Istanbul

Meine nächste Reise geht nach Istanbul, denn wie schon vermerkt, wollte ich dieses Buch rasch lesen. Mit nur etwas über 400 Seiten geht es sich vor Weihnachten auch noch locker aus, sodaß ich mein zweites Weihnachtsbuch auch noch lesen kann.

Das beginne ich heute Abend:

Elif SHAFAK
The Flea Palace

Product Description: Keen irony and humour amongst the cats and tomb thieves of Istanbul

The setting is a stately residence in Istanbul built by Russian noble émigré Pavel Antipov for his wife Agripina at the end of the Tsarist reign, now sadly dilapidated, flea-infested, and home to ten families. Shafak uses the narrative structure of A Thousand and One Nights to construct a story-within-a-story narrative. Inhabitants include Ethel, a lapsed Jew in search of true love and the sad and beautiful Blue Mistress whose personal secret provides the novel with an unforgettable denouement. Add to this a strange, intensifying stench whose cause is revealed at the end of the book, and we have a metaphor for the cultural and spiritual decay in the heart of Istanbul.