10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

I had never heard of Elif Shafak until this book popped up in my recommendations and now I'm a little irked that it took so long for her work to come to my attention because that was some seriously good writing and I already want more of it.

The characters were fantastic, the story was at times stunningly beautiful and at other times heart breaking. It's listed as being historical fiction with literary fiction as a subgenre but I think this one might appeal more to the literary fiction peeps.

“...in the desert of life, the fool travels alone and the wise by caravan.”

As I'm reading about the title after the fact, evidently it's based on the scientific idea that a person's brain waves have been found to be active up to 10 minutes and 38 seconds past a person's death. The first part of this book embraces that idea as we get to know “Tequila” Leila, a Turkish brothel worker experiencing her last few minutes through flashbacks of her life. We learn about her family, her early years, and other formative events that led her to Istanbul and the brothel she worked at before her unfortunate end. We also learn about five very close friends she makes along the way, and also learn their backstories that led them to Leila. The second part of the book focuses on these five friends and how they come to terms(?) with the death of their friend.

This book was cruising for a solid four star review in the first part. I fell in love with the imagery presented to us by the author, and was incredibly invested in learning more about Leila and who she was. Her story was a sad one, but I loved how strong she seemed in the face of everything that happened to her. Then we hit the second part, and suddenly the tone of the book shifts abruptly to something more macabre humor as the friends undertake this crazy scheme to honor their dead friend. I appreciate the look at Leila's close friends and how they come to terms with her death, but I felt like the story that this introspection was hung on fell off the rails hard.

So, in summary, great start, weirdly absurd end that I felt was tonally off from the rest of the book.

My first Elf Shafak book. Easy read and powerful story.

However more importantly, it takes place in the complex city, Istanbul, where I was born. And reading about Istanbul, its different parts and uniqueness I know very well was very nostalgic and enjoyable in a deep way.

I had this very strong feeling of knowing what she was talking about.

I like the friendship story too.

I couldn't but the book down up till the point where 10 mins and 38 secs ended. After that I found it extremely hard to finish. It seemed like the story was dragging. The final scene did not make sense and gave the feeling like the author, in wanting to end on a good note but also wanting to finish the story, rushed the ending. I would still recommend it. It's a deeply emotional book and beautiful in a lot of places.

A unique style of writing. This is my first book by the author Elif Shafak and I loved it. The storytelling is poetic and stimulates all the senses. The smells, sounds, and touches remain with you even after reading. The fragrance of cardamom coffee, the smell of sugar-and-lemon, the aromatic lamb stew, the taste of watermelon, and the soil in her mouth are described in a way that you feel them.
This book is full of quotes and highlights for me. One I particularly liked

When starting this tale, I found myself hooked almost instantaneously. This book felt like it was written with the right intentions but sadly, a lot of prejudiced and skewed interpretations made its execution, poor. I liked the premise, the big picture that was drawn upon, and the message, but the nitty-gritty details alluding to misrepresentations is what put me off.

No Words

I should be proud that hey I finished three books in two days. Thank you, readathon, for pushing me to finish books that have been on my bookshelf for so long on both my shelf and my Kindle. I bought *10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World* by Elif Shafak because a YouTuber I watch liked it, and I wanted to read something out of my comfort zone. But all this book did was make me sad. I am proud to say, though, that it did get done in one sitting.

Despite its literary acclaim, I found this novel a tough read. The story revolves around Tequila Leila, a sex worker in Istanbul, whose life unfolds in flashbacks during the 10 minutes and 38 seconds after her death. While Shafak's prose is undoubtedly beautiful, the unrelenting bleakness of Leila's experiences made it hard for me to connect with the characters or feel anything other than sorrow.

The narrative's non-linear structure was intriguing but ultimately felt disjointed, making it difficult to maintain engagement. While I understand that the book aims to shed light on the marginalized and forgotten individuals of society, the sheer amount of misery and injustice depicted left me emotionally drained. I had hoped for at least some moments of hope or redemption, but these were few and far between.

In conclusion, while I appreciate the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, *10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World* was not the enlightening experience I had hoped for. It’s a well-written book with important themes, but it wasn’t the right fit for me. Two stars.

This book was stunning and extraordinary up till 10mins 38 seconds. And then it just wasn't? There was some good stuff, and some interesting character interactions after the initial part of the book, but the story went weird and the ending was just ‘what?'. And not in a good way. It gets such a harsh mark from me Cus I was convinced the book was something special, and then it just fell flat for me. Disappointing.

I very much enjoyed this novel about a murdered prostitute from Istanbul and the friends who ultimately saved her. I'm always on board for a good friendship story, and this book had many; I was also hooked from the beginning by Elif Shafak's beautiful writing style.

The construction of the novel was quite unique, and I found it particularly effective. Science has come to understand that a person's mind can still remain active for up to 10 minutes after the body is dead. Shafak divides her book into two main sections, and in the first - “Mind” - our protagonist, Leila, is already dead. What we read is the ten minutes and 38 seconds following her death, in which her still active mind is remembering important events and people from her life. Each memory is sparked by a sense - the smell of a wood burning stove, homemade strawberry cake - and these memories allow the reader a glimpse of the joy and sorrow that made up Leila's remarkable life.

The second section - “Body” - starts where Leila's mind has finally stopped, and tells the story of her five closest friends and their efforts to give her the burial she deserves. This section of the novel veered just a bit into melodrama for me, but I still very much enjoyed the characters and their deep and evident love for their friend Leila.

Not a perfect novel, but certainly one I enjoyed. It's unique characters and structure will make it a story I won't soon forget. Definitely recommended.