Book review: The Bastard of Istanbul – A Journey Into the Past

When I read The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Safak, the first thing I noticed is the writing style: it is exactly like the mind of a woman. There are multiple stories starting off from the main story, plenty of segues, colourful characters to distract you, in addition to the characters and their quirks. It has to be said that the characters seem to suffer from some sort of attention deficit disorder. However, if you have ever grown up or experienced an Asian joint family, you’ll know what I mean. 

If you’re wondering why I said the book seems like the mind of woman it is because it is multitasking all the time. The author and the characters are in situations, but thinking of random and connected things at the same time. I got the sense that the characters’ bodies and minds were often in different tangents and I feel that this often happens with women more often than it does with men. Women are thinking of so many different things at once and still manage to stay sharp and coherent during conversations. I still wonder how.

At the heart of this delightful book is the story of two young women and their history. One of them is chasing her past, while the other is in blissful ignorance about it. The book was worth reading just to discover their histories. I had known about the Armenian genocide of 1915–1917 and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge it. Sadly, not many people know about this because it doesn’t occupy popular history as much as the Holocaust does. As readers, I would advise you brush up on the Turkish and Armenian history post the Ottoman Empire. Not only is it fascinating, you’ll get interesting points of view, for example, the Janissaries’ Paradox.

In a book about women by a woman, you will learn about the oppression that happens to women. Despite Istanbul’s cosmopolitanism, one gets a glimpse of the old-school ways – and I don’t just mean male oppression, but ancient magic as well. By the end, almost all the characters will be your favourites because there is no villain here. Or is there? (We did mention that there was a genocide, didn’t we. [Winky face]) 

I would recommend this book as a one-time read. (I gave it three stars on Goodreads.) I would also recommend looking up the author’s other works. She’s got impressive credentials and she writes her books in English as well as Turkish. In addition, she makes wonderful arguments about reading in the book. That was enough to win me over.