Read Women discussion

Here is our thread for our discovery of Elif Shafak, the first author we've picked to collectively read and discuss. We'll plan to start mid-January and spend January-February-March and early April reading one or more of Shafak's novels. We can use this thread as our planning and discussion of Shafak and repeating themes, and then, as soon as 2+ members begin to read one of her books, we'll open a new, separate thread dedicated to that book.

Shafak's books, in order of publication:

Pinhan (1998, available in Turkish)
The Gaze (1999)
The Flea Palace (2002)
The Saint of Incipient Insanities (2004)
The Bastard of Istanbul (2006)
Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within (Nonfiction) (2007)
The Forty Rules of Love (2009)
The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity (nonfiction) (2011)
Honour (2012)
The Architect's Apprentice (2013)
Three Daughters of Eve(2016)
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019)
How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division (nonfiction) (2020)
The Island of Missing Trees (2021)
Coming 8 August 2024: There are Rivers in the Sky
Shafak's non-fiction essays in Turkish have been collected in four books: Med-Cezir (2005),[39] Firarperest (2010),[40] Şemspare (2012)[41] and Sanma ki Yalnızsın (2017).

Which book are you planning to read first? If you've already read her and have recommendations, feel free to share them here, too.

Her site
https://www.elifsafak.com.tr/home

Bio
Shafak was born Elif Bilgin in Strasbourg to philosopher Nuri Bilgin and Şafak Atayman, who later became a diplomat. After her parents' separation, Shafak was raised by her mother. She says not growing up in a typical patriarchal family had a great impact on her work and writing. She incorporated her mother's first name—Turkish for "dawn"—with her own when constructing her pen name. https://www.elifsafak.com.tr/biography

2017 TED Talk: The Revolutionary Power of Diverse Thought
https://www.ted.com/talks/elif_shafak...

Sample Interviews

Oct 2023 no book spoilers https://thoughteconomics.com/elif-sha...

2022, in support of Island of Missing Trees release, at the Edinburgh Int'l Book Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQooW...

2021, Guardian interview in support of Island of Missing Trees release https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Sample Reviews

The Island of Missing Trees https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

Three Daughters of Eve https://bosphorusreview.com/elif-shafak

The Architect's Apprentice https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/14/bo...

The Forty Rules of Love
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...

I've read several of Elif Shafak's books:

The Bastard of Istanbul
The Forty Rules of Love
Honour
The Architect's Apprentice
Three Daughters of Eve
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World
The Island of Missing Trees

The only two I can recommend are The Bastard of Istanbul and The Architect's Apprentice. Maybe Honour, as well.
I'm afraid I didn't think the others were any good. But that's just me. I know a lot of people enjoyed them. I've posted reviews of all of these on Goodreads if anyone is interested.

Thanks, Tamara!

I have read The Island of Missing Trees and enjoyed it. I read it when it was up for the Women's Prize a few years ago.

I have 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World on my Kindle, so will probably start with that one.

I think I’ll start with The Architect's Apprentice, but I may opt for the nonfiction, Honour.

I have 10 Minutes ... so I will start with that.

Three daughters of Eve was the first one of hers that I read. I really liked it as an introduction to how their world changed when the government changed.

10 Minutes 30 Seconds is a bit "quirky" concept, but I did like it.

Bastard of Istanbul was wonderful!

Have a few others that I have not yet read. This is perfect timing.

I own The Gaze so I will probably start with that one.

I'm also interested in The Saint of Incipient Insanities and Three Daughters of Eve.

I also like the non-fiction works The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity and How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division . Both look like very timely reads in the current crisis climate in which we are living.

I've read "The architect's apprentice" and "10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world". I really enjoyed both, the second a bit more, and I would definitely recommend them both.
This month I'll read "The island of missing trees", so I'll let you know about that too.

Carol wrote: "I think I’ll start with The Architect's Apprentice, but I may opt for the nonfiction, Honour."

Carol, Honour is fiction :)

I've read 4 and enjoyed them all although I tried the gaze and found it too confusing and fragmented so I bailed.

10 minutes... 4*
Three daughters of eve 4*
The architect's apprentice 3* (this is an I liked it rating for me)
The bastard of Istanbul 5*

The first 3 were all audiobooks and although I enjoyed them, I feel like I missed a lot because her prose are quite dense (in a good way). I enjoyed reading bastard in print much more as I was able to take my time and savour it. I'm going to re read 10 minutes for this challenge as I don't remember much. I also have copies of flea palace and honour which I want to read.

Tamara wrote: "Carol wrote: "I think I’ll start with The Architect's Apprentice, but I may opt for the nonfiction, Honour."

Carol, Honour is fiction :)"

Oops! Thank you so much.

I read The Island of Missing Trees, and I loved it. I have The Bastard of Istanbul on my list next.

I decided to approach which book to read first in the easiest possible fashion: with The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity. On sale for $2.49 on kindle and only 28 pages. No matter what happens I can start this mid-month and begin to appreciate Shafak, even if I'm not starting with her "best". That's my version of bookproofing my participation.

My library has The Island of Missing Trees available, so I'll start with that one :)

I have Island of Missing Trees, so can join in on that.

I got The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity. Thanks Carol!

I will also be reading The Island of Missing Trees. But it may be February before I can do so.

I’ve mentioned in other threads already but yea, still planning on 10min 38sec in January. Nice to see positive reviews of it from folks here and that a few others might be reading it as well.

I was about to say I'll join you on the happiness of blond people but it's 5.99 to buy here in the UK which is too much for 28 pages! I'll hope it goes on sale here soon too. I'm going to start with 10 minutes instead

Hannah wrote: "I was about to say I'll join you on the happiness of blond people but it's 5.99 to buy here in the UK which is too much for 28 pages! I'll hope it goes on sale here soon too. I'm going to start wit..."

That’s nutty pricing, Hannah. I agree. After Blond, I plan to find a copy of 10 minutes and Three Daughters, read the initial 20 pages of each and continue with the one that grabs me more.

I'm starting with The Gaze.

Did anyone else see that Camilla, The Queen Consort has a literary podcast commencing in the New Year and one of her guests will be Elif Shafak? Quite a coincidence for our first dedicated author read.

Liesl wrote: "I'm starting with The Gaze.

Did anyone else see that Camilla, The Queen Consort has a literary podcast commencing in the New Year and one of her guests will be Elif Shafak? Quite a c..."

No - perhaps we have Connected Lurkers 😭

The island of missing trees was quite good, not my favourite (of the three of Shafak's books I've read so far; that's still 10 minutes). There was a lot of bias that I had to put aside when reading this book (I am greek), and I assume it was the same for the author (being of turkish descent). I read it with no assumptions (or at least not a lot) and an open mind, and I do think that Shafak did a quite good job doing the same, and I appreciated that. I would definitely recommend it.
I might re-read 10 minutes at some point in the next few months and I'll try to read at least one more of her books

crazytourists, I really value your insight on her bias, and look forward to any education you opt to provide on Greek-Turk issues. I know so little - mostly a lifetime of headlines.

I was reminded that Shafak is releasing a new book on my birthday (8-8) later this year: There Are Rivers in the Sky. Which was an awesome prompt that we're at the starting line.

Do you all want to open up threads for each book or comment on all of our books here in this thread or something in between?

I’m reading 10Min 38Sec, and earlier on in these discussions I got the impression a decent number of others would read this one too. If that’s still so, I think it’s own thread could be good.

Crazytourists_books wrote: "The island of missing trees was quite good, not my favourite (of the three of Shafak's books I've read so far; that's still 10 minutes). There was a lot of bias that I had to put aside when reading..."

I'm starting that for my first Elif Shafak book. Like Carol, I'm interested to hear your take on it as well.

Jen wrote: "I’m reading 10Min 38Sec, and earlier on in these discussions I got the impression a decent number of others would read this one too. If that’s still so, I think it’s own thread could be good."

That one hadn't been on my radar, but I just found it at my local library! I'll join in a few days once I finish my current read.

If you're reading Island of Missing Trees, our discussion thread is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The thread to discuss 10 Minutes 38 Seconds is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I might be starting it toward end of next week after current read 👍

Jen wrote: "I’m reading 10Min 38Sec, and earlier on in these discussions I got the impression a decent number of others would read this one too. If that’s still so, I think it’s own thread could be good."

Jen - here it is. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For folks who’ve read 10Min 38Sec, would you call it historical fiction? I don’t necessarily get that impression from the synopsis but it has the tag.
Anyway, since the Middle East is so foreign to me, I’m interested in historical fiction. I hope I can make time for The Bastard of Istanbul. Was anyone else thinking of reading this?

Jen wrote: "I hope I can make time for The Bastard of Istanbul. Was anyone else thinking of reading this?"

I am planning on reading it this year. I don't have a set time, but I have heard great things about it from friends, and I really enjoyed The Island of Missing Trees, so I plan on including it in my reading list this year.

I am starting The Bastard of Istanbul today.

I read The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity a couple of days ago. I recommend it to anyone who wants to dip their toes into Shafak's writing - albeit it's an essay and not fiction - with a commitment only to 28 pages. I found it to be time well-spent notwithstanding the rest of my comment to follow.

It was originally published in December 2011 and the description say it is focused on, immigration, multiculturalism and the experience of Muslims in Europe, which it is, but I don't think it's an entirely successful piece, aside from its age. I appreciated her description of her upbringing and how it influenced her and am glad I read this before heading into her fiction - as a window on how her mind works and the energy she has around certain topics. Still, I was left feeling like she didn't have a clear focus or thesis and - unlike other essayists where I take comfort from their complete command of where they are going rhetorically - so as she presented a kitchen sink of thoughts on various adjacent topics, it wasn't as powerful as it could have been.

Slight delay in posting about The Gaze but I've been trying to decide how best to express my thoughts. It was not completely what I had expected which really has more to do with me going into the novel with an idea of what I thought it would be about.

It is a very unusual but interesting story that intertwines the past and present as well as mixing tales that appear to be traditional and sometimes have an influence of magical realism. At times I found the story frustrating because it seemed to be meandering along without any point but the conclusion is quite strong and once it arrives that doubt is completely erased.

If the system allowed part scores, I would probably have rated this a 3.5, particularly for its conclusion.

I read The Forty Rules of Love recently and had mixed feelings about it. I thought this one might be a stretch for me, as it deals with Rumi, mysticism, and dervishes, and that proved to be correct. The mystical/philosophy of love parts of the book were a bit much for me.

This book also features a novel within a novel. The novel within - which is the story of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz - is the main focus of the book, and at times I wondered why Shafak didn't just write that novel as a standalone. My guess is that the framing device - a suburban American mom who is reading a manuscript of the novel within - was to make the subject matter more accessible to readers. Still, it felt clunky at times.

I didn't dislike this novel at all. I enjoyed reading about Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, but didn't feel compelled to ruminate deeply on the mystical teachings. As in other Shafak novels I've read, she uses multiple POVs to tell the story, which is a technique I personally enjoy.

I recently finished my 5th Elif Shafak novel The Island of Missing Trees - my review here.

I've always enjoyed Shafak's novels for the perspective she embraces, outside the pre-dominant anglo-american storytelling gaze and so this novel fits right into that, set in Cyprus, featuring a cross cultural couple who come from the same country but are perceived by islanders as being from "the other side" and then we meet the daughter, raised as a third culture kid, as in, lives in a culture that neither of her parents were born or raised in - and we see the impact of that.

It has its flaws, but I enjoyed the journey and the historical and mythological learning it offers.

I recently finished Three Daughters of Eve. I enjoyed the overall story but felt that this novel took a while to really get going and probably could have been shorter.

Once again, Shafak uses a framing device of a dinner party in Istanbul in 2016, but the real story is of the main character, Peri, coming of age. We get insights into her childhood and then the real action happens when she goes abroad to study at Oxford University.

Other than the use of a framing device, this novel featured some twins, which Shafak has included in other novels as well.

I enjoyed reading three Shafak novels in a short period, and I think I'm going to continue this experiment with other authors I own several books by. The other day, I pulled three novels by Geraldine Brooks off my shelves and plan to tackle them over the next few months.

Susan wrote: "I recently finished Three Daughters of Eve. I enjoyed the overall story but felt that this novel took a while to really get going and probably could have been shorter.

Once again,..."

I had this book on my list to read but have not really enjoyed reading Shafak's work so far and so I have been hesitating about whether to read it. I think i will give it a miss.

I highly recommend Geraldine Brooks. I read everything she publishes.

Susan wrote: "I recently finished Three Daughters of Eve. I enjoyed the overall story but felt that this novel took a while to really get going and probably could have been shorter.

Once again,..."

That's a great idea. I've just started doing the same with R.F. Kuang. I loved her recent novel Yellowface and have since moved on to her fantasy series (completely outside of my wheelhouse, but I'm on book 2 and enjoying it!).

I've read two by Elif Shafak and have enjoyed both.
The Bastard of Istanbul and The Island of Missing Trees - there are some similarities between the two, although they're very different stories. I'm hoping to read more by Shafak as my library holds free up.

I know I'm a bit late but I started The Architect's Apprentice on audio and am looking forward to going back and forth between my hard copy and listening to AA in my car. I'm around page 40 and am finding it a little wordy for my taste, but think I'll get past that soon. I'm so glad to finally be reading it!

I am a quarter of the way through The Bastard of Istanbul, and so far, I am not really digging it. I think it took me a while to get into The Island of Missing Trees, and I ended up loving it, so we'll see. I'm not posting in the other thread yet though because I don't want to have the chance of getting spoilers!!! :)

LitHub published a new essay by Elif Shafak, On the Power of Literature and Being a Writer in the Age of Angst, accessible at this link:

https://lithub.com/elif-shafak-on-the...