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frostlywild17's review against another edition
Really wanted to like this, it being an Elif Shafak book. But this book was trying to be too many things at once - a story about a boy and his elephant, a boy learning architecture, and an exploration of Ottoman society in the 1500s - that it did not succeed in being a well developed version of any of these things.
Shafak clearly had extensive knowledge and appreciation for the political and social landscape of Istanbul in the golden age of the Ottoman Empire, but her efforts to link all these broader historical events back to the main character strained the storytelling. Jahan a passive character in a convoluted story.
I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it was a series of semi-dramatised accounts of that period of Ottoman rule, like Dan Jones's Crusaders, rather than one continuous narrative centring on a single character.
Shafak clearly had extensive knowledge and appreciation for the political and social landscape of Istanbul in the golden age of the Ottoman Empire, but her efforts to link all these broader historical events back to the main character strained the storytelling. Jahan a passive character in a convoluted story.
I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it was a series of semi-dramatised accounts of that period of Ottoman rule, like Dan Jones's Crusaders, rather than one continuous narrative centring on a single character.
yars_reading_corner's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing! Definitely one of Shafak’s best works, she combined reality and fiction so well, the events were so mellow in the beginning but as the story procceeded, I found myself loving the characters and finding out secrets I overlooked and didn’t give much of an attention to the details of them when they were happening earlier.
One cannot easily say they don’t fall in love with architecture when reading this book , with Elif’s immaculate attention to details and love for books and all other good things in life, this work makes me want to go visit Istanbul again and this time see the things I’ve seen before as a tourist with a different perspective and new sets of eyes, this time to study the beauty that I failed to comprehend before.
One cannot easily say they don’t fall in love with architecture when reading this book , with Elif’s immaculate attention to details and love for books and all other good things in life, this work makes me want to go visit Istanbul again and this time see the things I’ve seen before as a tourist with a different perspective and new sets of eyes, this time to study the beauty that I failed to comprehend before.
shann32's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
almondcookies's review against another edition
2.0
I learnt so much from this book. Not just about the ottoman empire and their society circa 1500, but also that I hate books with a plot focus and things happening TO a character, as opposed to a character growing and developing along with their environment.
The Architects Apprentice is doubtless a beautifully written book, but it's not a beautifully written book for me. To put it into context, my experience reading this was slightly more palatable than reading an A level history book. The focus of this book is definitely not to tell someone’s story, but to tell a story of a specific place at a specific time in history.
There are so many events that take place throughout the course of the book, and yes, they’re all told through the PoV of our MC. The issue is that we never fully get inside his head because we don’t see his development through an objective timescale. We meet him as a preteen boy, things happen and he’s an adolescent, more things happen and suddenly he has white hairs. The focus is all on the events that happen – none are events that happen WITH him, some aren’t even how they happen TO him, just that they happen.
The Architects Apprentice is doubtless a beautifully written book, but it's not a beautifully written book for me. To put it into context, my experience reading this was slightly more palatable than reading an A level history book. The focus of this book is definitely not to tell someone’s story, but to tell a story of a specific place at a specific time in history.
There are so many events that take place throughout the course of the book, and yes, they’re all told through the PoV of our MC. The issue is that we never fully get inside his head because we don’t see his development through an objective timescale. We meet him as a preteen boy, things happen and he’s an adolescent, more things happen and suddenly he has white hairs. The focus is all on the events that happen – none are events that happen WITH him, some aren’t even how they happen TO him, just that they happen.
marystuartsghost's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
karinzoueini's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
drsldn's review against another edition
3.0
great read but it went on a tad too long and the final chapter was slightly annoying. very evocative of istanbul and i learnt a lot about the amazing and beautiful architecture.
olgakoponen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0