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Yashim the Eunuch #2
Gyvatės akmuo
Jasonas Goodwinas (g. 1964) – mokslininkas, romanistas, keliautojas. Autorius studijavo Bizantijos istoriją Cambridge, keliavo po Tolimuosius Rytus ir Indiją. Šiuo metu su žmona ir keturiais vaikais gyvena Vakarų Sasekse, Anglijoje. „Gyvatės akmuo“ – antrasis romanas, kuriame Osmanų imperijos mįsles narplioja originalus „seklys“ – eunuchas Jašimas. Pirmajame romane „Jančyrų medis“ (lietuvių kalba išleistas 2006 m.) prieš akis iškyla imperijos karių – janyčarų – šlovės ir žlugimo istorija, o „Gyvatės akmenyje“ paslaptingos žmogžudystės ima skinti Stambulo graikų bendruomenės narius.
334 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2007
About the author
Jason Goodwin
44 books405 followersJason Goodwin's latest book is YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL: Culinary Adventures in the Ottoman Kitchen.
He studied Byzantine history at Cambridge University - and returned to an old obsession to write The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels in China and India in Search of Tea, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award. When the Berlin Wall fell, he walked from Poland to Istanbul to encounter the new European neighbours. His account of the journey, On Foot to the Golden Horn, won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize in 1993.
Fascinated by what he had learned of Istanbul's perpetual influence in the region, he wrote Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, a New York Times Notable Book. 'If you want to learn,' he says, 'write a book.' Lords of the Horizons was described by Time Out as 'perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything.'
Having always wanted to write fiction, he became popular as the author of the mystery series beginning with The Janissary Tree, which won the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007. Translated into more than 40 languages, the series continues with The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye and The Baklava Club. They feature a Turkish detective, Yashim, who lives in 19th century Istanbul.
YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL is an illustrated collection of recipes, inspired by the cookery in his five published adventures.
He studied Byzantine history at Cambridge University - and returned to an old obsession to write The Gunpowder Gardens or, A Time For Tea: Travels in China and India in Search of Tea, which was shortlisted for the Thomas Cook Award. When the Berlin Wall fell, he walked from Poland to Istanbul to encounter the new European neighbours. His account of the journey, On Foot to the Golden Horn, won the John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize in 1993.
Fascinated by what he had learned of Istanbul's perpetual influence in the region, he wrote Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire, a New York Times Notable Book. 'If you want to learn,' he says, 'write a book.' Lords of the Horizons was described by Time Out as 'perhaps the most readable history ever written on anything.'
Having always wanted to write fiction, he became popular as the author of the mystery series beginning with The Janissary Tree, which won the coveted Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2007. Translated into more than 40 languages, the series continues with The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, An Evil Eye and The Baklava Club. They feature a Turkish detective, Yashim, who lives in 19th century Istanbul.
YASHIM COOKS ISTANBUL is an illustrated collection of recipes, inspired by the cookery in his five published adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
October 4, 2018
"Yashim did not challenge the men who met him; or the women. With his kind face, gray eyes, dark curls barely touched, at forty, by the passage of the years, Yashim was a listener; a quiet questioner; and not entirely a man. Yashim was a eunuch."
The city of Istanbul is nestled under a cloud of apprehension in 1839. The Sultan Malmud II is dying and with any impending change of power the people are uncertain about how their lives will be affected by the will of the new Sultan.
Sultan Mahumud II
Yashim has not been summoned to the palace in quite a while. With time on his hands his skills at investigation can be turned to private matters. He is promptly hired and as promptly fired to investigate a situation involving an acquaintance of his, a pseudo archaeologist named Maximilien Lefevre. When Lefevre's body is found on the steps of the French Embassy, ripped to shreds by dogs, the prime suspect is Yashim.
"Nobody ever could say how, or even why, the dogs had come to Istanbul. Some people supposed that they had been there always, even in the time of the Greeks; others, that they invaded the city at the time of the Conquest, dropping down from the Balkans to prowl through the blasted streets and the ruins in the fields, where they formed into packs and carved out territories for themselves that still held good to the present day. But nobody really knew."
Once in a while these dogs are rounded up (all the usual suspects) and hauled out to the country side or dumped on islands and yet...
"But either they all came back or they simply grew again, like the lizard's tail or moss in the masonry, the same yellow, rangy, ribs-sticking-out mangy curs, with fleabites and battle scars and their own distinct parishes. And nobody minded them, either. Like puddles after rain, or shadow, or the blazing sun at noon, they were simply there; and they scavenged the city streets and kept them clean."
Goodwin writes in such a way that you really feel like you are there stepping over dogs, sliding your hands along Roman stonework, or stopping for a quick coffee to ponder recently acquired clues.
1830s coffeehouse
Yashim is an avid book collector. He has a particular fondness for French writers. He cooks and takes his food preparations very seriously. The description of the ingredients made my mouth water. A young boy lurks beneath his window available to dash off to the markets at a moments notice for a missing ingredient. (How handy would that be?)
Oh wait, yes there is an ongoing investigation.
Yashim's books are riffled and the meager contents of his home are tossed (This was the lowest moment of the story for me. It takes a true blackguard to toss books about.). He is chased by Maltese sailors. He is nearly seduced by the beautiful wife of Lefevre. He is stabbed and nearly drowned as he chases the lovely Amelie, who is in search of Byzantium treasure, through the claustrophobic cisterns beneath the Aya Sofia.
With encouragement from his friend, the Polish ambassador Stanislaw Palewski, and his confidant and fellow book lover the valide, mother of the Sultan, he continues to chase down the alleyways after the shadows that are obscuring the truth.
In the first bookThe Janissary TreeI learned that a eunuch can make love, actually quite passionately. In The Snake StoneI learned that if I ever have to dispose of a body in Istanbul I need to open up the stomach cavity, leave the body in a dark alley, and let the dogs of Istanbul do their worst. With any luck the body will be unrecognizable by morning. If you have any interest in Turkey you have to read this series. If you don't have any interest in Turkey you will after reading Jason Goodwin's books. Highly recommended!!
The city of Istanbul is nestled under a cloud of apprehension in 1839. The Sultan Malmud II is dying and with any impending change of power the people are uncertain about how their lives will be affected by the will of the new Sultan.
Sultan Mahumud II
Yashim has not been summoned to the palace in quite a while. With time on his hands his skills at investigation can be turned to private matters. He is promptly hired and as promptly fired to investigate a situation involving an acquaintance of his, a pseudo archaeologist named Maximilien Lefevre. When Lefevre's body is found on the steps of the French Embassy, ripped to shreds by dogs, the prime suspect is Yashim.
"Nobody ever could say how, or even why, the dogs had come to Istanbul. Some people supposed that they had been there always, even in the time of the Greeks; others, that they invaded the city at the time of the Conquest, dropping down from the Balkans to prowl through the blasted streets and the ruins in the fields, where they formed into packs and carved out territories for themselves that still held good to the present day. But nobody really knew."
Once in a while these dogs are rounded up (all the usual suspects) and hauled out to the country side or dumped on islands and yet...
"But either they all came back or they simply grew again, like the lizard's tail or moss in the masonry, the same yellow, rangy, ribs-sticking-out mangy curs, with fleabites and battle scars and their own distinct parishes. And nobody minded them, either. Like puddles after rain, or shadow, or the blazing sun at noon, they were simply there; and they scavenged the city streets and kept them clean."
Goodwin writes in such a way that you really feel like you are there stepping over dogs, sliding your hands along Roman stonework, or stopping for a quick coffee to ponder recently acquired clues.
1830s coffeehouse
Yashim is an avid book collector. He has a particular fondness for French writers. He cooks and takes his food preparations very seriously. The description of the ingredients made my mouth water. A young boy lurks beneath his window available to dash off to the markets at a moments notice for a missing ingredient. (How handy would that be?)
Oh wait, yes there is an ongoing investigation.
Yashim's books are riffled and the meager contents of his home are tossed (This was the lowest moment of the story for me. It takes a true blackguard to toss books about.). He is chased by Maltese sailors. He is nearly seduced by the beautiful wife of Lefevre. He is stabbed and nearly drowned as he chases the lovely Amelie, who is in search of Byzantium treasure, through the claustrophobic cisterns beneath the Aya Sofia.
With encouragement from his friend, the Polish ambassador Stanislaw Palewski, and his confidant and fellow book lover the valide, mother of the Sultan, he continues to chase down the alleyways after the shadows that are obscuring the truth.
In the first bookThe Janissary TreeI learned that a eunuch can make love, actually quite passionately. In The Snake StoneI learned that if I ever have to dispose of a body in Istanbul I need to open up the stomach cavity, leave the body in a dark alley, and let the dogs of Istanbul do their worst. With any luck the body will be unrecognizable by morning. If you have any interest in Turkey you have to read this series. If you don't have any interest in Turkey you will after reading Jason Goodwin's books. Highly recommended!!
November 29, 2008
I really enjoyed The Janissary Tree, so I was very excited about the release of the follow-up mystery, The Snake Stone. But, sadly, I found it terribly disappointing.
Goodwin clearly as a vast knowledge of the world of 19th-century Istanbul. In his first novel, he carefully balanced his knowledge with explanations and descriptions that kept the reader engaged in a world that few Westerners likely know much about. But in this new novel, arcana seems to have taken over, and it makes the story hard to follow. Take, as an example, Goodwin's use of various suburbs and neighborhoods (at least, I assume that's what the locations were) of Istanbul as sites for his action. I, for one, don't know anything about Istanbul's layout or surroundings, and it would have been nice to have a map or something handy just to figure out where people were going and what the different settings were all about. As it was, every time Goodwin transported me to a new area of town I felt lost and confused.
This lack of orientation carried into other parts of the book, as well. Indeed, the whole unraveling of the mystery seems a bit aimless. Half of the time, Goodwin seems to be relying on post hoc explanations that have little (if anything) to do with the clues the reader has been offered along the way. Some parts of the mystery (I am thinking in particular of the small metal balls--I won't say more for fear of giving something away) don't get any explanation at all. It's always frustrating when a mystery leaves such obvious questions unanswered.
Finally, I was disappointed by the ending, which was terribly anti-climactic. In fact, I only realized after the fact that the climactic scene was actually the climax of the novel: after reading the scene, I was certainly expecting more to happen, but I was left wanting.
All in all, a disappointing second effort to follow up on such a great debut novel.
Goodwin clearly as a vast knowledge of the world of 19th-century Istanbul. In his first novel, he carefully balanced his knowledge with explanations and descriptions that kept the reader engaged in a world that few Westerners likely know much about. But in this new novel, arcana seems to have taken over, and it makes the story hard to follow. Take, as an example, Goodwin's use of various suburbs and neighborhoods (at least, I assume that's what the locations were) of Istanbul as sites for his action. I, for one, don't know anything about Istanbul's layout or surroundings, and it would have been nice to have a map or something handy just to figure out where people were going and what the different settings were all about. As it was, every time Goodwin transported me to a new area of town I felt lost and confused.
This lack of orientation carried into other parts of the book, as well. Indeed, the whole unraveling of the mystery seems a bit aimless. Half of the time, Goodwin seems to be relying on post hoc explanations that have little (if anything) to do with the clues the reader has been offered along the way. Some parts of the mystery (I am thinking in particular of the small metal balls--I won't say more for fear of giving something away) don't get any explanation at all. It's always frustrating when a mystery leaves such obvious questions unanswered.
Finally, I was disappointed by the ending, which was terribly anti-climactic. In fact, I only realized after the fact that the climactic scene was actually the climax of the novel: after reading the scene, I was certainly expecting more to happen, but I was left wanting.
All in all, a disappointing second effort to follow up on such a great debut novel.
November 27, 2010
The Ottoman Empire feels like a great gap in my understanding of the history of the world, which I've tried to fix over the past decade. Jason Goodwin's Lords of the Horizon was one of non-fiction histories I read and I've enjoyed his move into fictionalizing the declining days of the Empire. Set in 1830's Istanbul, The Snake Stone, like The Janissary Tree before it, explores not only the solutions to crimes, but the culture and politics of the moment, from the perspective of eternal outsider Yashim, a eunuch of the city. His tastes--from the beautiful food that he makes using simple tools, to his weakness for French women--and his friends in places high and low allow the reader a sense of what life was like in a time and place very different from our own.
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September 28, 2023Wow I liked this one so much better than the first! I’m glad I gave the series a second chance. Maybe the first in the series was a little too focused on the “set up” of the “world” we’re in. This one was a good story, a good mystery, and the world of early 19th century Istanbul was both integrated into/important for the story and a nice backdrop. Satisfying in the way mysteries ought to be. The explanations of politics, history, and ethnic groups were not over done. I personally enjoyed that the descriptions of food came up more often (with lots of detail) than the last book.
January 3, 2017
I wanted to enjoy this book because of the lush settings. I think a lot of people will like them and the convoluted plot. I thought, incidentally that the twists in the plot were just enough to make a good detective story if it weren't for some of the other things. I sort of liked Yashim as a character, I liked the idea of a eunich as the main character and at times he was down to earth- focused on food and caring for others and almost relatable.
But until half-way through the book women did not appear at all, not as people anyway. They were talked about and filled in the background similar to the dogs and the spices and things like that. They were servants and wives who had to obey and I guess in some sense the author uses the setting to get away with the countless micro-aggressions and casual misogynies in this part of the book and would say that was authentic to the context. But to me it is a matter of focus.
And then later in the book women did appear, but Madame Lefevre was somewhat of a sterotype- she was a little too beautiful, a little too devoted, a little too tragic to satisfy. There were also after that some other women who more or less showed some social agency (but generally lived, decided and acted in reference to and in the shadow of some male or another).
Another problematic for me was whiteness in the book. Istanbul is presented as exotic, contested, a melting-pot, but there is a benign sort of racism in the way the detail pan out. Little things like when Madame Lefevre goes to the mosque, a white woman invading that space and then her rescuer is the white doctor. The white people (men and the idealised Madame Lefevre) in the book speak most, act most and determine other people's lives most.
Once again maybe the racism was in some ways the truth, maybe at times this is how it was - a colonialist attitude. Presenting it as unproblematic though continues it. I didn't enjoy the orientalism and male-centrism of the book. I found there were so many characters I had a lot of trouble keeping all the different characters and bits of story in line and at times the writing was so rich in description that the plot moved very slowly- yet it was convoluted and the conversations at times hard to follow.
I personally didn't like this book, although I have many books that were a lot worse. I suspect many people will like it a lot more than I did.
But until half-way through the book women did not appear at all, not as people anyway. They were talked about and filled in the background similar to the dogs and the spices and things like that. They were servants and wives who had to obey and I guess in some sense the author uses the setting to get away with the countless micro-aggressions and casual misogynies in this part of the book and would say that was authentic to the context. But to me it is a matter of focus.
And then later in the book women did appear, but Madame Lefevre was somewhat of a sterotype- she was a little too beautiful, a little too devoted, a little too tragic to satisfy. There were also after that some other women who more or less showed some social agency (but generally lived, decided and acted in reference to and in the shadow of some male or another).
Another problematic for me was whiteness in the book. Istanbul is presented as exotic, contested, a melting-pot, but there is a benign sort of racism in the way the detail pan out. Little things like when Madame Lefevre goes to the mosque, a white woman invading that space and then her rescuer is the white doctor. The white people (men and the idealised Madame Lefevre) in the book speak most, act most and determine other people's lives most.
Once again maybe the racism was in some ways the truth, maybe at times this is how it was - a colonialist attitude. Presenting it as unproblematic though continues it. I didn't enjoy the orientalism and male-centrism of the book. I found there were so many characters I had a lot of trouble keeping all the different characters and bits of story in line and at times the writing was so rich in description that the plot moved very slowly- yet it was convoluted and the conversations at times hard to follow.
I personally didn't like this book, although I have many books that were a lot worse. I suspect many people will like it a lot more than I did.
May 25, 2014
Ormstenens gåta av Jason Goodwin. Boken var lite rörig innan jag hade lärt mig alla namn och kommit in i historien. Miljöskildringarna fängslade och det kändes som om jag befann mig i Istanbul. När jag började lyssna på boken insåg jag att jag faktiskt hade läst en bok av den här författare vid ett tidigare tillfälle, den boken tyckte jag mycket om: Eunuckens gåta.
Den här boken nådde inte riktigt samma höjder, ändå fascinerades jag av berättelsen och kunde inte sluta lyssna på boken. Kan varmt rekommendera dig att läsa Ormstenens gåta!
Året är 1838. Maximilien Lefèvre, en fransk arkeolog, anländer till Istanbul för att söka efter en försvunnen bysantisk skatt. Hans närvaro skapar oro i stadens grekiska grupperingar och snart hittas hans kropp stympad. Detektiven Yashim, som i ett svagt ögonblick försökt hjälpa mannen ur landet, åtar sig att lösa fallet. Spåren leder honom tillbaka i historien, till den häpnadsväckande sanningen om ett ljusskyggt sällskap som vigt sina liv åt att bevara de gamla bysantiska rikets skatter.
Ormstenens gåta är den andra fristående boken av tre om den osmanske detektiven Yashim. Första boken, Eunuckens gåta, blev belönad med Edgar Award, USA:s stora deckarpris.
kramisar Kim
Den här boken nådde inte riktigt samma höjder, ändå fascinerades jag av berättelsen och kunde inte sluta lyssna på boken. Kan varmt rekommendera dig att läsa Ormstenens gåta!
Året är 1838. Maximilien Lefèvre, en fransk arkeolog, anländer till Istanbul för att söka efter en försvunnen bysantisk skatt. Hans närvaro skapar oro i stadens grekiska grupperingar och snart hittas hans kropp stympad. Detektiven Yashim, som i ett svagt ögonblick försökt hjälpa mannen ur landet, åtar sig att lösa fallet. Spåren leder honom tillbaka i historien, till den häpnadsväckande sanningen om ett ljusskyggt sällskap som vigt sina liv åt att bevara de gamla bysantiska rikets skatter.
Ormstenens gåta är den andra fristående boken av tre om den osmanske detektiven Yashim. Första boken, Eunuckens gåta, blev belönad med Edgar Award, USA:s stora deckarpris.
kramisar Kim
December 3, 2019
This book does a great job capturing the “feel” of old Istanbul - the dock workers, the booksellers, the kitchens and alleys. The plot itself is about what we want from a mystery - complex enough to be a puzzle, not so much so we are lost. It is fun, fast, and light.
April 7, 2013
Another interesting mystery by a noted scholar of Ottoman history (he wrote Lords of the Horizons, perhaps the best introduction to the history of Osmanli dynasty from start to finish). Jason Goodwin's Investigator Yashim is a eunuch (a lala in Turkish) semi-involved with the Sultan's court who happens to act as a freelance investigator.
In The Snake Stone, a French archeologist gets involved with Yashim and his friend, the Polish consul (even though Poland does not exist as a country in the 1830s, when the story is set) Pawlewski. Neither of them really trust Maximilien Lefevre, who strikes them as too much of a sleazy operator. When, trusting Yashim to help him leave for France, he appears to have been murdered in a particularly grisly way, a Greek secret society called the Hetira is at first blamed.
But in the Constantinople of Sultan Mahmoud, nothing seems to be quite as it appears. Nothing!
I enjoyed both of the Yashim novels I've read. The only thing that keeps me from giving it five stars is that the author tends to bite off more than he can chew. In The Janissary Tree, he covered the so-called "auspicious event," the suppression of the Janissaries as a privileged military caste. In The Snake Stone, Goodwin tries to go into complicated action sequences, especially in the great underground water conduits of the city, but isn't quite able to carry it off.
No matter: I loved all the cooking sequences. As I tried to figure out what was going on, Goodwin made my mouth water. This is all to the good.
In The Snake Stone, a French archeologist gets involved with Yashim and his friend, the Polish consul (even though Poland does not exist as a country in the 1830s, when the story is set) Pawlewski. Neither of them really trust Maximilien Lefevre, who strikes them as too much of a sleazy operator. When, trusting Yashim to help him leave for France, he appears to have been murdered in a particularly grisly way, a Greek secret society called the Hetira is at first blamed.
But in the Constantinople of Sultan Mahmoud, nothing seems to be quite as it appears. Nothing!
I enjoyed both of the Yashim novels I've read. The only thing that keeps me from giving it five stars is that the author tends to bite off more than he can chew. In The Janissary Tree, he covered the so-called "auspicious event," the suppression of the Janissaries as a privileged military caste. In The Snake Stone, Goodwin tries to go into complicated action sequences, especially in the great underground water conduits of the city, but isn't quite able to carry it off.
No matter: I loved all the cooking sequences. As I tried to figure out what was going on, Goodwin made my mouth water. This is all to the good.
January 8, 2013
I truly enjoy this series. The description of the exotic city, people, food, and customs is fascinating. In Stone, several murders have taken place and while a group named Hetira appears to be involved Yashim is primarily concerned with the death of a French archaeologist whom he saw just before he died. Linking Yashim with this death would tarnish his reputation and diminish his effectiveness as an investigator. As Yashim investigates the murders he finds himself trapped in the waterworks in a pool of cold, cold water. But he is rescued by his friend, the Polish ambassador who helps him unravel some of the tangles surrounding the murders. When the French Archaeologist's wife appears seeking her husband, Yashim finds himself strongly attracted to the beautiful young woman whose insight also helps with the mystery surrounding the murders. As the story unfolds, the reader discovers that not all of the murders were committed for the same purpose. At heart appears to be a treasure that was hidden during a siege that the archaeologist, his wife and others are hoping to find while others seek to keep it hidden forever.
August 28, 2012
Jason Goodwin's Yashim the Eunuch books are making me hungry! The way he describes Yashim buying food then preparing/cooking the food . . . or getting kebab or pastries at a street vendor or cafe . . . well, I want to drop everything and search for those eggplants or peppers or drop into the patisserie (lol, like we have anything similar in Dallas).
Then he tops it off with a good mystery which takes Yashim from Topkapi to Galata to Pera to Balat and describes so well the major sites of Istanbul. The details of them going down into the cisterns was so vivid. There was a lot going on and knowing some more history might have been helpful. I think I need to get another book about the Ottoman Empire.
I already have the next book ready to read and hopefully I will enjoy that one too.
Then he tops it off with a good mystery which takes Yashim from Topkapi to Galata to Pera to Balat and describes so well the major sites of Istanbul. The details of them going down into the cisterns was so vivid. There was a lot going on and knowing some more history might have been helpful. I think I need to get another book about the Ottoman Empire.
I already have the next book ready to read and hopefully I will enjoy that one too.
September 17, 2012
This book was another excellent mystery about Yashim and his adventures in nineteenth century Turkey. I love the attention to detail about Ottoman history (this time it was set right before the death of Sultan)and the cooking done by Yashim through the book just makes your mouth water. This time, the book is set in 1839. Yashim is trying to find out who attached his friend the vegetable seller George, who killed a bookseller in the marketplace and a French archaelogist named Max Lefevre. Yashim meets Lefevre twice before his death and is trying to clear his name after he ends up a suspect in the Frenchman's death. Will Yashim be able to find the killer in time? How is Lord Byron, who died at Missolonghi during the Greek war of Independence, connected to the victim? Read this great second mystery in the Yashim the Eunuch series to find out! 5 stars.
April 3, 2014
Sometimes when I read an author I really like I want to read everything they've written. This happened to me with Jason Goodwin's novel The Janissary Tree. Unfortunately that book was book 1… So, this month I read the next 3 books in the series (The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card and An Evil Eye) and am almost finished book 5 (The Baklava Club). The books are set in Istanbul at the time of the Ottoman Empire and the main character is Yashim, a eunuch formerly from the Sultan's harem but given permission to live outside the palace. Yashim gets involved in solving murders and along the way the reader gets some lovely historical background about the time and city, customs, cultures and food (Yashim loves to cook!) The writing moves along briskly and the cast of characters is always a delight.
May 19, 2011
I was disappointed to find the author pretty much stuck to a formula from his first mystery so this felt really repetitive, especially reading it one week after book 1. As in the first book, his writing is very lush and interesting, and I enjoyed the view of a place I was seeing nearly 200 years later. But this mystery is even more muddy than the first and in fact it's still hard to say exactly what happened. This is not a good quality in a mystery...I don't like it when authors think it will be more "literary" if they don't explain the mystery clearly. Just makes me feel like I wasted my time. Enjoy this book for it's depiction of Istanbul and for the main character, just don't expect much of a mystery.
January 16, 2017
I enjoyed this episode in the Yashim the Eunuch series. I enjoy this author the more I read his work. His writing depicts life during the peak of the Ottoman Empire beautifully. I particularly love the descriptions of food and cooking styles. I will say that his writing style does not clearly wrap up the murder for you with neat bows. There is no "Miss Scarlet killed Mr. Body in the ballroom with the knife" type wrap up. You get a synopsis of what happened and you are expected to put two and two together for yourself. But, I kinda like that. I might have added this mystery up to get 5, but 5 is a nice number, too.
September 26, 2009
I enjoyed this book very much even though I'm not completely sure what happened in it. It's supposed to be a mystery but I'm not sure what the mystery was or what the solution was. But it's really a pleasure to read, wonderful lively descriptions. The characters are interesting but not fully developed; they're more like short story characters, where you just get a quick sketch of just one side of their personalities. But, as I say, still really a good book. Not sure if I'll read another in this series, but I'm interested in reading some nonfiction from this author.
September 18, 2014
I love this series: having been in Istanbul, I can 'see' the places Goodwin describes - and I love the historical detail.
February 28, 2015
finished 2015-02-16. Very much enjoyed and wish there were more than the 3 books in the Yashim series.
June 28, 2016
A really excellent series.
July 24, 2024
As busy as life has become, I have taken comfort in expanding my reading selection by reading some books and listening to others with audiobooks. And as I myself narrate audiobooks, it may not be surprising that I am especially critical of the quality of audiobook narration. Moreover, as a man who has spent a great deal of time in Turkey, and who has great affection for that ancient land and its people, I am even more critical of a narrator who does not at least try to pronounce Turkish accurately. I gave this book 4/5 stars because that is what I feel Jason Goodwin's novel deserves. I enjoy his Yashim series very much. I cannot at all recommend the audiobook, unfortunately. While the narrator (for the entire series, apparently) Stephen Hoye is a fine story teller, I find it so very grating how poorly he pronounces Turkish. In fact, no effort seems to have been made at all to speak correctly. Nearly every Turkish word, nearly every Turkish name is so badly pronounced that I had to force myself to keep listening, just for the sake of completing the story. And for a series of books set in the later days of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, this is an oversight that the publisher should be deeply ashamed with. So here am I recommending you to certainly read Jason Goodwin's tales -- that is, read, NOT listen.
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August 18, 2024მეორე წიგნია სერიიდან Yashim the Eunuch.
დაძაბულობა, ჩახლართული კვანძები, სასპენსები, ჟრუანტელები და მოუთმენლობები ნამდვილად არაა. არც ესრამაგარიდეტექტივია. ნელი თხრობაა, ბევრი ისტორიით, ბევრი ჩანართით, ბევრი გადახვევით. ხანდახან გავიწყდება, რას იძიებ )
მაგრამ მე მომწონს.
მომწონს ასეთი ნელი თხრობა, არა დაძაბული. მომწონს ამბები. იაშიმი მომწონს და მისი კულინარიული გადახვევები) მომწონს მაშინდელი სტამბული. ამ ზაფხულის ღამეებისთვის კარგი საკითხავი აღმოჩნდა ჩემთვის.
დაძაბულობა, ჩახლართული კვანძები, სასპენსები, ჟრუანტელები და მოუთმენლობები ნამდვილად არაა. არც ესრამაგარიდეტექტივია. ნელი თხრობაა, ბევრი ისტორიით, ბევრი ჩანართით, ბევრი გადახვევით. ხანდახან გავიწყდება, რას იძიებ )
მაგრამ მე მომწონს.
მომწონს ასეთი ნელი თხრობა, არა დაძაბული. მომწონს ამბები. იაშიმი მომწონს და მისი კულინარიული გადახვევები) მომწონს მაშინდელი სტამბული. ამ ზაფხულის ღამეებისთვის კარგი საკითხავი აღმოჩნდა ჩემთვის.
January 21, 2017
Great description about 1830's Istanbul that I did enjoy reading but just can't get into the "detective" part of the story. Very disjointed and hard to follow. I won't be finishing the series.
July 11, 2018
Deskrip tempatnya jauh lebih menarik drpd kasus dan penyelesaiannya.
October 6, 2023
Viaţa tihnită a lui Yashim şi a prietenului său, ambasador al unei ţări inexistente (la vremea aceea statul polono-lituanian fusese împărţit între Rusia, Prusia şi Austria), cu sacrosantele cine de joi udate cu Martell din ultima sticlă de coniac fin a lui Palewski, este dată peste cap din nou de un mister la fel de interesant ca şi cel din primul volum.
Istanbul 1839. Sultanul, „Umbra lui Dumnezeu pe pământ”, se stinge lent în palatul său în stil european, „bolnav de tuberculoză și de ciroză la ficat, provocate de devoțiunea sa față de reformarea imperiului în conformitate cu liniile occidentale, moderne, și de șampania proastă combinată cu băuturi spirtoase.”
Lumea întreagă pare să-și țină respirația în așteptarea tristului eveniment dar curenții subterani ai puterii se mișcă deja, încet dar sigur, către viitorul pol al acesteia, moștenitorul încă minor și mama sa, următoarea Valide Sultan.
Cei mai puternici protectori ai lui Yashim sunt la apusul vieții chiar în cel mai negru moment al carierei sale. Un francez pe care abia îl cunoscuse este ucis iar eunucul pare să fie ultimul care l-a văzut în viață. N-are importanță că Maximilien Lefévre era un ticălos alunecos, un pretins arheolog care făcea trafic cu artefacte, manuscrise rare și relicve de cele mai multe ori furate, un mincinos, trădător și șantajist demn de tot disprețul ori că Yashim, deși nu-l plăcea, încercase să-l ajute să fugă din Istanbul, francezul fiind urmărit, se pare, de răzbunarea unei organizații secrete. În mintea îngustă a ambasadorului francez, turcul e suspectul principal.
Cu o astfel de tinichea atârnată de reputația lui, Yashim n-ar mai putea profesa, cine și-ar mai dori serviciile cuiva care, chiar dacă n-a ucis, a dat dovadă de o proastă judecată?
Povestea pare să aibă rădăcini mai vechi, în timpul luptelor pentru independența Greciei, chiar mai vechi, după cum va descoperi în cursul unei investigații periculoase care îl va purta prin cele mai interesante repere ale Istanbulului: rezervoarele subterane ale rețelei de apă, mai periculoase chiar decât străzile aglomerate de la suprafaţă, Bazilica Cisternă, Aya Sofia, Hipodromul, unde veghează de veacuri un obelisc egiptean, o columnă romană și Coloana Șerpuită, făcută de greci din armele și armurile de bronz ale perșilor, ca o celebrare a victoriei de la Plateea și un simbol al unității lor dar pe care Yashim o vede ca pe o metaforă a orașului: Bizanț, Constantinopol și Istanbul deopotrivă.
Într-un oraș ce pare în continuă mișcare și transformare, există secrete care dăinuie, transmise de generaţii din tată în fiu, la fel de vechi precum orașul, la fel de statornice.
„Oamenii nu trăiesc trei sute de ani, dar ideile da. La fel și amintirile. Și tradițiile.”
În acest al doilea volum al seriei, Istanbulul, orașul care a supravieţuit şi prosperat indiferent de numele lui, de credinţa celor care îl conduc ori de naţionalitatea celor ce-l locuiesc, e prezentat ca un mozaic de etnii și religii ce conviețuiesc într-o relativă pace și toleranță: turci, egipteni, evrei, armeni, bulgari, greci, genovezi şi, foarte important, după cum vom afla, albanezi, în rândurile cărora existau atât creștini-catolici și ortodocși-, cât și musulmani.
Mai multe: https://jurnal365.ro/recenzia-de-vine...
Istanbul 1839. Sultanul, „Umbra lui Dumnezeu pe pământ”, se stinge lent în palatul său în stil european, „bolnav de tuberculoză și de ciroză la ficat, provocate de devoțiunea sa față de reformarea imperiului în conformitate cu liniile occidentale, moderne, și de șampania proastă combinată cu băuturi spirtoase.”
Lumea întreagă pare să-și țină respirația în așteptarea tristului eveniment dar curenții subterani ai puterii se mișcă deja, încet dar sigur, către viitorul pol al acesteia, moștenitorul încă minor și mama sa, următoarea Valide Sultan.
Cei mai puternici protectori ai lui Yashim sunt la apusul vieții chiar în cel mai negru moment al carierei sale. Un francez pe care abia îl cunoscuse este ucis iar eunucul pare să fie ultimul care l-a văzut în viață. N-are importanță că Maximilien Lefévre era un ticălos alunecos, un pretins arheolog care făcea trafic cu artefacte, manuscrise rare și relicve de cele mai multe ori furate, un mincinos, trădător și șantajist demn de tot disprețul ori că Yashim, deși nu-l plăcea, încercase să-l ajute să fugă din Istanbul, francezul fiind urmărit, se pare, de răzbunarea unei organizații secrete. În mintea îngustă a ambasadorului francez, turcul e suspectul principal.
Cu o astfel de tinichea atârnată de reputația lui, Yashim n-ar mai putea profesa, cine și-ar mai dori serviciile cuiva care, chiar dacă n-a ucis, a dat dovadă de o proastă judecată?
Povestea pare să aibă rădăcini mai vechi, în timpul luptelor pentru independența Greciei, chiar mai vechi, după cum va descoperi în cursul unei investigații periculoase care îl va purta prin cele mai interesante repere ale Istanbulului: rezervoarele subterane ale rețelei de apă, mai periculoase chiar decât străzile aglomerate de la suprafaţă, Bazilica Cisternă, Aya Sofia, Hipodromul, unde veghează de veacuri un obelisc egiptean, o columnă romană și Coloana Șerpuită, făcută de greci din armele și armurile de bronz ale perșilor, ca o celebrare a victoriei de la Plateea și un simbol al unității lor dar pe care Yashim o vede ca pe o metaforă a orașului: Bizanț, Constantinopol și Istanbul deopotrivă.
Într-un oraș ce pare în continuă mișcare și transformare, există secrete care dăinuie, transmise de generaţii din tată în fiu, la fel de vechi precum orașul, la fel de statornice.
„Oamenii nu trăiesc trei sute de ani, dar ideile da. La fel și amintirile. Și tradițiile.”
În acest al doilea volum al seriei, Istanbulul, orașul care a supravieţuit şi prosperat indiferent de numele lui, de credinţa celor care îl conduc ori de naţionalitatea celor ce-l locuiesc, e prezentat ca un mozaic de etnii și religii ce conviețuiesc într-o relativă pace și toleranță: turci, egipteni, evrei, armeni, bulgari, greci, genovezi şi, foarte important, după cum vom afla, albanezi, în rândurile cărora existau atât creștini-catolici și ortodocși-, cât și musulmani.
Mai multe: https://jurnal365.ro/recenzia-de-vine...
June 2, 2018
Well...it's interesting in its depiction of 1830s Istanbul, and I liked Yashim's, the protagonist's, mind. My complaint then? Goodwin stuffs in a whole lot of details that muddy the waters - almost like he's showing off how much research he's done instead of creating a cohesive narrative. I don't often read mysteries, but when I do I tend to keep the clues straight. With The Stone Snake I struggled to stay informed, often wondering if this was because I've never been to Istanbul, but then deciding no - my reading skills haven't suddenly deteriorated.
At the same time I am considering reading the first book in the Yashim series, The Janissary Tree, to see why it won an Edgar Award. There's also a book compiling Yashim's recipes that intrigues me: Yashim Cooks Istanbul.
At the same time I am considering reading the first book in the Yashim series, The Janissary Tree, to see why it won an Edgar Award. There's also a book compiling Yashim's recipes that intrigues me: Yashim Cooks Istanbul.
February 28, 2015
The first book I read in this series was the Janissary Tree. I enjoyed it more than this one. This novel felt disjointed. There were too many asides that diverted and distracted me. For example, Goodwin clearly enjoys supplying the reader with detailed descriptions of food preparation. Sounded yummy, but I'll read a cookbook if that's what I'm in the mood for. I never felt that the characters were more than props, so I never connected to the characters--even Yashim was much more shallow than in the first. All in all, this tale was a disappointment. I'll give the series another try, but it will be based on my experience with the Janissary Tree rather than the Snake Stone.
August 13, 2011
Ein im osmanischen Istanbul spielender Kriminalroman - die Handlung ist mit der Biographie Lord Byrons und der griechischen Unabhängigkeitsgeschichte verknüpft. So weit, so gut - das alles klingt eigentlich sehr vielversprechend - doch das Buch selbst ist eintönig, langweilig, und nicht stringent. Ständig werden neue Charaktere eingeführt, die jedoch ein paar Seiten später schon wieder sterben, und selbst bei der Auflösung bleiben noch viele Fragen ungeklärt. Dieses Buch bietet kein erfüllendes Leseerlebnis, am schönsten sind noch die kulinarischen Beschreibungen, auf den Rest des Buches kann man getrost verzichten.
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April 16, 2009Not a clear mystery story line. A good read for those interested in immersing themselves in another culture, in this case an historical look at an exotic locale. The story is set in Istanbul during the 1830's and features Yashim, a former palace eunuch. It is the second in a series and has very colorful secondary characters. Many fascinating details about the customs, architecture and ethnic groups of this geographical area.
March 27, 2016
I found this novel rather difficult to follow, more so than the previous episode. I like the general ambiance, love it when Yashim is cooking, but some of the things that happened were so intricate that I am not sure I understood them. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that I didn't understand much of the plot.
I will however tackle the next episode.
I will however tackle the next episode.
March 19, 2017
Un mystery istoric care-și plimbă cititorul prin Istanbulul secolului al XIX-lea, pe străduțele sale aglomerate, prin palatele sultanului dar și prin tunelele subterane, de unde vine apa, cea mai de preț comoară a marelui oraș. Am scris mai multe aici: https://dorinadanila.com/2017/02/09/c...
May 15, 2009
Like the last one, the "mystery" is not the reason to read this - although I thought this one was better crafted than the last, in that regard. But for the history and ambiance, it's worth reading anyway, and I still like Yashim.
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