(no subject)
Recently finished reading Elif Shafak's 'The Bastard of Istanbul'.
This book passes the Bechdel test like a song. It's primarily populated by women without having to be about them being women, and the characters are actually interesting and flawed and human. There are a handful of men, but all in background roles as fathers, brothers and boyfriends. It's refreshing and just slightly odd to see the gender 'status quo' that's in most books flipped on its head.
Apart from the above, what really got me about this book was how well the author understands and conveys Istanbul; with all it's life, people and contradictions. And yes, it may have made me a bit homesick.
This book passes the Bechdel test like a song. It's primarily populated by women without having to be about them being women, and the characters are actually interesting and flawed and human. There are a handful of men, but all in background roles as fathers, brothers and boyfriends. It's refreshing and just slightly odd to see the gender 'status quo' that's in most books flipped on its head.
Apart from the above, what really got me about this book was how well the author understands and conveys Istanbul; with all it's life, people and contradictions. And yes, it may have made me a bit homesick.