Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published seventeen books, eleven of which are novels. Her work has been translated into fifty languages. Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. She is a member of Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). An advocate for women's rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice a TED Global speaker, each time receiving a standing ovation. Shafak contributes to major publications around the world and she has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people who would make the world better. She has judged numerous literary prizes and is chairing the Wellcome Prize 2019.
This was a very fanciful book about many colorful characters living in an apartment block in Istanbul which is plagued with a horrible garbage/stench problem. It almost read like a series of short stories about a bunch of different people who all live in the same place. The story revolves around who keeps dumping garbage in front of the building and how to stop it.
OK I have to say - this book's writing style did not appeal to me at all, but I think that's just my taste; I don't think it was bad writing and I think for the right reader, it would be very enjoyable. There's something about me that dislikes stories that feel like "myths" and I don't know why... it has something to do with it not being "real enough," despite the fact that I love fiction and fiction is by definition about people and events that are not real. It's hard to describe, but I've given up on other books before because of this (like Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" -- this too just felt too "myth-like").
Some of the stories felt almost "cartoony" in a way, like the characters were almost too fanciful or farfetched to be worth the effort of trying to invest myself in. The parts I like the best were the ones told from the narrator's point of view--these felt the most real, and to me contained the most richly realized characters.
I also found the writing way too wordy and descriptive (pages and pages to describe something that could've taken a paragraph), but again, I think for the right reader it might be considered rich and descriptive writing.
Unfortunately I realize this review is useless: "you might like it, you might not. Good luck!". :-)
This is a very cinematic book with the narrator acting like a camera, each chapter taking place in a different apartment inside this decrepit Instanbul building, plagued by bugs and the overpowering smell of garbage. The novel is a succession of quick chapters sweeping through all the tenants lives times and again, including that of the narrator, a divorced professor with a fondness for raki. Of course, there are surprises throughout the book, and of course at the very end... I was really impressed by Shafak's caring portrayals of women, the corner stones of the book and the building. It was also a very interesting window into Turkish society full of contrasts (religious fervor, marxist intellectuals, beauty and squalor, tradition and modernity). I will read more books by Shafak as soon as possible.
this was the best book i ever read why? it's like real life: it has no center story all the events are shallow and not important for other people but the charecters who are living the story there are no heroes or villans just people the mood of the book is amazing whenever i read it i feel like i'm sitting in a dark humid basment and it's amazing elif is the best director i've ever seen the way she takes you from one apartmet to another is amazing like when she uses the TV or so there're alot of tiny details in this book that will take you to a whole different world the way the first two and last pages are connected are amazing no story has a specific ending like it has no beginning every thing is perfect i can re-read this book any time anywhere and still enjoy it like it's the first time its just sublime ,superb and great.
"Bir insan谋 tan谋may谋 arzulamak, kof bir vaattir ve b眉y眉k k眉lfet! G眉nler, geceler, haftalar, seneler boyu dinlemeyi ve g枚zlemeyi, didiklemeyi ve hissetmeyi, de艧meyi ve dermeyi gerektirir; kabuklar谋 kald谋rabilmeyi ve altlar谋ndan ince ince s谋zacak, belki de f谋艧k谋racak olan kan谋 g枚rmeye tahamm眉l edebilmeyi鈥� Bunca zahmete katlanamayacak olduktan sonra, daha yolun ba艧谋ndayken d枚n眉p, bu i艧e hi莽 kalk谋艧mamak ye臒dir" (s. 277).
Elif 艦afak kitaplar谋n谋 bir d枚nem Metis Yay谋nlar谋 bas谋yordu. Annem de ilk yay谋mland谋臒谋nda Metis'ten alm谋艧, okumu艧tu Bit Palas'谋. O zamanlar 莽ocu臒um ben daha. Metis'in kapa臒谋 b枚cek ve t眉revlerinden deli gibi korkan 莽ocuk ben'i o kadar 眉rk眉tm眉艧t眉 ki (bu kadar 眉rkecek ne var ben de bilmiyorum) Elif 艦afak dendi臒inde h芒l芒 zihnimde ilk beliren 艧ey o kitap kapa臒谋 olur. :)
Elif 艦afak'谋n romanlar谋 A艧k 脰ncesi ve Sonras谋 olarak ay谋ranlar谋 ba艧ta anlayam谋yordum; ancak Mahrem'i ve Bit Palas'谋 okuduktan sonra neden bu ayr谋m谋n yap谋ld谋臒谋n谋 anlamaya ba艧lad谋m san谋r谋m. Bir d枚nem 莽ok takdir edilse de 艧u s谋ralar pek sevilmeyen bir yazar Elif 艦afak. Bense Havva'n谋n 脺莽 K谋z谋 hari莽 okudu臒um t眉m kitaplar谋n谋 keyifle okudum; fakat Bit Palas nedense daha bir farkl谋 geldi bana. Her ne kadar yukar谋da payla艧t谋臒谋m al谋nt谋 sebebiyle onlar谋 "tam olarak" tan谋d谋臒谋m谋 s枚yleyemesem de karakterleri anlamaya 莽al谋艧arak yava艧 yava艧 okumay谋 tercih ettim. Onlar谋n hayatlar谋na ortas谋ndan dal谋yoruz ve ayn谋 hayatlar谋na giri艧imiz gibi hayatlar谋ndan 莽谋k谋艧谋m谋z da h谋zl谋 oluyor. Baz谋lar谋 i莽in bu 莽谋k谋艧 -bence- gere臒inden biraz fazla h谋zl谋, fazla soru i艧areti b谋rak谋yor insanda.
Belki de do臒ru bir zamanda okudu臒um i莽in b眉y眉k bir zevkle okudum Bit Palas'谋. Hik芒yeler beni 莽ok 莽ok etkiledi, 枚zellikle Agripina Fyodorovna Antipova'n谋n, Madam Teyze'nin ve Mavi Metres'in hik芒yelerini zihnimin bir k枚艧esine saklad谋m.
The French writer Georges Perec in his once described all the inhabitants of a building in Paris. Elif Shafak does the same, but in a much more superficial way (without the ingenious-mathophobia of Perec) and located in Istanbul. Some pieces are pretty funny (the barbershop scenes for instance), and the relations between the inhabitants are intriguing, but I had the impression to read a kind of film scenario with no real storyline. The relatively theoretical introduction by the supposed author (about the relationship between truth, deception and nonsense), and its more or less surprising sequel at the end, reinforced my feeling of unsatisfaction. What remains is an impression of the bustling life in an Istanbul apartment block, nothing more, nothing less. (rating 2.5 stars)
There was a rather intriguing addendum by Shafak, "Dreaming in English" in which she defends herself against the criticism that from now on she writes her novels in English, not in Turkish. I didn't know she did. She argues that having almost always lived outside of Turkey, she's attracted by 'the flexibility of English anatomy and the versatility and openness of its vocabulary'; but she sees her seperateness from Turkey also as a strength: the distance allows her to write more freely about Turkey and to explore more deeply what it means to be Turkish. I have my doubts about this point of view, but perhaps I ought to explore the literature of other famous exiles. Shafak ends with stating that the real homeland of novelists and poets is none other than 'Storyland', and that really is a bit too simplistic to my taste.
This is long and fairly slow-paced, so it takes some patience...but the patience pays off. There is amazing detail, and both wry humor and poignancy. The narrative feels somewhat shapeless - the somewhat interconnected stories of people sharing an apartment building, interconnected precisely because of their physical proximity. But as I was reading it dawned on me that this was a very smart kind of allegory on the situation of Turkey, made of so many different groups of people with different yet interconnecting (because of physical proximities) histories....and not only of Turkey but so many places. By the way Shafak used to (and may still, I just haven't checked lately) write an interesting weekly column in one of the online Turkish newspapers that published an English edition.
Ai vrea s膬 cuno葯ti Istanbulul dincolo de recenziile din reclamele agen葲iilor de turism? Ai vrea s膬 cuno葯ti Istanbulul prin locuitorii s膬i? Dac膬 da, atunci trebuie s膬 cite葯ti aceast膬 carte neap膬rat. Sau poate ai vrea s膬 cuno葯ti ni葯te personaje originale, bine conturate, amuzante sau triste, dar at芒t de reale鈥�
Citind Palatul puricilor, te sim葲i ca acel vecin care 葯tie totul despre vecinii s膬i de scar膬, care este capabil s膬 trag膬 cu ochiul 葯i urechea 卯n sufrageria tuturor vecinilor. Iar Palatul puricilor nu este orice bloc, orice scar膬, ci a adunat 卯n locuin葲ele sale cea mai divers膬 lume a Istanbulului, mostre ale diferitor medii sociale, nivel de educa葲ie, ocupa葲ii, preferin葲e. 脦i cuno葯ti pe to葲i. Dar nu to葲i 卯n acela葯i timp, c膬ci ei interac葲ioneaz膬 destul de limitat. Elif Shafak ni-i prezint膬 treptat, 卯n povestioare, 卯ntorc芒ndu-se din c芒nd 卯n c芒nd 卯n alt apartament.
I have always loved Elif Shafak鈥檚 voice for women and Istanbul.This book depicts the life stories of people living in one apartment building but ignorant of each other鈥檚 sorrows and happinesses.. This book gave me a vibe of life鈥檚 true meanings..Loved it 馃挄
I gave this book one star only ! I found it to be so boring honestly. Even though I like Elif Shafak I just found this book to be so boring everything dragged along through pages and pages. it took me forever to finish this book.
Nice beginning and nice ending! The long-gone past and the past stories are nicely written and there is a lot of humor in them. However, I failed to be convinced by the characters residing the Bonbon Palace: although their presentation seemed interesting at first, it then transformed in a too long, unfocused wanna-be novel with a very far-fetched story. I was bored with the stories, I was bored with the long descriptions of bugs and garbage and I didn't like the characters. The quality of the style is the same as in all Shafak's books I read before: the writing is catchy and intertwined with witticisms (which compensates for some of the mentionned shortcomings) and this is why I don't give the book a lower rating. However, I found the book disappointing and compared to "The Bastard of Istanbul" quite a joke. An interesting exercise of writing in itself through the form that Shafak constructed, this book failed to impress me half as much at least as "The Bastard...".
Nothing much happens and it's great! The story introduces us into the lives of different people only sharing the fact that they live in the palace. There is the haircutter's salon, the student with the big dog, the old elegant lady, the superstitious mother with her family...and of course there is always Istanbul. The city is personalized and characterized over decades and I felt like getting to know it better (though I've never been there). I read the book everyday in the tram and managed to completely forget the world around me in only a few moments. Shafak writes with much irony, knowledge of history and always with empathy. It is a wonderful book and I can only recommend it, including the suprising ending.
#153 Tai antra 拧ios ra拧ytojos skaityta knyga. Skaitant buvo moment懦 kai knyga patiko, bet didesn臋 dal寞 knygos vertin膷iau kaip vidutini拧k膮. Ne d臈l to, kad knyga buvo ne寞domi, ne, papras膷iausiai arba nesutapo mudviej懦 aura arba skai膷iau netinkamu metu. Nors vietos kuriose buvo apra拧omas Stambulas patiko, kai kurios net privert臈 pasigooglinti d臈l i拧samesn臈s informacijos. Knygos siu啪etas kaip ir min臈ta knygos anotacijoje ka啪kiek primena t奴kstan膷io ir vienos nakties pasakas, tik 膷ia de拧imt but懦 ir kiekvieno j懦 veik臈jai pasakoja istorijas i拧 savo kampo, kurios v臈liau kaip ir tikimasi sueina 寞 vien膮 visum膮. Visa tai manau buvo truput寞 i拧t臋sta, vietomis, net nebuvo 寞domu skaityti ir nor臈josi tiesiog arba mesti knyg膮 arba praversti tuos puslapius, ta膷iau su 拧iokiomis tokiomis pertraukomis knyg膮 perskai膷iau ir n臈 kiek nesigailiu, nes laikas praleistas skaitant tikrai buvo ka啪kiek vertingas susipa啪寞stant su Turkijos 啪mon臈mis ir j懦 kult奴ra. Galb奴t kitos 拧ios ra拧ytojos knygosman patiks labiau, ne啪inau, ta膷iau kolkas j懦 skaityti nesinori nes mintyse vis dar stovi ledinuk懦 r奴mai.
Such an excellent work on social justice, with every story distinguished by the psychological depth of the characters. More the character evolves in the story, more you sympathize with their difficulties. It's like understanding every single being from a certain distance.