Recent reading.

April
So it seems to have taken quite some time but I have finally finished Birds Without Wings .
I didn't really know very much of the historical context and got confused about the place names...Not saying much for my general knowlegde. This hindered my enthusiasm on those particular chapters. I didn't skip the chapters charting Mustafa Kemal's rise to power and military campaigns, although the thought crossed my mind more than once, however my concentration usually wandered and I was more focused on how long it was before I got on to the next bit of real narative.
Again, I liked reading about the small country culture of the village in which the focus of the novel was set. I particularly warmed to the character of Rustem Bey. He was the honourable gentleman figure in this little naieve rural village. It was charming at times to see the relations between the Christians and Muslims, with the casual exchange of rituals and icons. The expulsion of the Christians from their homes in Turkey was made all the more poignant by the trust and unquestioning way in which they submitted to the forces in charge. The way in which the two communities lived in harmony and were subjected to change which took the soul out from their homes was tragic...
As I say, I don't think I got as much as I could from this novel because I didn't really understand what was going on in the political.historical side of things... I did really like the little anecdote about King Alexander. Its amazing that the course of history was changed by a monkey biting a man as he tried to save his pet dog!
It took me so long to finish that was almost waiting for it to finish. I don't feel like anything exceptional happened at the end... Not sure I have very much else to say about this book. 6.5/10