Customer Reviews

Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind.

Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future...

One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind.

Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future...

One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

Mary Lee Settle introduced me to a vastly different Turkey than the one I was familiar with through history books, popular sentiment and news articles. As an American, my interest in the "outside world" is often surprising to those from other lands. Turkey never seemed warm, romantic or joyful... until I read and visualized "Turkish Reflections". Rarely has a literary work caused me to experience a place so richly. From the descriptions of Turkish warmth in Bodrum to mind-bending jaunts through 8,000 year old settlements, Settle paints a portrait of a land deliciously steeped in hospitality, tolerance and texture. Political realities notwithstanding, this book establishes Turkey as an extremely desirable place to sojourn.

In 1972 the author went to Turkey and stayed for three years because it was cheap, a good place for a writer of limited means. Fourteen years later she returns to the country and people she obviously has a great affection for. She writes that, in Turkey, nothing is wasted. Stones from Greek and Roman temples are used to build Christian churches during the Byzantine Empire and then are converted to mosques during the Ottoman times. Her book also wastes nothing, mixing bits of history, archeology, mythology, and religion to construct a Turkey that is, at once, thousands of years old and modern. This is a great primer for anyone planning on going to Turkey. My wife and I are going in the fall and, after reading this book, I can't wait.

Being a citizen of Turkey, but of Kurdish origin, I can say that this is the best book that I have ever read - written by a foreigner about Turkey. It is suprising how some other reviewers seem to know the state of Kurds better than we know ourselves. I am very astonished that foreigners think so one sided thigns about us. Most Kurds live outside the southeast and in Kurdistan also Turks feel ill. For most the problem is called poverty. Whatever happens it is always the normal citizens who get the punishment from foreigners - mostly aggressive Greeks. This is very sad because most Greeks never even meet a Turk or a Kurd. If they meet a Kurd, they meet a communist expatriot who has nothing to do with majority of Kurds. Very sad. Thank you for Mary Lee Settle, she saw the reality and wrote very nicely about it. At least she SAW the reality, the reviewers did NOT. Allah Korusun.

This is an interesting book about a dynamic country. Highly recommended... It tries to do justice to the etnic diversity and tolearance of a country where hundreds of ethnicities peacefully live today under the umbrella of Turkish citizenship. In contrast to the review below, all the ancient cultures of Anatolia and the Balkans are alive in Turkey -- most of whose population consists of Moslemized (but very secular) descendants of those ancient peoples. Isolated outburts of religious/ethnic strife under the Ottomans (during WW I) and later in 1955 (during a Cyprus crisis) do not detract from the tolerance and ethnic harmony of a country which is a veritable mosaic of peoples from the Caucasus to the Balkans, from Albanians to Kurds. Mary Lee Settle draws a good portrait of a fascinating country in which ancient Greece, modern Europe, Hittite culture etc are alive, side by side.

The Armenian reader from Amsterdam, Holland claims that they have lived in the territory now called Turkey (his writing) for more than 2500 years. This is, of course, patently untrue since the Armenians lived in what now constitutes the northeastern of modern day Turkey. That's not ALL of Turkey. Then he/she is outraged that a 'tourist' guide would not talk about the so-called Armenian Genocide at the hands of Turks? Hello???

You can pretty much determine if a book on Turkey and the Turks is any good by checking out the Armenian/Greek/Kurdish reaction. Man, their hatred runs deep!.. If the buffoons are outraged, that means the book is UNBIASED. Maybe it has a few positive comments on Turkey. In this case, Settle has distilled her experiences in beautiful prose and introduced us to a mysterious, and distant country.

A most pleasant evening's read. Not really a book I would recommend to guide anyone planning a first trip to Turkey, as it is a bit too intellectual--i.e., reflective, and its greatest appeal will probably be to anyone already familiar with Turkey. However, maybe it is the kind of book that a first-time traveller to Turkey should read after having gone through the nuts and bolts travel guides. Sprinkled throughout are some wonderful word pictures, such as the description of the great Kangal dogs that actually brought a tear of recollection to my mind's eye--I was menaced and reduced to admiration more than once by these awesome creatures when I lived in Turkey. Settle's writing made me instantly feel I was right there with her. Her brief evocation of the panic-stricken French girl deep in one of the Cappadocian caves was heart wrenching.

This book reflects personal experiences and insights of the author, which is done very sincerely and poetically. It is not a history textbook nor carries a political agenda. I do not know if the reader had read the whole book but pages 66-67 contain references to Armenian genocide. I can also tell that this reader's knowledge of modern Turkey and Turkish people and their relationships with Armenians, Greeks and Kurds are limited to few subjective publications. If he/she ever lived in Turkey and observed how those people from diverse backgrounds live, go schools and work together, become best friends and marry each other, he/she would not believe every opinion so naively. Every country has its own unique disparities and ways to deal with them. Turkey regionally and politically has a very strategic position (historically much diverse compared to many countries in the world); hence, it experienced and continues to experience many uproars for claims of land. This situation is not unique to Turkey and I strongly believe that most countries would do the same to defend the integrity of their land.

Settle writes compellingly, and she really captures Turkey in this memoir. One of the best travel books I've read.