The story and plot
The first two pages have already caught my eyes on reading more of it. It started on telling the readers about Jahan and his white Elephant, Chota working with the famous architect in Istanbul, Sinan. From here also I got the insight on the cruelity of the ruler of Istanbul during the Ottoman Empire. After that, the real story begins. See ? This kind of plot make me want to know more. It first started with a portion of the story from the middle and then it somehow do the flashback thingy to show us what had and will happen. The story build up on how Jahan, a man from Hindustan survived on the land of Istanbul without no one to rely on. All he knew was he is there as elephant tamer, his elephant, Chota is a gift for the Sultan and he has to steal precious gems of Istanbul for the captain that brought him there. Hence, stealing is somehow became his job before Sinan saved him and made him his apprentice. Shafak is brilliant in adding cultures of Istanbul into this story and i have to say that it made me eager to go there ! The cultures are beautiful. How Muslims, Jews, gypsies and Christians live together harmonically is something that I would want to see with my own eyes. I enjoy the idea of including the conflicts within the country into the plot as it allows me to realize that a place may seem unbreakable, serene and complete but no one knows how the people struggle to keep it secure. However I did not quite like the plot where wars took place because I seem not to understand it so well. As the story goes, Shafak included a bit of romance but not much. Just like a pinch of salt ( if you could relate like that haha ) I like it you know. The way Jahan and Mihrimah ( the Princess of Istanbul ) fell in love with each other. They are far, very far from each other but the hearts, are never apart. Then, after Sinan took Jahan as his apprentice, the story gets even more mysterious and quite confusing if you lost your focus. Jahan is a kind of man that wants answers to every questions he had on mind and living with Sinan, he could not get the answer easily. While he is helping Sinan building bridges, mosque, houses and other architectures, he is also helping himself. During this part of the story, I have so many questions in my mind that I made me want to finish it fast and get the answer ! When I have gotten my answers, I am shocked. Really shocked.
The writing style
It is not an easy going writing style but not a difficult to understand kinda style either. You are good to go if you are focus. This is mainly because Shafak's style in conveying the story is not straight forward. You need to understand the meaning behind it. That's why this book has lots of good quotes that I could only understand after rereading that phrase at least two times. But, it's worth it. It is like interpreting or decoding a hidden message. You will feel proud of yourselves when you finally got it right. In addition, the style is quite soft and calming. erk are that the words ? hoho. But what I mean is i'm in love with the writing style. But, I found out that Shafak is quite lacking in describing the wars and battlefield parts. That's the reason why I skipped that part I guess.
Spoiler part
I am so not over from the fact that Jahan and Mihrimah cannot be together just because Jahan is not a royalty ! How could they ? They are clearly in love but they have to keep that to themselves for ages. Up until the last breath of Mihrimah, she is still in love with Jahan and I know it even though her guardian, Dada told Jihan she is just fond of him, nothing more than that. The shocker part is when I all Jahan's questions are answered.. by Dada. I never thought that Dada would be the person behind all of the incidents that have happened ! But I cannot and do not want to believe that Mihrimah and somehow Sinan had something to do with Dada. Dada is a witch. A WITCH ! How bad is that ? After all this while, she has been there. Watching and waiting.
End of spoiler part
I enjoy this book very much. Gave it 5/5 stars.
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