A review by bellatora
عرافة إسطنبول by Michael David Lukas, مايكل ديفيد لوكاس
3.0
Can I just say how much I love the feel of this book? I usually get library copies of books, which means they have those weird plasticy hardcovers. But paperbacks are more my style and this one just felt so nice (the pages are raggedy like old-school books and the cover is textured). It’s so pretty (of course I proceeded to spill on it about three times so it’s not nearly so pretty anymore). It was just a joy to hold in my hands. Does that sound weird? This is why I will never accept e-readers as the future. As a supplement, yes. As a replacement? NEVER! (and I'm saying this as I'm about to buy a Kindle for myself, because I'm going to spend several months next year in a foreign country and need easy access to English-language books and don't want to haul them all home/try to give them away when I return AGAIN; so, yes, I do understand that e-readers can be really great in some instances).
Okay, end diatribe. Now onto the book itself. I'm usually not a fan of slice-of-life books. I generally find descriptions tedious and end up trying to skim my way to action and/or romance, or at the very least dialogue. This being, really, a slice-of-life book (albeit with a magical realism overlay), I should've been bored. But I never was. I thought Lukas' descriptions of Istanbul were lovely and I loved that glimpse-into-the-past feeling that I get out of good historical fiction (despite the magical realism, I view it as historical fiction).
Child prodigy Eleonora Cohen is meant for great things. The portents foretell it. Unfortunately, these great things do not include having awesome magic powers. They do include being clever and well-read. In fact, being so clever that she comes to the attention of the Sultan and gains the reputation for being an oracle (not that she can foresee the future, she just gives really great advice). There's also some spying and political intriguing going on, but mostly it's about life in Istanbul and how this one little girl is quietly special and the Sultan has an overbearing mama and a warmonger advisor and, really, the little girl gives much better advice.
This is a good book for a lazy summer day. It's as languid as the Bosphorus (I'm makings this up; I don't know how languid the Bosphorus is, but it seemed pretty slow-moving when I was there). It's a pleasant, enjoyable read. Never boring, just leisurely.
Disclosure: I got this through GoodRead's First Reads.
Okay, end diatribe. Now onto the book itself. I'm usually not a fan of slice-of-life books. I generally find descriptions tedious and end up trying to skim my way to action and/or romance, or at the very least dialogue. This being, really, a slice-of-life book (albeit with a magical realism overlay), I should've been bored. But I never was. I thought Lukas' descriptions of Istanbul were lovely and I loved that glimpse-into-the-past feeling that I get out of good historical fiction (despite the magical realism, I view it as historical fiction).
Child prodigy Eleonora Cohen is meant for great things. The portents foretell it. Unfortunately, these great things do not include having awesome magic powers. They do include being clever and well-read. In fact, being so clever that she comes to the attention of the Sultan and gains the reputation for being an oracle (not that she can foresee the future, she just gives really great advice). There's also some spying and political intriguing going on, but mostly it's about life in Istanbul and how this one little girl is quietly special and the Sultan has an overbearing mama and a warmonger advisor and, really, the little girl gives much better advice.
This is a good book for a lazy summer day. It's as languid as the Bosphorus (I'm makings this up; I don't know how languid the Bosphorus is, but it seemed pretty slow-moving when I was there). It's a pleasant, enjoyable read. Never boring, just leisurely.
Disclosure: I got this through GoodRead's First Reads.