Take a photo of a barcode or cover
gittav 's review for:
The Architect's Apprentice
by Elif Shafak
Very ornate writing, which led me to pick this up multiple times only to abandon it. But I'm glad I finally finished it because ultimately the detailed descriptions of the surroundings, sounds, tastes, smells really brings the characters and narrative alive. With books this detailed, I find myself picking up my reading pace substantially when I notice this level of detail isn't adding value to the underdeveloped characters or plot. Or rather, I'm waiting for the details to make way for the story. If the book does hook me, I slow down and sometimes go back a bit and pay more attention those the details.
This novel is episodic and doesn't lend itself well to speed reading. Initially it did, I then became intrigued and devoted my time but as each episode came to a close, my desire to keep reading diminished, story by story. Even those that could be the makings of a novel of their own ended fruitlessly. There was little reward in carrying on.
Oh remember when we (I'm imagining I'm the protagonist Jahan) travelled to Rome. Spent weeks trying to see Michelangelo, who was busy painting the Sistine Chapel, and finally got to see him? When he wrote a letter to our master the Royal Architect but when we went home, we were robbed and the letter was stolen? Great story right? Moving on to the next...
The worst sentence by far is uttered, and therefore, it must make a brief appearance in my review, is when Jahan stumbles onto the archetypal bad guy. He figures out the grand plan which isn't that grand, because again, it's another episode! And like a bad, bad movie, the figuring out is done in front of the bad guy, who then says "I cannot let you go, you know to much" and has his guards hit Jahan over the head.
Overall, a well-written mixed bag leading to a mixed review. By no means a poorly written book; it's beautiful, and would have almost lent itself better to being a series about Jahan's live. Imagine a novel devoted to architect apprentices from islamic Istanbul, travelling to Rome, centre of Christianity in the high Renaissance, where they meet Michelangelo to exchange knowledge. It would give some of these episodes the chance of being explored to their full potential. If someone knows a book like this, leave a comment!
This novel is episodic and doesn't lend itself well to speed reading. Initially it did, I then became intrigued and devoted my time but as each episode came to a close, my desire to keep reading diminished, story by story. Even those that could be the makings of a novel of their own ended fruitlessly. There was little reward in carrying on.
Oh remember when we (I'm imagining I'm the protagonist Jahan) travelled to Rome. Spent weeks trying to see Michelangelo, who was busy painting the Sistine Chapel, and finally got to see him? When he wrote a letter to our master the Royal Architect but when we went home, we were robbed and the letter was stolen? Great story right? Moving on to the next...
The worst sentence by far is uttered, and therefore, it must make a brief appearance in my review, is when Jahan stumbles onto the archetypal bad guy. He figures out the grand plan which isn't that grand, because again, it's another episode! And like a bad, bad movie, the figuring out is done in front of the bad guy, who then says "I cannot let you go, you know to much" and has his guards hit Jahan over the head.
Overall, a well-written mixed bag leading to a mixed review. By no means a poorly written book; it's beautiful, and would have almost lent itself better to being a series about Jahan's live. Imagine a novel devoted to architect apprentices from islamic Istanbul, travelling to Rome, centre of Christianity in the high Renaissance, where they meet Michelangelo to exchange knowledge. It would give some of these episodes the chance of being explored to their full potential. If someone knows a book like this, leave a comment!