Review of Gendarme

The Gendarme by Mark Mustian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Very different and very deep. Hard to tell what is real and what is a dream of the past. Either way it doesn't matter. It deals with the Turkish removal of the Armenians during WW1 (the Armenian genocide), but puts a human face to both sides.



In the story of the past, a young Turkish soldier is ordered to escort a group of Armenians into Syria. Along the way he comes to love and want to protect a very bright-eyed Armenian girl. This story seems like a dream, and is juxtraposed against the main character who is about 90 years old and lives in the US. He has a brain tumor, and has not remembered his past from WW1 at all. However, he keeps dreaming about this march which he is part of, and begins to wonder if it actually happened. Even near the end, we are uncertain what is real and what is a dream. A bit heavy in places, and a bit surreal, but also very entertaining and intriguing, and somewhat believable with that backdrop.



If you don't know much about this part of history, it might be worth a read. I certainly learned a great deal....I guess you could say I'm a historical fiction fan. And it has led me to read another book on the subject from a more modern perspective -- The Bastard of Istanbul. They are very different, and I think this one is more readable as an introduction to what happened and to an understanding of the suffering of the Armenians.



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Review of Bastard of Istanbul

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This in some ways was a very difficult and slow book to get through, and yet I really wanted to finish it. The characters are so eclectic and weird and the mysteries in the book were what kept me reading, but the writing style and pace at times bogged me down. I also wanted to see how the book would treat the Turkish-Armenian connection that extends back to the time of the genocide.

The book does a very good job of juxtraposing the two views of (1) the past needs to be remembered and is part of who we are and (2) we need closure instead of the past-is-over-and-done-with, we-need-to-move-on, and focus-on-the-future. I think compared to Gendarme, you get an ever greater sense of the Turkish view and the Armenia view as it is in the present day. You can also see how strongly the modern Turkish culture is really embracing a multicultural feel in Istanbul.

The colorful women of the Turkish family and their lack of males makes an excellent contrast and foil to the overwhelming and equally eccentric Armenian family. I was fascinated by how Asya and Armoush developed their friendship over the second half of the novel, but the surprises in their identities and their pasts were something I had NOT expected....that's why I say there are mysteries. Where I think the book is perhaps too kitchy is the characters in the cafe who are supposed to be stereoypes, but are almost TOO much so. However, in Asya's family I feel that the characters are both three and two dimensional at the same time. With Armoush's family, the most vivid character is really Rose...and I had a hard time relating to her.

The end was in some ways very unsatisfying and in other ways very satisfying. I wish there had been more resolution on the part of Armoush and finding her identity or her returning to her family after losing her grandmother. (That does not give away the ending though.) I also wish I could know more about Asya's response and how she deals with the revelations made to her near the end. And what happens to Banu's djinn? There are plenty of cultural identity issues unresolved...I guess like real life, but when a book goes so far, I wish it would go just a little bit further. Did Banu ever explain what she learns in her visions? How does the pomegranate get received? These questions don't actually give away the mysteries, so no spoilers. However, I have to say I would not recommend this book to people who want everything well-resolved. At the same time, this book would be a very discussable book to a book club if you can get over the slower sections and humps in the book. Overall, I can only give this a 2 out of 5.



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