Heather

In the Fall, I'm making my first trip to Greece and Turkey, and would love recommendations for books on both countries. Already, I've accumulated a small stack related to Greece, but I'm open to any additions. For Turkey, all I have are guidebooks and would love any suggestions for history, religion, and fiction books.<BR><BR>The list of what I already have is:<BR>A Literary Companion to Greece<BR>Ancient Greece-A Concise History<BR>Colussus of Maroussi<BR>Dinner with Persephone<BR>The Birth of Greece<BR>Kazantzakis' Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ<BR>Travel book wise: Eyewitness guides to Istanbul, Greek Islands, Athens/Mainland, and Frommer's Turkey<BR><BR>Oh, and if anyone wants to suggest movies, that would be terrific, too.<BR><BR>Thank you, in advance, for any shared favorites!<BR>

jenviolin

"A Fez of the Heart" by Jeremy Seal (ISBN 330343629). Lots of history, politics of the 20th century, and still literature.<BR><BR>"The Towers of Trezibond" by Ruth McCauley(?) was highly recommended to me but I couldn't find it.<BR><BR>Take it with a grain of salt, but I love Irving Stone's semi-historical biographical novel about Heinrich Schliemann & Troy. Help me here, somebody, what's it called...<BR><BR>Anything and everything by Mary Renault!<BR><BR>Edith Hamilton, "The Greek Way"<BR><BR>lbnl...<BR>Homer's Odyssey & Iliad!<BR>

Paule

The author, Mary Lee Settle, wrote several books about Turkey: <BR>1) Turkish Reflections, is a travelogue-type book . It's pretty good; I wish I loved it, but it was one of the better books I found on Turkey<BR>2) Blood Tie, a fictional book. A very dated but interesting book about several expats living on an unnamed island in the 70's and their relationship to the locals<BR><BR>Paule<BR><BR><BR>

book

I read "Rage of the Vulture," a novel by Barry Unsworth (winner of the Booker Prize) before a recent trip to Istanbul and it was a fascinating look into the city as it was 100 years ago. Story revolves around an Englishman in 1908 Constantinople,as the ottoman empire is crumbling. Filled with unforgettable characers and a grippng story line.

Heather

Thank you for your suggestions ... I really appreciate your posts! I'm off to Amazon to search and review.

Kris

Hi Heather! I haven't read nearly as much as I should for our upcoming trip to Turkey but here's what I have for you<BR><BR>Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian-based on the stories of his great uncle as an Armenian in Turkey (quick read)<BR><BR>Crescent & Star-Stephen Kinzer-an interesting look at Turkey's "Westernization", mostly focused on post WWI in Turkey<BR><BR>And I'm taking these with for the long plane ride: Gallipoli by Alan Moorehead (recommended by the history buff in the family) and White Castle by Orhan Pamuk<BR><BR><BR>Movies<BR>Midnight Express<BR>Topkapi<BR>Shirley Valentine-nice shots of Greece<BR>Gallipoli-a great film, but worth watching just because a very young Mel Gibson is in it <BR><BR>Greece<BR><BR>Corelli's Mandolin-haven't got through it yet, but it's highly recommended on this board (good summer at the beach book, very long). I didn't care for the movie but I'm not a big fan of Nicolas Cage or Penelope Cruz

brownie

"My Name is Red" is based in Istanbul and gives a lot of information about turkish culture and art (miniature and caligraphy) . It is a fiction/detective story by turkish write Orphan Pamuk and is translated into English.<BR><BR>I thoroughly enjoyed and is indeed a good book. <BR><BR>BTW - no one I know actually managed to figure out the right person who did it. Hints were dropped all the way through the book too.. in a very well done manner.

isa

Hi !<BR><BR>Here are some suggestions regarding Turkish recent movies : <BR><BR>- YOL<BR>- G&Uuml;NESE YOL<BR>- ESKIYA<BR><BR>Hope you will enjoy.<BR><BR>Isabelle<BR>http://davrazia.free.fr

Carla

A masterpiece called Forty Days of Mussadagh by german writer Franz Werfel will give you an accurate historical (although it is fiction) account of Turkey during the early twentieth century.

Heather

Thank you all for the additional suggestions. Many of these were on Amazon and looked very interesting, so it's good to have recs. For those that I couldn't find online, I'm printing this out and heading to Border's at lunch ... these ALL sound so good ... how to decide?!<BR><BR>Kris, I know you're leaving soon and hope that your trip is wonderful! Can't wait to read your report.<BR><BR>Thanks, again, for all of the input.

Kris

Heather, I picked up White Castle, Turkish Reflections, Rage of the Vulture and have the Rough Guide and Fodor's for Turkey. If you'd like to borrow, drop me a line and maybe we could meet for lunch or something when I get back. I'll have lots of pictures and maybe I'll even convince you to go to Cappadocia!

tracy

jenviolin, the book Schliemann of Troy is by David A. Traill.

carol

"The Stone Woman," by Tariq Ali. Ali writes historical fiction about interactions between Christians and Muslims. This one is told by a woman, the daughter of a Sultan, and is really good.

carol

I think that the book that Irving Stone wrote about the Schliemanns is called "The Greek Tycoon" It is a bit corny, but not bad. It is particularly interesting about the role his wife played in supervising the archeological digs at teh turn of the century.<BR><BR>Please don't rent "Topkapi." It is pathetic, and Melina Mercouri is intolerable, although Peter Ustinov is cute. However, if you can get "Yol," it is a spectacular movie, although some of its themes are pretty dated (it is about 15-20 years old and there is a lot more tolerance now).