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Bizans Sultanı (2011)

by Selçuk Altun(Favorite Author)
3.1 of 5 Votes: 4
languge
English
publisher
Sel Yayıncılık
review 1: The Sultan of Byzantium is ostensibly a work of fiction but it reads more like a memoir of a young man's journey into his deep past. The cultural richness of Constantinople and the legacy of the last Byzantine Emperors is brought to life through the protagonist/narrator's search through the art, architecture and archive of the heirs to the Roman Empire. On a year long question to fulfill the last item of the will of Emperor Constantine XI; which if our protagonist/narrator (who doesn't reveal his name until near the end of the book) completes, will earn him the title of Emperor of Byzantium-in-Exile and a hefty income, travels through various parts of modern Greece, Turkey, Italy and even the U.S. to gain knowledge and understanding of his heritage. Truly an adventurou... mores tales and a love-song to the greatness of Byzantium.
review 2: I'd read a previous book by Altun. Similar narrator/protagonist--male, tending toward middle age, somewhat socially isolated, on a quest. What's to like? Authorial voice. Guaranteed unique, imaginative plots. In this novel there are some byzantine affairs underway. Extra pay-off: I know want to know more about Byzantine empire. Wears the erudition in this book lightly though. Here's one test this book passed: at some point in novels such as this I'll flip to the back and read the last couple of pages (bad habit, I know). Sometimes what I read lets me/makes me set it aside, with intervening pages unread. This book--didn't matter. AND reading through the last half made the ending I already sort-of knew al the more satisfying. less
Reviews (see all)
toria
I hated it. Don't know why I didn't give up - kept expecting it to improve but it didn't.
Sihaya
A fun read, with a few literary jokes embedded in it for mystery readers.
sapi
Interesting reading, but rather anticlimactic
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