The Flea Palace

excellent book, the ones that are neatly from Elif Shafak- It is interesting the way in which the writer has structured the book , with the beginning idea of ideas as lines , it ends in same line.The garbage is the connector , and we -readers- come across the inhabitants of the Bonbon Palace through different chapters and situations. It is possible to gather that the inhabitants in some way are like the building , they are very special in their idiosyncrasy and psychology. As reader we know some pieces of information because we have the knowledge of a previous chapter and some words connect people and situations.I really recommend to read this book if we are following Elif Shafak- It is easy to read and not easy to put aside !!!

I really wish I could read this book in the original language. The lines and large phrases of thought are incredibly broad stroked and give a wonderful third dimension to the flow of the book. But there is a problem - the language (and perhaps the author would chide me on the use of the word here) is often grammatical stilted. Can someone get this woman a better translator? A jewel of a thinker and a brilliant intellect.

Excellent! It looks as described, fast shipping! Very satisfied with the purchase.

An interesting cultural snapshot, but a bit lacking in plot. By the time the seemingly irrelevant details make sense, you've forgotten you heard them, as the cast of characters is large and varied and the story switches between them with every chapter. Lovely prose, but not my favorite Shafak novel. (Impossible to beat The 40 Rules of Love)

I normally love her books but this is the first one which I thought unnecessarily long and drawn out which came across as a tad boring. It was like she emptied her thoughts about different character types and Istanbul into the form of a book.I'm quite surprised as it seemed so different from her other books.

I have not enjoyed a novel this much in years. It was not the mystery of the novel but the beauty of the writing and the finely drawn, fascinating characters and atmosphere that kept me hooked. I was so sad to see it end!If I could, I would take off a half a point for some errors in usage that the editors should have picked up ("raised" for "razed"), which distracted me from time to time.

Nice..

a very good read.

It is the Correpondence Theory of Truth, advocates' book.If you want action, go read something else - if you want a wealth of description, lists of characteristics, and observation of the minutea of life then this is the book for you. That is where the power of the book is and where the humour is found.The description of the hairdressers' salon, the dialogue between those having their hair done is terrific and so real. Blondes don't fare too well in this novel and the descriptions of their supposed motivations and desires are hilarious.You can practically smell Istanbul in the book.The teeming cemeteries mirror the life in the city and the tale of the saint and the rubbish tip is compelling.This is my first dip into Shafak though it will not be the last. I Don't know this for a fact but i feel that the author learned her craft writing short stories. The same 'describe a scene in detail' to convey an emotion or outline beleivable characters, approach is taken and used brilliantly by Shafak.

The Flea Palace describes the modern Istanbul but this is not the glamorous one, this is one where faiths coexist in a melting pot of human dignity. The twist at the end occupies my mind still.

Interesting little story spinned out of... dare i say -- nothing. ☺ A little absurd, a little nostalgic, somewhat introverted... guess it suits for ppl who love looking and observing other people, who are a little quirky and introverted. Def not good for action fans - coz.. nothing really happens. Only characters. I liked it quite a lot. ☺

Disjointed and very detailed without any sight of how the individual stories join up. Almost gave up at 60%but persevered. It got easier to comprehend but no more enjoyable. There was not a single likeable character. When it was finished I felt I had not gained a single thing from reading this book other than the fact that I now know I never want to visit Turkey

Many, many characters, took a while to get into, but enjoyed the convolutions in the end. Not really a bedside book, you need to be able to read a good portion at each sitting to keep up with the parallel stories that are going on. An interesting juxtaposition of old and new Istanbul.