Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place

This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind. Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future... One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

This is an excellent and clear-headed book about Turkey before the dynamic capitalism of the 1980's really set in. As such, it is somewhat anachronistic as all books about Turkey quickly tend to become. On the other hand, the general portrait and the beautiful writing make this the best and truest introduction to Turkey yet written. Read it to understand this unique country, a veritable mosaic of ethnicities, customs and histories; spawning a bridge between the East and the West. For people who see the world through narrow eyes, Turkey might be a paradox: the most secular country in the world, with a solidly modern orientation and a predominantly Muslim (but secular!) population. Not a paradox for Settle who has an open mind. Recall also that Turkey is a country that suffers an unjustly bad image, mainly because of fanatic Greek-Orthodox fundamentalists (e.g. see the one or two silly reviews below by Greek-Americans with no idea of Balkan history!). Mary Lee Settle has done more than anyone else to rectify the balance. She is uniquely qualified to do so because she clearly has no political agenda to settle with the past or with the future... One can only hope that Mary Lee Settle writes another book covering the breathtaking changes in Turkey in the last 20 years or so with the same clear vision.

Being a citizen of Turkey, but of Kurdish origin, I can say that this is the best book that I have ever read - written by a foreigner about Turkey. It is suprising how some other reviewers seem to know the state of Kurds better than we know ourselves. I am very astonished that foreigners think so one sided thigns about us. Most Kurds live outside the southeast and in Kurdistan also Turks feel ill. For most the problem is called poverty. Whatever happens it is always the normal citizens who get the punishment from foreigners - mostly aggressive Greeks. This is very sad because most Greeks never even meet a Turk or a Kurd. If they meet a Kurd, they meet a communist expatriot who has nothing to do with majority of Kurds. Very sad. Thank you for Mary Lee Settle, she saw the reality and wrote very nicely about it. At least she SAW the reality, the reviewers did NOT. Allah Korusun.

Mary Lee Settle introduced me to a vastly different Turkey than the one I was familiar with through history books, popular sentiment and news articles. As an American, my interest in the "outside world" is often surprising to those from other lands. Turkey never seemed warm, romantic or joyful... until I read and visualized "Turkish Reflections". Rarely has a literary work caused me to experience a place so richly. From the descriptions of Turkish warmth in Bodrum to mind-bending jaunts through 8,000 year old settlements, Settle paints a portrait of a land deliciously steeped in hospitality, tolerance and texture. Political realities notwithstanding, this book establishes Turkey as an extremely desirable place to sojourn.

In 1972 the author went to Turkey and stayed for three years because it was cheap, a good place for a writer of limited means. Fourteen years later she returns to the country and people she obviously has a great affection for. She writes that, in Turkey, nothing is wasted. Stones from Greek and Roman temples are used to build Christian churches during the Byzantine Empire and then are converted to mosques during the Ottoman times. Her book also wastes nothing, mixing bits of history, archeology, mythology, and religion to construct a Turkey that is, at once, thousands of years old and modern. This is a great primer for anyone planning on going to Turkey. My wife and I are going in the fall and, after reading this book, I can't wait.