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Bastard Of Istanbul
 
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Bastard Of Istanbul (Paperback)

by Elif Shafak (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 16.50
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

In her second novel written in English (The Saint of Incipient Insanities was the first), Turkish novelist Shafak tackles Turkish national identity and the Armenian "question" in her signature style. In a novel that overflows with a kitchen sink's worth of zany characters, women are front and center: Asya Kazanci, an angst-ridden 19-year-old Istanbulite is the bastard of the title; her beautiful, rebellious mother, Zeliha (who intended to have an abortion), has raised Asya among three generations of complicated and colorful female relations (including religious clairvoyant Auntie Banu and bar-brawl widow, Auntie Cevriye). The Kazanci men either die young or take a permanent hike like Mustafa, Zeliha's beloved brother who immigrated to America years ago. Mustafa's Armenian-American stepdaughter, Armanoush, who grew up on her family's stories of the 1915 genocide, shows up in Istanbul looking for her roots and for vindication from her new Turkish family. The Kazanci women lament Armanoush's family's suffering, but have no sense of Turkish responsibility for it; Asya's boho cohorts insist there was no genocide at all. As the debate escalates, Mustafa arrives in Istanbul, and a long-hidden secret connecting the histories of the two families is revealed. Shafak was charged with "public denigration of Turkishness" when the novel was published in Turkey earlier this year (the charges were later dropped). She incorporates a political taboo into an entertaining and insightful ensemble novel, one that posits the universality of family, culture and coincidence. (Jan. 22)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Turkish author Elif Shafak has written a novel that gives Western listeners historical perspective and insight into the Turkish/Armenian conflicts of modern-day Turkey. Asya Kazanci, the 19-year-old Turkish bastard of the title, is the third generation of a house of women; Kazanci men have short life spans. Armanoush, an Armenian-American relative, shows up at their home on a quest to trace her Armenian heritage. Laural Merlington has the skills to bring this complex, intriguing story to life. She serves as narrator and guide, pronouncing unfamiliar Turkish and Armenian names with ease and helping listeners follow the colorful threads of a story as complex as a Middle-Eastern tapestry. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 'The past is anything but bygone', Aug 2 2007
By J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Bastard Of Istanbul (Hardcover)
This novel caught my attention because of media coverage. It kept my attention because of the characters and the way the story developed.

For me, the central theme of the novel was interpretation and denial of truth. We see how, over time, facts can be distorted and reinterpreted, or just denied. All of this is in the much broader context of the treatment of the Armenians in 1915 - which resulted in Ms Shafak being accused of 'insulting Turkishness'.

You can - if you choose - ignore the politics and be swept up by the wonderfully idiosyncratic characters. The narrative style meanders through the lives of the characters sometimes avoiding aspects that might seem important to the reader in favour of details that appear incidental.

Still, each of the main characters (particularly the women in Istanbul)and to a lesser extent the family in the USA keep the story moving. Who can resist the notion of using Auntie Feride's hair colour as a guide to her insanity? Or Auntie Banu's relationship with her djinns? The younger women: Asya and Armanoush are not, in my view, as well developed but perhaps that is for other reasons.

The result is an interesting story built on shared but contested history. Ultimately, as in all struggles, there are 'winners' and 'losers'.

Recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "Despite all the grief that it embodies, history is what keeps us alive and united", April 30 2007
By Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Bastard Of Istanbul (Hardcover)
In this novel of friendship, memory and religion, author Elif Shafak weaves a complex tale that juxtaposes the past with the present and unveils the age-old cultural dissonance that exists between the Turks and Armenians. Thus at its heart, The Bastard of Istanbul is a deep meditation on what it really means to be a product of history, a history "that has always kept us alive and united."

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5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, humorous and painful tale, Sep 6 2009
By I LOVE BOOKS (Italy) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
"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).
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