I am Malala...
As we all stepped into so called new 2016 year, it gave me courage to challenge myself in quite different and interesting ways.
One of them is #ABookPerMonth..
And my pick for the January was very interest book called "I am Malala ", an inspiring and courageous story of a Pakistani teenage girl. I actually bought this book in summer 2015, when I was in Istanbul airport, and that's where I started reading it, being able to finish only now thanks to this #challenge. I know I know.. auditors will understand me :)
So what was my impression about the book, and was there anything I could learn from Malala ?
The book is written in a very easy language and she expressed her thoughts, feelings and dreams in a way that I think everybody can understand instantly. Firstly, I have to admit that I have never been so informed before about the events and the war happening in the Middle East countries. This book opened my eyes to the other side of the world, which is full of discrimination, injustice, violence, fear, poverty and illiteracy.
I will summarize by points what I found interesting and conclusion I drew based on what read and think:
She was fighting for her education and I strongly believe that one single cause is actually the answer to so many trouble in her and her families, and nations life. I absolutely do not mean that Pakistani people are not educated, no. I want to say that quality education is not available to the whole 190 million of people equally, at all. Education has the most significant influence to the overall existence of any country, especially in XXI century. It is the main factor to strong economy, healthy lifestyle and overall well-being of the people. And when you don't have it, whole system may crash into pieces, as we can see examples from African, Middle-East, and some Eastern countries of the world. In this countries politicians are weak to make good or any decisions at all. I think it is also has a lot to do with lack of education, experience and leadership skills.
"A cultural system of behaviors and practices, world views, ethics, and social organisation that relate humanity to an order of existence." , this is how Wikipedia defines religion. I am not sure if I can relate to this what I believe religion is, because I cant see the most important word in it , which is "beliefs". And by beliefs I mean, we pick a religion because we want to believe that there is a bigger, stronger, mightier energy or creature that can help us, save us or even destroy us. I often ask myself questions like , "Why is it that Muslims are seen as terrorists? Where does it come from? Why is it that Muslims prefer violence, in order to be heard by the world? " And my answer usually would be, because we believe too much. We believe, we are afraid, we are addicted.. TOO MUCH. I see that in Muslim countries Islam is dictated or forced. Islam is not only a religion but a lifestyle, economy, politics, and anything you can imagine. It is wrong. People should be free to make choices, and for that they need to be allowed to think and decide what is it they want and how they can achieve it. Am I not a believer? I am. I am a Muslim, because I want to feel like it. I am a Muslim not because I follow every single rule that our holy book dictates us to do, and not because my parents or relatives do, nor because I am afraid. I believe in God. And I respect, and believe in any religion that believes in God. It is that simple. And I do and will believe in anything I feel like right logically and mentally. Nothing or nobody can force me in believing or doing something I don't feel right. It is the way it should be everywhere, and for everyone. Young people shouldn't be forced to pray 5 times a day because "Quran" wants them to. They need to study it, they need see themselves what is right or wrong. They need to decide themselves if they want to fast, if they want visit the Mosque, or if they want to pray. Because they will, only after they feel good about it. And that is the only way.
January, 2016
Book for April - The Bastard of Istanbul
"The Bastard of Istanbul is actually the second book of Turkish writer, Elif Shafak. I've just finished reading. First book was extraordinarily popular piece called ' Forty Rules of Love" , or simply "Aşk" in Turkish. I was so impressed by it that, I decided to buy another book of her when I was in Istanbul in 2015, and see what else she is good at writing. When I picked the booked I was mostly intrigued by the name of the book, which had the word " Bastard", which is never commonly mentioned unless you want to insult someone.
The book unfolds a story of two families , Turkish and Armenian with lots of hidden secrets and untold stories. Nowhere in the book it is mentioned whether it is true story or not, but according to authors own words story is the combination of stories told by Turkish and Armenian elderly people.
İ cannot say that book is written is easily readable or can be interesting to anyone. There were a lot of parts that I hardly read or had the patience to continue. Author over described some parts such as Auntie Banu and her conversations with Jinn in chapter "Almonds" , also the long described death and proceeding events of Mustafa Kazanci and so forth, where I skipped mostly. I also had the feeling from the book "Ashk" and the latter that Author likes to refer to magical, or heavenly forces, such as fortune-tellers, clairvoyants , ghosts etc and the way they interfere present time and common people lives. I didn't yet understand what is the author's intention in doing or writing so. But certainly she somehow makes her readers to believe in such creatures and events.
One more thing that I realized is that her heroes and characters are never fully happy or accomplished. She always leaves some space for grief and sadness, which is depressing sometimes :)
Now about the main messages of the book, as I interpreted it.
1) Istanbul and eventually whole Turkey is an area of not only Turks , but all the nations that lived there, including Armenians, Greeks, other Slavic people and Muslims . By saying this, author wants to emphasize that Turkey is not only home to Turks , but also to the ancestors of mentioned above. She highlights the multicultural, nature of Turkey and especially Istanbul. She brings this message gradually by unfolding the past of both Turkish and Armenian family. And it turns out that the Turkish family was actually generated from the same Armenian woman and the Armenian family. It sounds a lot like a unreal story to me to be honest, because how come no one in the family doesn't know the truth to start with.
2) She mentioned more the pain of Armenians rarely , or not giving the information of why actually this conflict had started. And that creates an image that she wanted to focus on Armenians more. My thoughts on this point is, if she was going to dig into the past and history she should have made enough research to also highlight the reason behind this conflict. Otherwise it sounds like we Turks were wrong therefore lets not talk about us, but you and we are sorry. I dont think this is the right approach to the issue.
3) She also gives hint that Turks often very forgetful about their past but Armenians are complete opposite, they pass their history to generations to come. I find it true. Because as Azeris are just like Turks, our ancestors also been through so much injustice and pain , counting from Armenians to Russians. But we tend to gradually forget the past and live in the present. I cant really say this habit is bad, neither it is good. It depends in which angle you are looking from.
I personally was not happy with the characters and the way she described or developed them, which actually most of the time distracts the reader and makes the book more of like a torture, rather than grow interest.
Overall I cant say that I enjoyed the book much. So I would rate it with 6/10 being loyal to my interests and standards.
August, 2016
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