Zabelle

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

great read, 2007-02-02
I loved this book,i could not put it down.It's very convinceing and very funny.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

sleeping pill, 2007-01-11
to me this book was so boring it literally put me to sleep many times and at the end i stopped reading it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Maybe I am just a bit of a cynic, 2006-07-31
Maybe I am just a bit of a cynic, or maybe books like "Middlesex" have spoiled me, but I could not get into this book for either its literary style, or its historical deatails (or lack thereof). br / br /First of all, and most irritatingly, the book is told through a first person perspective which is particularily grating as well as illogical since the book begins with the narrator's death. There is no sense of a families' discovery of the past, and no true sense of linkage between the past and present because of this. Also, first person limited terms (I and Me) are used excesively, and this reduces the poetic euphony of the text which other reviewers so praised. br / br /Don't expect much historically either. You will not understand the Turkish motivation for the Armenian Crisis, or get a broader scope of history here. Everything is contained within the limited perspective of the narrator (relating back to the primary afforementioned weakness). Some might see this as storytelling; however, historical narrative is always more interesting or engaging when given a broad sweep of the life and times. br / br /Two stars are awarded for the solid storyline, but with the two major weaknesses adressed above, I can not truly recommend this book to either fans of narrative fiction, or fans of history

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Literary Yes!, Historically No!, 2006-06-29
Well, reading Zabelle was rather a coincidence, a very odd one. Knowing that "fiction" was just fictional, I read the book in an instant loving its poetic rhythym. However, as a person, who has studied history of the Ottoman Empire and Armenian issue strictly, I couldn't take myself away from noticing the one-sided tone, and many inaccuracies that I encountered through the pages. When writing such a book, one should also care for the memories of the elders, who went through the unfortunate events in the past; however, though a fictional book, one should again remember that Armenians and Turks lived TOGETHER for centuries in peace, as friends. That is why I suggest this book for its literary value; however, it cannot be shown as an example of a past that is too hard to made into a fictional novella, AND too detrimental/sorrowful to be advertised as the story of thousands.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

A thoroughly enjoyable read, 2002-10-15
This is a wonderful book - easy, quick to read and keeps one's interest all the way through. I was so enthralled with this book that I immediately started looking for other books written by Kricorian. She is a fantastic writer.