Title: 40 Rules of Love
Author: Elif Safak
Language: 3/5
Content: 4/5
Overall: 7/10
This book is a story of parallels. Two parallel stories set centuries and worlds apart, to be exact. However, the stories and the people taking part in them have more in common that you'd think.
The Forty Rules of Love is, as you might imagine, a story about love in all it's forms. It includes friendship, romantic love and divine love and makes the reader question whether there is actually much of a difference between what we distinguish as different types of love.
On one hand, there is the story of Rumi and his love Shams Tabrizi and on the other hand is Ella, a typical American middle-class housewife. The novel switches between the two timelines allowing the reader to almost flow through the timeline in parallel universes. I personally believe it's a very successful way of setting out the book.
It definitely serves as a good introduction to Sufism and hopefully will cause people to read Rumi's poems. Sufism is incredibly interesting not only from a philosophical standpoint but also from the angle of religious interpretation and a book this popular is a non-negligible tool in raising awareness.
Other than that, I actually found some aspects of the novel childish, cliche even. Especially towards the end I felt like Safak got carried away with trying to form parallels and took the easy way out. She might have meant it to serve as yet another example of one of the Forty Rules: 'While the parts change, the whole remains the same. For every thief who departs this world, a new one is born. And every decent person who passes away is replaced by a new one. In this way not only does nothing remain the same but also nothing every really changes.' If so, not only is this an 'outer reading' of the rule, it is also a misrepresentation of the Sufi belief.
On a brighter note, I thought the language was flowing and devoid of forced sentences. It wasn't anything to write home about but it wasn't bad either.
There are however, also sophisticated pleasant details in the book such as every chapter starting with the letter B as it is in the Mathnawi.
All in all, I believe it was an enjoyable book to read which gave a reader-friendly introduction to a very important poet and his beliefs. At this point, I should say that I put off reading this book for years because I was hesitant about Elif Safak as a writer. I had read 'The Bastard of Istanbul' which I had loved but thought she wrote books on topics she knew would be popular. I also happened to read this book at a time in my life where I made a couple of major decisions. I am not sure if that also affected by views but I can easily say I very much enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading a few of Safak's other books (starting with re-reading The Bastard of Istanbul)
Title: Black Sky, Black Sea
Author: Izzet Celasin
Score: 3/10
I was aimlessly wandering down the aisles of a Waterstones when I saw this book in the translated books section and after a quick inspection I was intrigued. It seemed to have something to do with the student protests in Turkey in the 70s and 80s (a subject the European world seems to be sadly ignorant of) and I hoped against all hope that it would feature the Black Sea region, fascinating for both it's natural beauty and the complex cultural history of its inhabitants.
I was incredibly disappointed. Not because there seemed to be no interest on the writer's part to give a cultural overview of the various minorities and regions in Turkey but because it didn't even give a thorough understanding of the political situation which forms the background to this story. Someone completely ignorant of the historical aspects of the setting can read this book and believe that the 'leftist' students were divided in two: the Maoists and the Soviet supporters. This is not only a pathetic simplification of the various groups that had formed throughout the decade but it is also disrespectful to the thousands imprisoned, tortured and executed (mostly under false charges) for having left-wing ideals.
The main character, Baris (meaning peace in Turkish) is annoyingly ignorant of the events around him and seems to not have an opinion at all. You might believe this is the writer's way of trying to be objective but this is also not the case. Not a single 'fascist' character features in the book either. Pimps and prostitutes do, but a single member of a right-wing group does not. The main and only connection to the politics of the time Baris has is through a girl he falls in love with. Zuhal, despite being a member of an armed guerrilla group, also doesn't seem to know what she believes in or what she is fighting against shattering the only political standing the book would have had.
The black sea region exists only as a backdrop to a poor re-enactment of one of the bloodiest massacres of the time, known as the Kizildere operation.
I realise that you might think the book will have adequate insight into a section of Turkey's history due to it winning some awards for best political novel but you would be wrong. I find it incredibly sad that due to the lack of books translated into English on this topic, books such as this can be given 'best political novel' awards. There are some very in depth novels and non-fiction books written on the topic in Turkish and the lack of English translations is absolutely appalling.
This brings me to my main point: if you want to read a book about a romantic teenager's relationship with various girlfriends, go for it. This book is probably what you're looking for. If instead you would like to gain some historical knowledge, skip it.
Title: Z: a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Author: Therese Anne Fowler
Score: 8/10
I absolutely loved this book! Having gone through a period of obsession with Gertrude Stein's 'Lost Generation', I had read a few books (Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast' and Paula McLain's 'The Paris Wife') which made a few mentions of Zelda Fitzgerald which were not always flattering and I was intrigued by this 'crazy' woman.
Zelda Fitzgerald was a dancer, an artist, a writer and one of the few women at the time who refused to be in the shadow of their husband. Oh and also, she happened to be married to Scott Fizgerald.
The entire novel is an almost painful portrayal of the deterioration of their relationship, alongside some very raw depictions of Zelda's individual troubles: her desire to be known independently from her husband as well as her impatience and anger towards her husband's alcohol dependency.
Not many women will suddenly decide to become a ballet dancer at the age of 28 at the cost of practising 8-9 hours a day and not many women will succeed enough to get an offer from a professional company. This alone causes me to have the utmost respect for this most extra-ordinary woman and the novel that depicts her in a way she deserves to be depicted.
*The product artwork I use within this review is taken from Goodreads in order to identify the subject of the review. It is low enough in resolution such that it could not be used as counterfeit or pirated material.
