A review by itsnotalakeitsanocean
The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

2.75

I read this book as part of the required material for a university module roughly ten years ago and kept it around for some reason.

Needless to say, my opinions on the stories have drastically changed since then. The only exception being The Eldest Princess which is the standout among the other stories and mostly holds up.

The titular story itself has aged pretty badly, exoticising Middle Eastern cultures and its people. Some notable examples being:
  1. The main character's fixation on a trio of hijabi women in the audience and some soldiers taking notes in the background of one of her lectures. It seems in Byatt's infinite wisdom, someone neglected to tell her that several principles of science and mathematics still in use today originated from Arabic countries.

  2. Byatt vaguely likening the Wishing Column in the Hagia Sophia to a vagina for some reason. Perhaps Byatt was trying to make the women laughing at the main character's reluctance to put her hand in the whole seem enlightened about their bodies and sexuality, but it fell flat and the vagina comparison was on the same level as schoolboys drawing penises on their peers' chairs.

  3. Byatt choosing to describe the tour guide who conveyed the Epic of Gilgamesh to her as having yellow skin. Djinn or not, it's still orientalist.

There is a semblance of a story hidden in there, but the execution is overall lacking and needlessly long-winded. I suppose if you want an insight into what feminism was like at the time of this book's publishing and how we've progressed since, it's a solid read.
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