on beach holidays, this book is for you. There is a bit of everything: sex, drugs, simplified political views, a taste of Istanbul and more.

An audience pleaser which does not deserve the high literary credit it gets.

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