If you'd like to read literature on Istanbul and Turkey...
Here are 10 interesting books I've found on the topic. I'm currently reading the first one and will work my way down. Please add to the list with suggestions.
1. From the Steeple to the Minaret: Living Under the Shadows of Two Cultures
by Hughette Eyuboglu
The memoirs of a Canadian bride in Turkey: Hughette Bouffard from Abitibi, a small Quebecen town, married her long-time pen pal Mehmet Eyuboglu, son of two of Turkey's famous illustrious artists, in 1961. She continous to live in Istanbul to this day and in this book shares the struggles and the pleasures of her adaptation and integration process, while giving an honest account of Turkey 30 years ago and its present state.
2. My Name is Red
by Orhan Pamuk
In Istanbul, in the late 1950s, the Sultan secretly commissions a great book: a celebration of his life and his empire, to be illuminated by the best artists of the day- in the European manner. But when one of the miniaturists is murdered, their master has to seek outside help. Did the dead painter fall victim to professional rivalry, romantic jealousy or religious terror?
A thrilling murder mystery, My Name is Red, is also a stunning meditation on love, artistic devotion and the tensions between East and West.
- the excerpt from the back cover
3. Birds Without Wings
by Louis de Bernieres
From Publishers Weekly
It's been nearly a decade since Captain Corelli's Mandolin became a word-of-mouth bestseller (and then a major feature film), and devotees will eagerly dig into de Bernières' sweeping historical follow-up. This time the setting is the small Anatolian town of Eskibahçe, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. The large cast of characters of intermixed Turkish, Greek and Armenian descent includes breathtakingly lovely Philothei, a Christian girl, and her beloved Ibrahim, the childhood friend and Muslim to whom she is betrothed. The narrative immediately sets up Philothei's death and Ibrahim's madness as the focal tragedy caused by the sweep of history—but this is a bit of a red herring. Various first-person voices alternate in brief chapters with an authorial perspective that details the interactions of the town's residents as the region is torn apart by war; a parallel set of chapters follows the life of Kemal Atatürk, who established Turkey as a modern, secular country. The necessary historical information can be tedious, and stilted prose renders some key characters (like Philothei) one-dimensional. But when de Bernières relaxes his grip on the grand sweep of history—as he does with the lively and affecting anecdotes involving the Muslim landlord Rustem Bey and his wife and mistress—the results resonate with the very personal consequences that large-scale change can effect. Though some readers may balk at the novel's sheer heft, the reward is an effective and moving portrayal of a way of life—and lives—that might, if not for Bernières's careful exposition and imagination, be lost to memory forever.
4. Memed, My Hawk
by Yashar Kemal
Memed My Hawk is an epic story of the Middle East by modern Turkey's greatest novelist. Memed grows up in a remote and desperately poor mountain village that suffers under the thumb of the local landlord. Lively and adventurous, young Memed seeks to escape from a life of grueling toil. He runs away, but is quickly tracked down; brought back, he finds himself subjected to an even more backbreaking and spiritcrushing burden of work. When Memed escapes again, it is to set up as a roving brigand, celebrated in song, perhaps a liberator of his people. Or perhaps, twisted like the thistles that cover the windy slopes of the mountains, his character has taken on an irremediably harsh and brutal form.
Tenderness and violence, generosity and ruthlessness explode unpredictably in a tale of high adventure that is also a profoundly considered response to a troubled world. For in Memed My Hawk the most intimate allegiances draw with them a dense and clinging web of history and politics, and the story, full of passion and excitement, is overshadowed by a sorrow that is tragic and real.
www.nybooks.com
*Please note that the rest of the book summaries were taken from www.amazon.com
5. Memoirs of an Exile
by Aziz Nesin
Book Description
The sad and humorous story, told by the famous Turkish satirist, of his exile in Bursa after release from jail for writing a brochure critical of his government’s acceptance of U.S. aid. Nesin arrives in Bursa, a resort town famous for its hot springs, and patriotically marches the length of Main Street between his two gendarme guards. He describes without omission, confesses in detail, his hilarious and heart-rending experiences during his forced exile.
From the Publisher
Aziz Nesin, Turkey’s greatest satirist and “Devils Advocate” of the post Ottoman Turkish Republic government, has spent more than five years as a political convict in Turkish jails. Most of his dozens of books sold out quickly (in as many as 27 languages) and appeared in several editions. Southmoor Studios enthusiastically chose Memoirs Of An Exile for its second Nesin presentation to the West (our first was Dog Tails, late 2000, also at Amazon.com) where discriminating readers can again enjoy Aziz Nesin’s great talent.
6. Regards from the Dead Princess: Novel of a Life
by Kenize Mourad, Sabine Destree, Anna Williams
From Publishers Weekly
The history of Mourad's book is as strange as the story she tells. It is the true story of her mother Selma, an Ottoman princess, granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey, of her childhood in Beirut, her arranged marriage to an India rajah, her death in Paris. Selma's family was exiled from Turkey in 1918; she died in occupied France in 1941. The author, born shortly before Selma's death, only learned the facts of her parentage at the age of 20. From the bare bones of a life and four years of research, Mourad has reconstructed the lifestyle of the Ottoman harem, the mores of wealthy Muslims in Turkey and India. Selma is pictured--but never quite brought to life--as a spoiled child who was a pawn of her elders, whose preparation for adulthood has not equipped her to cope with her yearning for freedom. A bestseller in France, this lengthy and imperfect novel, marred as it is by awkward writing and complicated, often unnecessary, details of family feuds, becomes hauntingly memorable--especially the last section, in which Selma, accompanied only by an aging eunuch, struggles to survive in occupied Paris.
7. Savarona
by Patrick J. Hart
Foreign Service Journal, September, 2004
The rhythm of life overseas, the excitement and ennui... Hart has a rare gift... I warmly recommend this novel.
Book Description
Istanbul's sights, sounds, and scents permeate this tale of terror and espionage at the crossroads of East and West. Bill Bigelow is a drifter with a history of mental illness and a habit of removing his clothes at the worst possible times. When he lapses into psychosis, his only hope is George McCall, a junior diplomat with demons of his own, both real and imagined. A literary journey to the heart of modern Turkey, this darkly comic first novel transcends genre with its penetrating wit and observation.
8. Istanbul Intrigues
by Barry Rubin
From Publishers Weekly
Turkey's neutrality during WW II made it a hotbed of action for spies and a haven for refugees; Rubin culls information from Allied and Axis files to form this spine-tingling narrative.
From Book News, Inc.
Using newly opened archives and extensive interviews, Rubin relates a fascinating tale of espionage, sabotage, and diplomatic treachery in the spy capital of WWII.
9. The Towers of Trebizand
by Rose MacAuley
--Brooke Allen, The Atlantic Monthly, December 2003
"one of the most erudite of books...also one of the funniest...a tour de force of sustained comedy."
Book Description
"‘Take my camel, dear,’ said my aunt Dot." So begins Rose Macaulay’s greatest novel. Traveling overland from Istanbul to legendary Trebizond, the narrator and her companions have a series of hilarious encounters with potion-dealing sorcerers, recalcitrant policemen, and an ever-appearing busload of southern evangelists. But though the dominant note of this very unusual novel is humorous, the import is often tragic — as along the way the narrator confronts the specter of ancient empires, religious doubt, and individual heartbreak. This award-winning book is fine, funny, and unique travel adventure.
10. Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place
by Mary Lee Settle
From Publishers Weekly
In an exotic, engaging journey deep into the heart of Turkey, Settle, who won a 1978 National Book Award for her novel Blood Tie (set in Turkey), revisits a country where past and present are everywhere intertwined. Contradicting the unflattering Western stereotypes of Turks, she depicts a people she admires for their capacity for friendship, their essential warmth and honesty. Istanbul, noisy and frantic, is also "as polite and friendly as a country village," and tough-skinned rural folk are "almost naively gentle" beneath their exterior harshness. Settle's hauntingly poetic evocation of a people and place is filled with moments of quiet rapture as she inspects the remains of ancient kingdoms, retraces the paths of Seljuk sultan Aladdin, dips in thermal baths and views mosques and churches, castles, sphinxes and the prison where Nazim Hikmet, Turkey's finest modern poet, was imprisoned for his work.
1. From the Steeple to the Minaret: Living Under the Shadows of Two Cultures
by Hughette Eyuboglu
The memoirs of a Canadian bride in Turkey: Hughette Bouffard from Abitibi, a small Quebecen town, married her long-time pen pal Mehmet Eyuboglu, son of two of Turkey's famous illustrious artists, in 1961. She continous to live in Istanbul to this day and in this book shares the struggles and the pleasures of her adaptation and integration process, while giving an honest account of Turkey 30 years ago and its present state.
2. My Name is Red
by Orhan Pamuk
In Istanbul, in the late 1950s, the Sultan secretly commissions a great book: a celebration of his life and his empire, to be illuminated by the best artists of the day- in the European manner. But when one of the miniaturists is murdered, their master has to seek outside help. Did the dead painter fall victim to professional rivalry, romantic jealousy or religious terror?
A thrilling murder mystery, My Name is Red, is also a stunning meditation on love, artistic devotion and the tensions between East and West.
- the excerpt from the back cover
3. Birds Without Wings
by Louis de Bernieres
From Publishers Weekly
It's been nearly a decade since Captain Corelli's Mandolin became a word-of-mouth bestseller (and then a major feature film), and devotees will eagerly dig into de Bernières' sweeping historical follow-up. This time the setting is the small Anatolian town of Eskibahçe, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. The large cast of characters of intermixed Turkish, Greek and Armenian descent includes breathtakingly lovely Philothei, a Christian girl, and her beloved Ibrahim, the childhood friend and Muslim to whom she is betrothed. The narrative immediately sets up Philothei's death and Ibrahim's madness as the focal tragedy caused by the sweep of history—but this is a bit of a red herring. Various first-person voices alternate in brief chapters with an authorial perspective that details the interactions of the town's residents as the region is torn apart by war; a parallel set of chapters follows the life of Kemal Atatürk, who established Turkey as a modern, secular country. The necessary historical information can be tedious, and stilted prose renders some key characters (like Philothei) one-dimensional. But when de Bernières relaxes his grip on the grand sweep of history—as he does with the lively and affecting anecdotes involving the Muslim landlord Rustem Bey and his wife and mistress—the results resonate with the very personal consequences that large-scale change can effect. Though some readers may balk at the novel's sheer heft, the reward is an effective and moving portrayal of a way of life—and lives—that might, if not for Bernières's careful exposition and imagination, be lost to memory forever.
4. Memed, My Hawk
by Yashar Kemal
Memed My Hawk is an epic story of the Middle East by modern Turkey's greatest novelist. Memed grows up in a remote and desperately poor mountain village that suffers under the thumb of the local landlord. Lively and adventurous, young Memed seeks to escape from a life of grueling toil. He runs away, but is quickly tracked down; brought back, he finds himself subjected to an even more backbreaking and spiritcrushing burden of work. When Memed escapes again, it is to set up as a roving brigand, celebrated in song, perhaps a liberator of his people. Or perhaps, twisted like the thistles that cover the windy slopes of the mountains, his character has taken on an irremediably harsh and brutal form.
Tenderness and violence, generosity and ruthlessness explode unpredictably in a tale of high adventure that is also a profoundly considered response to a troubled world. For in Memed My Hawk the most intimate allegiances draw with them a dense and clinging web of history and politics, and the story, full of passion and excitement, is overshadowed by a sorrow that is tragic and real.
www.nybooks.com
*Please note that the rest of the book summaries were taken from www.amazon.com
5. Memoirs of an Exile
by Aziz Nesin
Book Description
The sad and humorous story, told by the famous Turkish satirist, of his exile in Bursa after release from jail for writing a brochure critical of his government’s acceptance of U.S. aid. Nesin arrives in Bursa, a resort town famous for its hot springs, and patriotically marches the length of Main Street between his two gendarme guards. He describes without omission, confesses in detail, his hilarious and heart-rending experiences during his forced exile.
From the Publisher
Aziz Nesin, Turkey’s greatest satirist and “Devils Advocate” of the post Ottoman Turkish Republic government, has spent more than five years as a political convict in Turkish jails. Most of his dozens of books sold out quickly (in as many as 27 languages) and appeared in several editions. Southmoor Studios enthusiastically chose Memoirs Of An Exile for its second Nesin presentation to the West (our first was Dog Tails, late 2000, also at Amazon.com) where discriminating readers can again enjoy Aziz Nesin’s great talent.
6. Regards from the Dead Princess: Novel of a Life
by Kenize Mourad, Sabine Destree, Anna Williams
From Publishers Weekly
The history of Mourad's book is as strange as the story she tells. It is the true story of her mother Selma, an Ottoman princess, granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey, of her childhood in Beirut, her arranged marriage to an India rajah, her death in Paris. Selma's family was exiled from Turkey in 1918; she died in occupied France in 1941. The author, born shortly before Selma's death, only learned the facts of her parentage at the age of 20. From the bare bones of a life and four years of research, Mourad has reconstructed the lifestyle of the Ottoman harem, the mores of wealthy Muslims in Turkey and India. Selma is pictured--but never quite brought to life--as a spoiled child who was a pawn of her elders, whose preparation for adulthood has not equipped her to cope with her yearning for freedom. A bestseller in France, this lengthy and imperfect novel, marred as it is by awkward writing and complicated, often unnecessary, details of family feuds, becomes hauntingly memorable--especially the last section, in which Selma, accompanied only by an aging eunuch, struggles to survive in occupied Paris.
7. Savarona
by Patrick J. Hart
Foreign Service Journal, September, 2004
The rhythm of life overseas, the excitement and ennui... Hart has a rare gift... I warmly recommend this novel.
Book Description
Istanbul's sights, sounds, and scents permeate this tale of terror and espionage at the crossroads of East and West. Bill Bigelow is a drifter with a history of mental illness and a habit of removing his clothes at the worst possible times. When he lapses into psychosis, his only hope is George McCall, a junior diplomat with demons of his own, both real and imagined. A literary journey to the heart of modern Turkey, this darkly comic first novel transcends genre with its penetrating wit and observation.
8. Istanbul Intrigues
by Barry Rubin
From Publishers Weekly
Turkey's neutrality during WW II made it a hotbed of action for spies and a haven for refugees; Rubin culls information from Allied and Axis files to form this spine-tingling narrative.
From Book News, Inc.
Using newly opened archives and extensive interviews, Rubin relates a fascinating tale of espionage, sabotage, and diplomatic treachery in the spy capital of WWII.
9. The Towers of Trebizand
by Rose MacAuley
--Brooke Allen, The Atlantic Monthly, December 2003
"one of the most erudite of books...also one of the funniest...a tour de force of sustained comedy."
Book Description
"‘Take my camel, dear,’ said my aunt Dot." So begins Rose Macaulay’s greatest novel. Traveling overland from Istanbul to legendary Trebizond, the narrator and her companions have a series of hilarious encounters with potion-dealing sorcerers, recalcitrant policemen, and an ever-appearing busload of southern evangelists. But though the dominant note of this very unusual novel is humorous, the import is often tragic — as along the way the narrator confronts the specter of ancient empires, religious doubt, and individual heartbreak. This award-winning book is fine, funny, and unique travel adventure.
10. Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place
by Mary Lee Settle
From Publishers Weekly
In an exotic, engaging journey deep into the heart of Turkey, Settle, who won a 1978 National Book Award for her novel Blood Tie (set in Turkey), revisits a country where past and present are everywhere intertwined. Contradicting the unflattering Western stereotypes of Turks, she depicts a people she admires for their capacity for friendship, their essential warmth and honesty. Istanbul, noisy and frantic, is also "as polite and friendly as a country village," and tough-skinned rural folk are "almost naively gentle" beneath their exterior harshness. Settle's hauntingly poetic evocation of a people and place is filled with moments of quiet rapture as she inspects the remains of ancient kingdoms, retraces the paths of Seljuk sultan Aladdin, dips in thermal baths and views mosques and churches, castles, sphinxes and the prison where Nazim Hikmet, Turkey's finest modern poet, was imprisoned for his work.
