I loved the book, The Bastard of Istanbul, I think it helped to portray exactly what people need to know about the history and people of Turkey. Before this class I honestly knew nothing about the Armenian genocide or anything that it entailed or what it was about. After reading some people's blog and then reading this book I have a very good idea what it is about and also the feeling and emotions that people who live in Turkey and also those who live in America think about it. At first, I would have thought that the Turks probably view the genocide the same way that some people feel about those in Germany as something that happened in their history that they can't really get away from as hard as it is to face. This is not true for Turkey, as most deny that this even happened. It is hard for me to understand how someone can deny that something happened in their history. Of course, not everything that has happened in America has been perfect, but that doesn't mean that people can deny what has happened in the past. I know that in a lot of cultures certain books that have been viewed as too harsh in showing the history of the country have been banned. Maybe it's just because I don't have any ties to Turkey or its history but I don't think that this book portrayed Turkey in a light that people should be angry with. Shafak understands the problems that people have with this history and gives a good depiction of how some people try to get away from the history and others understand that they cannot run away from it.

I think that because Shafak showed people's views of the genocide from not only people in Turkey but also Armenians that are living throughout the world as well. This book teaches how being an Armenian in Turkey is different than being an Armenian in America and how the people in these different countries view the genocide. I think it is smart of Shafak to show the views from people living in different ways and not just various people living in Turkey, it shows readers that Armenian people have very different opinions and live their lives accordingly. Those who are living in America have to learn how to act in America while those living in Turkey must live close to the history and what happened in the past. Near the middle of the book I did find it hard to follow all of the different names and keeping the characters seperate. I thought it was funny that the girls never thought that they had to learn what others had to teach them because they thought they knew everything they needed to already. However, when it came to teaching someone something they always thought they knew what was best for everyone. I think this was an amazing book and taught me so many things that I didn't know before. I think it was beautifully written and I find it sad that people Armenians had a problem with this book because I don't think it depicts them too terribly but teaches people what went on and the feelings that people have.