A population exchange? The two responses to it you describe seem predictable, but the zeitgeist that would dream up and permit such a strategy sounds both fascinating and foreboding. I enjoyed your strong research and your in-laws' personal ties to the region; both give your review an authority I respect in longer reviews and other conversations around books.
Thanks, Bryce. The whole idea struck me as chilling: which is worse, a population exchange where people lose everything, including their history, or a future genocide? And it's not as if either minority had it easy in their new homes. When will we ever learn to live together?
And thanks for appreciating the review. I've always written about books on my blog, but this was my first foray into serious reviewing for a journal. It was good for me to do the research, and now I've agreed to do a couple more, both on books written by South Koreans.
I read your review in Cha. Outstanding! It gave me a full picture of the novel and its cultural setting. I was ready to buy it, but your final paragraph changed my mind. I, like you, would prefer a Tolstoian multi-generational epic rather than what appears to be an American take on a quaint miniature of an ancient society that would do very well on an American food channel. I might still buy it, if only to encourage this writer or another writer to give us that Tolstoian epic. I nominate you! You are a magnificent writer in your own right. You capture the spirit and history of every place you write about! I totally enjoyed reading your review. Keep writing, Beth!
Thanks, Kostas. Actually, the author is Rum herself and lives in Istanbul, so it's not an American take on the society, but it was definitely a love story about Istanbul rather than a serious political or historical novel. I'm done with the book and would be happy to send it to you if you'd like to read it. And I couldn't write the book I want to see, because I refuse to go to Turkey, and I don't see how anyone could write it without living there for a while. It's a conundrum, isn't it?
A population exchange? The two responses to it you describe seem predictable, but the zeitgeist that would dream up and permit such a strategy sounds both fascinating and foreboding. I enjoyed your strong research and your in-laws' personal ties to the region; both give your review an authority I respect in longer reviews and other conversations around books.
Thanks, Bryce. The whole idea struck me as chilling: which is worse, a population exchange where people lose everything, including their history, or a future genocide? And it's not as if either minority had it easy in their new homes. When will we ever learn to live together?
And thanks for appreciating the review. I've always written about books on my blog, but this was my first foray into serious reviewing for a journal. It was good for me to do the research, and now I've agreed to do a couple more, both on books written by South Koreans.
Two more on books by international authors! Congratulations on these projects.
I read your review in Cha. Outstanding! It gave me a full picture of the novel and its cultural setting. I was ready to buy it, but your final paragraph changed my mind. I, like you, would prefer a Tolstoian multi-generational epic rather than what appears to be an American take on a quaint miniature of an ancient society that would do very well on an American food channel. I might still buy it, if only to encourage this writer or another writer to give us that Tolstoian epic. I nominate you! You are a magnificent writer in your own right. You capture the spirit and history of every place you write about! I totally enjoyed reading your review. Keep writing, Beth!
Thanks, Kostas. Actually, the author is Rum herself and lives in Istanbul, so it's not an American take on the society, but it was definitely a love story about Istanbul rather than a serious political or historical novel. I'm done with the book and would be happy to send it to you if you'd like to read it. And I couldn't write the book I want to see, because I refuse to go to Turkey, and I don't see how anyone could write it without living there for a while. It's a conundrum, isn't it?
Orhan Pamuk would be the person to write such a book, but he would never be able to set foot in Turkey again.