For the first half of the this novel I was confused, due to my limited knowledge of Turkish locales, the dialect, people, and the nation's relation with other countries (primarily Greece). Coupled with a plot that I felt was overshadowed by River of Gods, where, in both, unrelated characters come together to discover a larger techno-conspiracy, I was pessimistic. But, as I entered the second half of the story, the learning curve plateaued and things came together. I overcame my broken pronunciation of names once I downloaded the audiobook (e.g., Can sounds more like John than Khan), and I started to realize how unique and beautiful this novel is. Ian's narrative is explosive and his descriptions of sound and pop culture references (both real and fictitious) are unmatched. As the book ended I knew I had arrived too late to this party. But I'll be going back soon, and I think it will be better the next time around. I'm a big fan of Istanbul so I started this book really wanting to like it. I think he captured the city well and its inhabitants. However the primary plotline of the book never really caught my attention. Unlike some of his other works, there really isn't a strong theme tying everything together and weaving together the disparate story lines. Everything feels a bit too neatly done and the tension never really builds. In fact one of the main characters goes so far as to say that boys and old men don't solve crimes single handedly except in novels... and then guess what happens.Overall an ok experience but not his best work.
What do You think about Dervish House, The (2012)?
..felt like a chore..the story jumped too much for me to get into
—suzane
Challenging to get into, but I ended up enjoying it a lot!
—mechavm
