The Architect's Apprentice
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The Architect's Apprentice
Narrated by:
Grant Cartwright
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Narrated by:
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Grant Cartwright
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By:
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Elif Shafak
About this listen
There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together...
Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare and valuable white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.
So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan's court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota's back to the furthest corners of the Sultan's kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan's fortunes forever.
©2014 Elif Shafak (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"This is Shafak's most ambitious novel yet, and it is her best ..." ( The Independent)
"This edifying, emotionally forceful novel shows how hate and envy destroy, and how love might build the world anew ..." ( The Guardian)
Superb
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Delightful
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This is my second Élif Shafak book, I so enjoyed her 10 minutes and 38 seconds.
This book looked very different so I was a little apprehensive.
It took at least an hour to get into the book, as the prose is quite flowery in places. However the words soon weave you into a 16 century Istanbul, the Middle East and parts of Europe with its magic, mystery and mythical senses that are almost palpable at times.
The characters were beautifully drawn, the good the bad and the ugly. I loved the way she included and wrote about the animal as they too were a part of the court of the Sultan. Chota the white elephant is magnificent and makes the man that is Johan.
The summary of this book tells nothing, it is like the tip of an iceberg and you get drawn down into the vastness of this tale.
Exemplary narration by Grant Cartwright.
Highly recommend for lovers of historical fiction.
Immersion in 16th century Istanbul
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Also it was narrated brilliantly with Grant Cartbright really bringing the story to life.
Captivating,
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Fascinating
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The audio book is skillfully narrated, it marvelously reflects the perfect use of a second language with the aptly imperfect pronounceation of certain words. Read the story and find out how, mirrored within the journey you are about to embark on, even a great architect can feel (superstitiously) compelled to incorporate flaws! A horrible pun, I know, but then I am no writer. So, In allowing for the odd tiny imperfection in narration a reflection is constructed, so marvellously polished it mirrors the exquisite yet beguiling journey of a young orphan boy and a tiny white elephant.
The narrator captivates and amplifies on a truth that may be missed by those who do not know what it means to live almost an entire life as an outsider. The tiny occasional flaw, intended or not, captivated me - the apprentice is a migrant who never quite fits in. I listened closely. I found myself identifying with this unexpected truth - dwelling on the dead give aways, the tells that set native apart from migrant.
This exquisite story is written for us who stand both at the heart of our lives yet on the boundaries of somone else's cultural heritage. It is narrated for those who participate in yet also bear witness to a social narrative that may or may not incorporate something of their own. I loved the book because it is well researched. It is also evocative of some bygone era when storytelling was more an entirely more magical, meaningful craft than it is today.
This book is not just about an impossible love, power, kinship or the mastery of a chosen profession. It is about the journey one takes when one is torn from one roots and called upon to own ones life by becoming the architect of ones unbidden destiny.
I look forward to returning to the story in print because, now that I have heard it to its end I wish to revisit and savour each twist and turn - stepping into the flow of one man's life in a place far from home because I am left still hungry, still wistful, still intrigued and still compelled to capture the intoxicating mix of history and imagination that the author conjures through image and lyrical language.
Yes, the story flows like water. I was held right to the end and laughed aghast at the thought of an age gap of 66 years between a married couple! I loved the parting gift - where a small child reaches for an amulet instead of the things spread out before him. I was both charmed and sweetly suprised, recognising myself standing within the gaggle of adoring aunts - my own unbidden hope that the child might reach for the plume met with a parting reminder that nothing laid out before you can compete with the pull of destiny.
Wonderful, magical, heartbreaking and true
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Just a really enjoyable listen
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Compelling evocation
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masterful & imaginative
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I sometimes found it difficult to follow the story dure to the narrator making breaks in his reading which didn't occur at the end of sentences or phrases.
The great amount of research that went into this story.
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