Have been trying for quite some time to finish up a book that I bought and I successfully managed to do it last night.
The Book: The Bastard of Istanbul
Author: Elif Shafak
"The Bastard of Istanbul," set in the United States and Turkey, concerns two families — one Turkish, living in Istanbul and the other Armenian, divided between Tucson, Arizona and San Francisco.
The Bastard of Istanbul refers to 19-year-old Asya, a rebellious young Turkish woman who simply adores Johnny Cash's music. She lives in a household with her mother and aunts and her only uncle has emigrated to America. Her uncle's Armenian-American stepdaughter, Armanoush, sneaks off to Istanbul to learn more about her Armenian past. Asya and Armanoush become good friends, intrigued by each other's culture.
The family this young woman encounters is a confusing swirl of four generations of women that includes a great-grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's disease; a disapproving, distant and angry grandmother; her four daughters; and one great-granddaughter. The eldest daughter is a self- styled Muslim mystic; another is a high school teacher, and yet another a schizophrenic. The youngest runs a tattoo parlor and has an illegitimate daughter, the bastard of the novel's title.
The story like a roller coaster ride has its up's and downs and results in a secret hat links the two families pasts, tracing back to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres.
I loved the wry humor and the social observations, as well as the author putting the personal lives of her people in a larger political tableau.
The one thing that you cannot miss about the book is that it truly describes life..its complications. That is how I have known my life to be.. full of entangles and complications.
The characters in The Bastard of Istanbul are so alive they leap off the page to sit beside you on the couch. What women! Brave ones, silly ones, intellectuals and dopes.
Right now after reading the book my mind is clogged with so many questions-
What if we learn brutal truths about our families’ pasts? What if we learn about the atrocities from which we are all descended? Are we victims? Are we perpetrators? Aren’t we all suffering the consequences? Once we gain knowledge of the truth of our past, what should we do with that knowledge?
Grrrrrrrr......wish I had the answers to it..
Will try figuring out the answers..Till then in the words of the lead character of the book..
"Whatever falls from the sky above, thou shall not curse it..That includes the rain..."
P.S. Do let me know about any good books that you would suggest me to read.Thanks!!
