Read the book a few months ago having pocked it up on a visit to Paris. I quite enjoyed it but I did find it a bit difficult to relate to the characters and their direct experiences. She does have a lovely reflective way of writing though.
I read recently her book The Wilderness, an essay about postpartum, highly recommend it. And have finally got The Anthropologists this week, so hoping to start it in the next few days. Will go back to your review once I have read it. As a former immigrant in London working in my second language, I am always fascinated by writers who manage to write at this level in their second language. She is Turkish, lives in Paris and writes in English, I read somewhere that her dad was a diplomat and they did live in many places, but yet... it takes courage to write professionally in a second language.
I know! I was blown away when I realised she wrote in English; I had been looking for the translator of the book! Such a great talent. I hope you enjoy The Anthropologists. I haven't yet read The Wildnerness but have all her books on my list.
I have read most of her books, I am a big fan of hers, also love the fact that she started to write "later in life". I am looking forward to see if The Anthropologists is in any way similar to Latronico's Perfection, for some reason I feel they might be.
OK. I have been saving this post to read ... and I was so nervous, Kate!!! I really wanted you to love it and I am so relieved that you did, for all the same reasons.
This quote is in my commonplace journal, I love it so much:
'This was the other thing: it seemed that our interests could be legitimised only if we made something of them—a book, an exhibit. We often said what a shame this was; we romanticised artists of past decades, doing work with great joy and creativity without turning it into a product. Still, we belonged to our own times.’
So many of the reviews of Savaş's work are focused on how simple and monotone her work feels... and I feel that even though I agree with those descriptions from a factual perspective, I also feel that in describing her work in that way... we don't do it justice. There is such an emotional density to it, she is just a master of distilling a big idea to an off-the-cough comment between spouses. I am totally and completely obsessed!
Oh, how amazing that you had the same quotation written down! There were so many in the book that I loved. Like we have both noted, the language and dialogue seem so simple, but like all the best novelists (in my opinion), she conveys the deepst of ideas and emotions this way. And I absolutely loved the ending of the book. I can't wait to read all of her work. Thank you for the introduction 💜 📚
Not an author I know, but the book sounds really interesting. Thank you to yourself and Petya for the introduction. And happy upcoming 3rd anniversary 🥳
I haven’t read it, but your excellent review has convinced me I’ll love it, so will definitely move it to the top of my TBR list, thank you!
I’m reading Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir - I read very little science-fiction and it was a present for my husband, but he enjoyed it, so I picked it up to broaden my reading horizons.
Ok so that posted while I was trying to edit it and I can’t find a way of deleting it. So to continue: … and of seeing clearly for the first time how that’s exactly where the most important parts of our lives are.
I’ve been luck enough to have been reading a proof copy of Ghosts of the Farm by the brilliant Nicola Chester @nicolawriting which is out at the end of this month. I think you’d really like it actually - a central theme is the impossibility of having a farm of one’s own if one is female and not from the landowning aristocracy. Nobody writes about English rural life better than Nicola.
Read the book a few months ago having pocked it up on a visit to Paris. I quite enjoyed it but I did find it a bit difficult to relate to the characters and their direct experiences. She does have a lovely reflective way of writing though.
Such a lovely way of writing! I can’t wait to try her other novels.
This was a great read. It really highlights that life is lived in those little moments between each other, not in the big gestures. So well written.
Thank you! :)
I read recently her book The Wilderness, an essay about postpartum, highly recommend it. And have finally got The Anthropologists this week, so hoping to start it in the next few days. Will go back to your review once I have read it. As a former immigrant in London working in my second language, I am always fascinated by writers who manage to write at this level in their second language. She is Turkish, lives in Paris and writes in English, I read somewhere that her dad was a diplomat and they did live in many places, but yet... it takes courage to write professionally in a second language.
I know! I was blown away when I realised she wrote in English; I had been looking for the translator of the book! Such a great talent. I hope you enjoy The Anthropologists. I haven't yet read The Wildnerness but have all her books on my list.
Her writing reminds me of Tessa Hadley, have you read her?
Yes, I have read a couple of Hadley's books. I enjoyed her recent one Free Love. I can see a similarity althought it hadn't occurred to me!
I have read most of her books, I am a big fan of hers, also love the fact that she started to write "later in life". I am looking forward to see if The Anthropologists is in any way similar to Latronico's Perfection, for some reason I feel they might be.
Congrats on your anniversary! This sounds like such an interesting read, I love finding novels with a lovely style of writing. Thanks for sharing x
Thank you! 💕 I think you’d like this one.
OK. I have been saving this post to read ... and I was so nervous, Kate!!! I really wanted you to love it and I am so relieved that you did, for all the same reasons.
This quote is in my commonplace journal, I love it so much:
'This was the other thing: it seemed that our interests could be legitimised only if we made something of them—a book, an exhibit. We often said what a shame this was; we romanticised artists of past decades, doing work with great joy and creativity without turning it into a product. Still, we belonged to our own times.’
So many of the reviews of Savaş's work are focused on how simple and monotone her work feels... and I feel that even though I agree with those descriptions from a factual perspective, I also feel that in describing her work in that way... we don't do it justice. There is such an emotional density to it, she is just a master of distilling a big idea to an off-the-cough comment between spouses. I am totally and completely obsessed!
Oh, how amazing that you had the same quotation written down! There were so many in the book that I loved. Like we have both noted, the language and dialogue seem so simple, but like all the best novelists (in my opinion), she conveys the deepst of ideas and emotions this way. And I absolutely loved the ending of the book. I can't wait to read all of her work. Thank you for the introduction 💜 📚
I really enjoyed this book too. It really spoke to me
It's wonderful 💕
Not an author I know, but the book sounds really interesting. Thank you to yourself and Petya for the introduction. And happy upcoming 3rd anniversary 🥳
Thank you Victoria. Such a tiny book that contains much more than it seems. An author I will definitely be reading more of!
And happy 3rd birthday! I really enjoy your posts - I have, in fact, linked to your piece on Anne Brontẽ in my latest post.
Thank you!
I haven’t read it, but your excellent review has convinced me I’ll love it, so will definitely move it to the top of my TBR list, thank you!
I’m reading Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir - I read very little science-fiction and it was a present for my husband, but he enjoyed it, so I picked it up to broaden my reading horizons.
Ooh, I am glad to have inspired your tbr!
Happy 3rd, Kate! 🎂🎉 Consistently great writing! 👏
Thank you! 💕 😊
I really enjoyed this, Kate. It very much chimed with my own experience of starting a daily journal of the ‘ordinary’ things that happen to me
Ok so that posted while I was trying to edit it and I can’t find a way of deleting it. So to continue: … and of seeing clearly for the first time how that’s exactly where the most important parts of our lives are.
I’ve been luck enough to have been reading a proof copy of Ghosts of the Farm by the brilliant Nicola Chester @nicolawriting which is out at the end of this month. I think you’d really like it actually - a central theme is the impossibility of having a farm of one’s own if one is female and not from the landowning aristocracy. Nobody writes about English rural life better than Nicola.
That sounds amazing! I will get hold of it once it comes out- thanks. I love the term "a farm of one's own."
And yes, your new journaling ideas would sit well with the ideas in the book. It really touched me in that regard.