I think I'm going to make some people howl with this review, if you are one of them, I apologize. Well, not really, I just thought it would be a nice thing to say. Getting the apology up front means I don't have to do it later.To be quite honest with you, I went into this book thinking I would love it. It had a wonderful concept and was set in a locale that I have always been fascinated with. My grandfather was stationed in Turkey for a long time, and while I've been to Ankara, Istanbul has always been on the top of my list of places I would love to visit. About the only thing this book did for me, was make that desire grow in leaps and bounds.The settings was everything I expected. The author was able to make the city breathe for me in a way that I found fascinating to read. I felt as if I was there with Eleonora as she stowed away on the ship her father was taking to the city. I was holding her hand as she visited the Sultan for the first time. Everything was brought to life in such a mentally tactile way, that I found myself lost in the sensation of it all. I just wish it had been enough to save the book for me.Where I felt let down, was in the characterization. There was not one character that felt completely real to me. None of them, Eleonora included, felt as if they were flesh and blood. Instead they all seemed to be ethereal phantoms that had just stepped out of the author's cerebral cortex, not yet fully formed. They were mere ideas, not concrete forms. Normally I can overlook shadowy characters if at least one of them is solid, hopefully the main character. In this case, while Eleonora was definitely the most opaque of them all, I just couldn't buy her as a real human being. She was too perfect, too much of the idea, that she never moved beyond it.Eleonora is a child, but not once, do I ever get the impression that I'm reading about the life of an eight year old. If her age hadn't been mentioned, on more than one occasion, I'm not sure she would be any different than the adult characters. She never behaved as if she were a child. In my experience, there is no such thing as a perfectly well behaved kid. If you have one, please let me know how you did it. Every single one of them do things that get them in trouble. It's part of growing up. Eleonora on the other hand seems as if she was born an adult. She's too perfect. She has no flaws, no personality defects; there is nothing about her that causes any conflict, other than those born of her being perfect. I guess what I'm trying to say is that she is a boring character. Unfortunately, that aspect of her influenced the way I felt about the book itself. There was a sense of shallowness to it all, a dullness that I just couldn't overlook. The book did leave me with one rather burning question though. In the book the author compares the twinkling of stars to jellyfish. I've been trying to figure out what the hell that means ever since. At first I was thinking about the jellyfish you put in fish tanks with black lights. I figured that couldn't be it since that part of the book took place in 1885. So please, if you have any clue what he was talking about, will you let me in on it. While this is not an exceptionally exciting book, or the kind of book that draws you in and refuses to let you leave its side until you have completed it, The Oracle of Stamboul is a very good historical fiction of a time period in Turkey I had previously never read about. Its protagonist Eleanora is difficult to relate to, since for most of the book she is eight years old, and many of her actions are unexplained, which I find odd since most of the book's content is explaining, providing background, and describing. There is little dialogue and little subplot, but it is a relatively quick read and enjoyable till the end. My main complaint is the lack of explanation for Eleanora's actions and decisions. For instance, her lack of speech following a tragedy that I will not spoil here is relatively unexplained and seems to reverse without much explanation either. Other pieces of information are dropped into paragraphs quite frequently but not elaborated on- such as the fact that Eleanora is Jewish in a predominantly Muslim area. Despite this, it is an excellent read and I recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction.
What do You think about The Oracle Of Stamboul (2011)?
I liked the way it ended. I was worried something bad was going to happen to her but it didn't.
—DEE
Compelling story. Makes me want to read more about Istanbul and this time in history.
—patinthehat
Well I would have put half a star if there was....
—sharon
What a great beginning, and then a crap ending
—odin
