L'indovina di Istanbul

I was quite excited to read this novel about Turkey (especially after hearing an interview with the author on NPR) and anticipated losing myself in the magic of Eleonora's adventures. Instead, I was struck by huge bricks of wordiness and insignificant (read: unnecessary) characters. Every time the s Leggi tutto

How to take an interesting story from history and turn it dull and wooden with egregiously bad dialog and stilted sentence construction. Grateful the “oracle’s” career was short so that the book was too. The location, European sections of Istanbul, was well drawn and gives the reader something posit Leggi tutto

Sheer Reading Pleasure If you enjoy reading for its unique possibilities — mellifluous language, vivid imagery, immersion in places and circumstances you might never experience — then you’ll love this book. From the very first page, The Oracle of Stamboul will draw you relentlessly into the world of Leggi tutto

'That is exactly why I requested to be sent here,'said Fredrick. 'They fought me on it first. Didn't think the readers would want a sketch from Asia. So I told them, first of all, half the city is in Europe. And second, this is exactly what the readers want. They want dervishes and elephants. Just

I was completely charmed by this unexpected fairy tale of a novel which tells of a young stowaway in a rug-seller's trunk who travels by boat to Stamboul, the city at the intersection of Europe and Asia. Stamboul is a city shrouded in mystery & incense, colored with bazaars & sunsets, and clamorous

The book is well-written and just interesting enough that I finished it. The premise is interesting, and I actually had a lot of hope for it in the opening. But as I read on, I just found it kind of lacking. Really, I'd say it's an interesting book wherein nothing really happens. I didn't find the ma Leggi tutto