Ours For The Reading

Istanbul

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I’m Sarah: a Londoner in Istanbul largely spending my time reading things, teaching things, writing about things, muttering things as I schlep up steep hills around Taksim Square and petting stray cats along the way.

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Simon Armitage being the new Poet Laureate is brilliant and made me remember this poem of his, which is still one of my favourites. 💛 It gets better with each read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #simonarmitage #poetlaureate #poetry #poetryofinstagram #poetrycommunity #simonarmitagepoetry

My first article for Yabangee.com - the best cafés to read and work in in central Istanbul. Researching this was pretty tough, have to say. 🇹🇷😁Link is in my bio and up on Yabangee.com! . . . . . . . . . . #istanbulbloggers #istanbul #istanbulu #readingistanbul #istanbulcafe #taksim #taksimsquare #readinglife #travelturkey #istanbulturkey

I’ve written a new blog post on my lovely neighbourhood of Istanbul, where the streets are leafy, the views are wonderful and you can get 26-plate breakfast feasts such as this one ➡️ (I was sharing 🤣)(begrudgingly) (joking/not joking) . . Also, Nobel Prize for Literature winner Orhan Pamuk lives here, too, so it must be very classy. . . . . . .https://oursforthereading.com . . . . . . #istanbul #istanbulbloggers #istanbulu #turkey #cihangir #orhanpamuk #turkishbreakfast #ilovewhereilive #travelturkey #istanbullife

“𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.” . 📚Based on Antigone, Shamsie’s novel uses the Ancient Greek tragedy to reflect an ongoing, complex and brutal tragedy of modern times: the threat of extremism and the toll it takes on a global and more intimate scale. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦 shows a family torn apart when a brother joins ISIS, and the repercussions that this move causes: both global and familial. There was something about this novel I couldn’t quite connect with. The characters felt like caricatures at times, and some plot points felt more dei-ex-machina to rush us towards the next part - particularly difficult to reconcile when we expect the novel to show us the internal struggle of the characters. When the novel shows nuanced motivations and dilemmas, that’s when it’s at its most moving and convincing. Anneka - our Antigone - is difficult to relate to. Her relationship with her twin is depicted as being so strong that it feels that we are to forgive and understand all her actions in relation to him, unquestioningly. Unlike the other characters, we never get inside her head to fully grasp her; instead, we read newspaper clippings of her that feel like unconvincing parodies of 1970s tabloids (a description of “Anneka ‘Knickers’ Pasha” is one jarring example). Thematically, I thought the rewriting of a Greek tragedy based around the devastation of extremism would work really well. However, now I wonder if a narrative such as Shamsie’s needs to be told outside the bounds of any other story forming its way. 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦’s story is an issue that needs telling as much as possible, certainly, but it is always a hugely complex one, and one without any set narrative. It was mainly this, I think, that caused the characters not to feel as fully formed as they could have - but I do think it’s still worth a read.

I just love a spread of new books SO much - I miss these even more so now that I’m in Istanbul and most book displays require me to have book in one hand, Turkish dictionary app in the other 🤣 I took this picture for #tbr inspiration - current top are My Sister the Serial Killer, The Binding and Late in the Day. But they change every time I look at this picture 😄📚❤️ . . . . . . . . . . . #bookstagram #bookshops #bookshopsofinstagram #bookshopsoflondon #currentlyreading #fortheloveofreading #bookworm #bookdisplay #bookcommunity @waterstonestcr

This book is everything a book that wins the Women’s Prize should be - I loved it and have not stopped thinking about it since I read it. To quote the man in Waterstones who served me: “it’s wonderful, but insidious.” My review of Ghost Wall is on my blog now - link is in the bio. It’s my current fave of the Women’s Prize longlist I’ve read so far! (My blog currently looks like a prototype website from 2001 or something. Wordpress and I are going through a rocky patch, but we are working on our relationship.) 💻💛 . . . . . . . . . . . . . #bookstagram #igreads #bookworm #ghostwall #sarahmoss #womensprize #womensprizeforfiction #bookblogger #bookbloggersofinstagram #currentlyreading #bookreview #bookreccomendation

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