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A review by charleyroxy
The Assassin from Apricot City: Reportage from Turkey by Witold Szabłowski
4.0
I bought this book based on the new edition having a chapter based on the Gezi Park protests of the last year. I live in Istanbul and was out with my husband and friends the night the protests began. We were in a bar off of Istiklal (the main street in the Taksim area)and had tear gas canisters rocketing down the street outside for hours. We were choking and too afraid to step outside since the one time we did a gas canister flew inches away from my head! We got caught in a trouble area only one other time but visited the park often during the 17 days of police silence. The chapter was short but interesting.
Witold does a superb job at talking to people on both sides of every issue he covers. I found the chapters on honour killings (yes, it still goes on here), views about sex (eastern vs western Turkey differences), the PM Erdogan, the wife of Ataturk (Latife), and Mehmet Ali Agca (the man from Malatya, or apricot city, who tried to kill the Pope)to be the most interesting. Witold asks the tough questions and gets interesting answers. Having learned much about my home country for the last seven years I can honestly say that very little in the book surprised me though. It was more a confirmation of what I already know and have grown to love, and dislike, about this wonderful place.
Witold does a superb job at talking to people on both sides of every issue he covers. I found the chapters on honour killings (yes, it still goes on here), views about sex (eastern vs western Turkey differences), the PM Erdogan, the wife of Ataturk (Latife), and Mehmet Ali Agca (the man from Malatya, or apricot city, who tried to kill the Pope)to be the most interesting. Witold asks the tough questions and gets interesting answers. Having learned much about my home country for the last seven years I can honestly say that very little in the book surprised me though. It was more a confirmation of what I already know and have grown to love, and dislike, about this wonderful place.