A Mind at Peace — But Not So We’d Know it; A Novel from Turkey
There is the old adage ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at all’ which is at least …
Tag Archives: Books
Swords of Ice: A Modern Novel from Turkey
When we move from country to country, culture to culture we recognize many things in their generalities: carpets, clothes, foods, …
War in Afganistan, 1841 — The Widow’s Husband
Tamim Ansary, Afghan-American since childhood, and author of the very fine Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic …
The Crimean War: Orlando Figes
In 1853 the United States was 8 years away from a civil war. Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo only …
The Idle Years — A Short Novel from Turkey
Orhan Kemal would not be one of the widely known names of Turkish literature in the West, unlike his semi name-share, …
The Land of Rumi
We are in Cappadocia, the land of Rumi, central Turkey, after a week in Istanbul. The incredible “fairy towers” are …
Children: A Poem from Cahit Kulebi, Turkey
Prowling the bookstores on Iskitlal Street, Istanbul’s famous pedestrian walk-way, I came on a volume of poems in English Translation …
The Rage of the Vulture: Barry Unsworth in Turkey
Barry Unsworth, the English Booker Prize winning novelist has written many memorable books, perhaps best known being Sacred Hunger (1992), …
Turkey Unveiled: A History
Turkey, whether as part of the Roman, the Byzantine or Ottoman Empires has been for millenia the hub to the …
Standing Alone: Lives of Light
Here’s a book I wish I’d had in the run-up and early years of the US invasion of Iraq. There …
The Mule – A Novel from Spain
Spain was the country of some former life of mine, I’m sure. I loved living there as a younger man …
Memed, My Hawk — A Novel from Turkey
What a wonderful thing it is to travel to distant lands, and far-away times in the hands of a master …