#54 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World, by Elif Shafak




Booker Prize:  Shortlisted 2019

Plot Time and Place:  Istanbul, present day.

Opening sentence:  "Her name was Leila."

Plot summary:  Leila has been murdered and lies in a dumpster, but the brain still works for 10 minutes after death, so she remembers scenes from her life and her friends.

Review:  Great. This book is a sensitive and beautiful portrayal of life for women and girls in a conservative society; a love letter to the city of Istanbul; and an ode to friendship.

Rating:  4/5




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#41 Milkman, by Anna Burns

Image
  Booker Prize :   WINNER 2018 Plot Time and Place :  Northern Ireland, the 1970's Opening sentence : "The day Somebody McSomebody put a gun to my breast and called me a cat and threatened to shoot me was the same day the milkman died." Plot summary :  The story follows an 18-year-old girl who is harassed by an older married man, known as "Milkman". Review :  Negative aspects: the stream-of-consciousness narration gets tiring, and at points it just feels like the narrator is rambling on and on about nothing, and that nothing happens. Positive aspects: the humour; the feminist aspect; learning about life in a small town; learning about life during the Troubles. Rating :  3/5
Read more

#13 Notes on a Scandal, by Zoe Heller

Image
  Booker Prize : Shortlisted 2003 Plot Time and Place :  Present day England Opening sentence :   "The other night, at dinner, Sheba talked about the first time that she and the Connolly boy kissed." Plot summary :  The narrator, Barbara Covett, is telling us this story with a clear aim in mind: she is in the middle of a national scandal and, without confiding her plans to the woman on whose actions this scandal has turned, plans to publish this account for the public eye later. Barbara is a History teacher. She is a lonely old woman and very judgemental.  Her co-worker, Sheba, is a 40-something-year-old Pottery teacher who is having an affair with a 16-year-old male student.   Review :   Very good psychological portrait of the inner life and motivations of a lonely and unhappy person. In the end you don't know if you hate the villain or feel sorry for her.  Rating :   4/5
Read more

#39 Western Lane, by Chetna Maroo

Image
  Booker Prize :  Shortlisted 2023 Plot Time and Place : Present-day UK Opening sentence : "I don't know if you have ever stood in the middle of a squash court - on the T - and listened to what is going on next door." Plot summary :  A young girl tries to navigate her grief, and the family's, after her mother's death. Review : I wasn't familiar with the squash stuff, nor with the Indian foods, and other Indian terminology, so that was a bit of a hindrance to my enjoyment of the book. However, I found it touching and I liked the fact that it was a first-person child narrator.  Rating :   3/5
Read more