Middle East/North African Lit discussion

As we intended to read about Istanbul in October and we noticed that there was not much activity lately we thought of talking about books we read about Istanbul instead of particular book, yet we have a group read if discussion turns interesting :)

So please share your thoughts ....

A couple of books that came to my mind right away are My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk. It's set in 16thC Istanbul and a great novel. I read it nearly two years ago and loved it.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Another novel I enjoyed is The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak. It is also set in 16thC Istanbul. I've read several of Shafak's novels and I think this one is my favorite.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Another novel, also by Shafak, also good, and also set Istanbul is The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For some reason, I seem to prefer novels about exotic places to be set in the past. That must say something about me, but I'm not quite sure what :)

Two books I liked were:

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar,

A Mind At Peace
And
The Time Regulation Institute

I’m still challenged when it comes to adding a link.

Nan, here they are:

A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

They look really interesting. I had not heard of this author before. Thanks for letting us know about him.

Wow, so many books on my to read list !
Tamara , I love reading about the past as well :)
I will try to post the links for the discussions of the books we already read in the group .

Of the Turkish novels I have read only The Museum of Innocence takes place entirely in Istanbul. The Architect's Apprentice, The Bastard of Istanbul take place mostly in Istanbul and still give, imo, a feeling of the city. Only a small part of Last Train to Istanbul takes place in Istanbul as most takes place in France and the same for Regards from the Dead Princess: Novel of a Life. It starts off in Istanbul but moves to Beirut, India and finally Paris.
My favorite was by far the Architects Apprentice, I also really loved Bastard of Istanbul and the Last Train to Istanbul. The subject matter of Regards from a Dead Princess was fascinating , but I found the writing style a bit tedious at times. Museum of Innocence was very on and off for me, parts captivating, other parts boring, but my over all impressive is repugnance and annoyance because of the relationship between the characters.

Because I loved the TV series The Magnificent Century and am interested in the Ottoman period, I was considering My Name Is Red, but I don't know if I could bear to read anything else from Orhan Pamuk.

Jalilah wrote: "Because I loved the TV series The Magnificent Century and am interested in the Ottoman period, I was considering My Name Is Red, but I don't know if I could bear to read anything else f..."

Jalilah, I haven't read The Museum of Innocence. But I really enjoyed My Name Is Red. It is full of twists and turns in first person points of view, including that of a dog and a dying tree. Set in 16thC Istanbul, it tackles some of the same philosophical, religious, and aesthetic issues we struggle with today. A challenging read but well worth the effort.

Let us know what you think of it should you decide to read it.

Jalilah wrote: "Because I loved the TV series The Magnificent Century and am interested in the Ottoman period, I was considering My Name Is Red, but I don't know if I could bear to read anything else f..."

Yeah, no more Pamuk for me.

Tamara wrote: "Nan, here they are:

A Mind at Peace by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

They look real..."

Nan wrote: "Two books I liked were:

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar,

A Mind At Peace
And
The Time Regulation Institute

I’m still challenged when it comes to adding a link."

Thanks Tamara
Here is a review of A Mind At Peace. Again I’m challenged about links.

A mind At Peace By Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, review by Andrew Seal, Issue 16, 2009.

Among other things this review says Orhan Pamuk was influenced by Tanpinar.

Jalilah wrote: "Because I loved the TV series The Magnificent Century and am interested in the Ottoman period, I was considering My Name Is Red, but I don't know if I could bear to read anything else f..."

I find his pre-Nobel novels to be better in quality than his relatively recent writings, and imo My Name is Red tops them all. Highly recommended.

Agreed with your assessment of The Museum of Innocence. It has some beautiful writing but it dragged on and on. I think Pamuk wrote it in the same vein as Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera but couldn't compete with the latter's masterpiece.