10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
.png) First edition cover (Turkey) | |
| Author | Elif Shafak |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Alix Dunmore[1] |
| Set in | Istanbul |
Publication date | 2019[2] |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 311 |
| ISBN | 9780241293867 |
| 23 | |
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (Turkish: On Dakika Otuz Sekiz Saniye) is a 2019 novel by Turkish writer Elif Shafak and her eleventh overall.[3] It is a one-woman story about a sex worker in Istanbul.[4][5] It was released by Viking Press in 2019.
Summary[edit]
10 Minutes and 38 Seconds in This Strange World opens in 1990 with "Tequila Leila", who is a prostitute.[6][7] The story has her five outcast friends, who don't share a worthy importance in a liberal country.[6] Leila enters the state of awareness in her last moments, after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul.[8] "While the Turkish sun rises above her and her friends asleep soundly nearby, she contemplates her mortal existence before eternal rest."[8] In the last minutes she recalls her previous life; "the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life—friends who are now desperately trying to find her..."[9][10][11]
Awards[edit]
- Shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize.[12][13][14][15]
- The Blackwell's Book of the Year, 2019[16]
- Shortlisted for RSL Ondaatje Prize, 2020[17]
References[edit]
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World". Penguin Books UK. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World". Penguin Books UK. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ "Storytelling is about swimming against the tide of the times: Elif Shafak", "www.outlookindia.com", October 20, 2019
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak review – one woman's story", "The Guardian", Jun 12, 2019
- ^ "Shafak’s ‘10 Minutes’ attempts to represent sex workers but falls short", "The Michigan Daily", October 8, 2019
- ^ a b "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak review – powerful but preachy", "The Guardian", June 16, 2019,
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak review – powerful but preachy", "Our Daily Read", June 16, 2019,
- ^ a b "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World", "Barnes & Noble",
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World", "Curtis Brown",
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Elif Shafak" Archived 2020-11-26 at the Wayback Machine, "Penguin",
- ^ "10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD" Archived 2019-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, "easons", June 06, 2019
- ^ "The Booker Prize - The Shortlist", "The Booker Prizes", 2019
- ^ "Booker Prize 2019: The books to read, and the ones you can skip", "The Irish Times", October 12, 2019
- ^ "Booker prize shortlist 2019: who to put your money on", "The Guardian", October 13, 2019
- ^ "Booker Prize 2019: Atwood, Rushdie and four emerging authors up for prize", "The Statesman", October 14, 2019
- ^ "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World". blackwells.co.uk. Retrieved Aug 2, 2020.
Works by Elif Shafak
Fiction
The Saint of Incipient Insanities (2004)
The Gaze (2006)
The Bastard of Istanbul (2007)
The Flea Palace (2007)
The Forty Rules of Love (2009)
Honour (2012)
The Architect's Apprentice (2014)
Three Daughters of Eve (2016)
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019)
The Island of Missing Trees (2021)
==
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10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World: SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 Kindle Edition
by Elif Shafak (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019
'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' Vanity Fair
'Incredibly sensuous and poetic and evocative'Pandora Sykes
'Richly uplifting... truly beautiful writing' Nicola Sturgeon
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore...'
For Leila, each minute after her death recalls a sensuous memory: spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the birth of a yearned-for son; bubbling vats of lemon and sugar to wax women's legs while men are at prayer; the cardamom coffee she shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each fading memory brings back the friends she made in her bittersweet life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her . . .
'Simply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end' Philippe Sands
'Elif Shafak brings into the written realm what so many others want to leave outside. Spend more than ten minutes and 38 seconds in this world of the estranged. Shafak makes a new home for us in words' Colum McCann
'Elif Shafak's extraordinary 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness' Simon Schama
'A rich, sensual novel... This is a novel that gives voice to the invisible, the untouchable, the abused and the damaged, weaving their painful songs into a thing of beauty.' Financial Times
'One of the best writers in the world today'Hanif Kureishi
'Haunting, moving, beautifully written. A masterpiece' Peter Frankopan
'Extraordinary' Guardian
'Life-affirming' Stylist
*Elif Shafak's latest novel The Island of Missing Trees is available now*
June 6, 2019
====
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Shafak writes with vision, bravery and compassion . . . a stunning portrait of a city, a society, a small community and a single soul." - The New York Times Book Review
A deeply humane story about the cruel effects of Turkey’s intolerant sexual attitudes . . . Shafak is a master of captivating moments that provide a sprawling and intimate vision of Istanbul . . . Ultimately, “10 Minutes” isn’t really about death, but the persistence of love . . . Leila’s ragtag friends, scorned and mocked by polite society, can’t possibly triumph over the forces of religious and political corruption, but they ― and Shafak ― manage to create something truly subversive: a community of devotion beyond the reach of state or mosque." - The Washington Post
"A beautifully written tour de force of exemplary storytelling . . . Its powerful insights into Turkey’s past and present challenges and the world today make it highly recommended." - Library Journal, starred review
"Extraordinary . . . a piercing, unflinching look at the trauma women’s minds and bodies are subjected to in a social system defined by patriarchal codes." - The Guardian
"Ever-courageous Turkish writer Shafak creates another resilient woman protagonist at odds with Turkey’s repressive society . . . [A] seductively imaginative, rambunctiously humorous, complexly tragic, and lyrically redemptive tale . . . Shafak's motley and compassionate cast embodies both the brutal consequences of tyranny and the power of individuals to undermine it in a full-tilt novel set in a fabled city, a swirling microcosm of human complexity and paradox." - starred review, Booklist
"Gripping . . . Through flashbacks to [the protagonist's] life in modern-day Turkey, minute by minute, you’ll feel her wonder, her joy, her pain. You’ll feel empathy for a girl whose life is upended from the day she is born. It’s companionship with other Istanbul transplants that saves Leila from complete despair. And as you get to know Leila’s other friends on the margins of society, you find yourself rooting for them in the unlikeliest of endeavors." - NPR's Book Concierge
"Shafak portrays Istanbul in all its glorious chaos against the backdrop of civil unrest that culminated in the Taksim Square Massacre of 1977. Despite being harassed by Turkish authorities for her depiction of sexual violence, the author uses the megaphone of her 12th novel to further expose female exploitation and sexual abuse. In this way she succeeds in giving a voice to the voiceless." - Shelf Awareness
"This is a vividly realized and complicated portrait of a woman making a life for herself in grueling circumstances, and of the labyrinthine city in which she does so." - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Lyrical and often magical . . . a love-letter to Istanbul." - The Economist
"A bold step forward by Turkey’s most significant woman writer . . . Elif Shafak is enormously gifted." - Counterpunch
"Elif Shafak's audacious, dazzlingly original storytelling brings Istanbul's underworld to life via the vivid recollections of sex worker Tequila Leila, recently dumped for dead in a rubbish bin . . . A work of fearless imagination, the story takes the reader into the vertiginous world of its irresistible heroine, whose bloody-minded determination and fierce optimism make her an unforgettable character whose death, albeit foretold, still comes as a shattering blow. Courageous and utterly captivating, this telling novel is a testament to the power of friendship and of the human spirit." - The Booker Prize panel
"A heartbreaking meditation on the ways in which social forces can destroy a life. Elif Shafak can be unsparing, lyrical, political, intimate... Several novels live in this one, and all of them are moving, generous and elegantly written." - Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING and REPUTATIONS
"Elif Shafak brings into the written realm what so many others want to leave outside. Spend more than ten minutes and 38 seconds in this world of the estranged. Shafak makes a new home for us in words." - Colum McCann, author of LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN
"Haunting, moving, beautifully written―and based by an extraordinary cast of characters who capture the diversity of modern Turkey. A masterpiece." - Peter Frankopan, author of THE NEW SILK ROADS
"[Elif Shafak is] one of the best writers in the world today." - Hanif Kureishi
"Simply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end." - Philippe Sands, author of EAST WEST STREET
"A work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness" - Simon Schama, author of The Story of the Jews
"A vivid carnival of life and death, cruelty and kindness, love, politics and deep humanity." - Helena Kennedy, author of Eve Was Shamed
"A rich, sensual novel . . . that gives voice to the invisible, the untouchable, the abused and the damaged, weaving their painful songs into a thing of beauty." - Financial Times
"Beneath the lush scene-setting and romantic storytelling . . . are strident calls to challenge fundamentalism and misogyny in the Middle East." - The Times
"Lush, evocative and compassionate." - Mail on Sunday--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She has published seventeen books, eleven of which are novels, and her work has been translated into fifty languages. Shafak holds a PhD in political science and has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. An advocate for women's rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice a TED global speaker. Shafak contributes to many major publications around the world and has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the 12 people “who will give you a much needed lift of the heart.” www.elifshafak.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Shafak writes with vision, bravery and compassion . . . a stunning portrait of a city, a society, a small community and a single soul." - The New York Times Book Review
A deeply humane story about the cruel effects of Turkey’s intolerant sexual attitudes . . . Shafak is a master of captivating moments that provide a sprawling and intimate vision of Istanbul . . . Ultimately, “10 Minutes” isn’t really about death, but the persistence of love . . . Leila’s ragtag friends, scorned and mocked by polite society, can’t possibly triumph over the forces of religious and political corruption, but they ― and Shafak ― manage to create something truly subversive: a community of devotion beyond the reach of state or mosque." - The Washington Post
"A beautifully written tour de force of exemplary storytelling . . . Its powerful insights into Turkey’s past and present challenges and the world today make it highly recommended." - Library Journal, starred review
"Extraordinary . . . a piercing, unflinching look at the trauma women’s minds and bodies are subjected to in a social system defined by patriarchal codes." - The Guardian
"Ever-courageous Turkish writer Shafak creates another resilient woman protagonist at odds with Turkey’s repressive society . . . [A] seductively imaginative, rambunctiously humorous, complexly tragic, and lyrically redemptive tale . . . Shafak's motley and compassionate cast embodies both the brutal consequences of tyranny and the power of individuals to undermine it in a full-tilt novel set in a fabled city, a swirling microcosm of human complexity and paradox." - starred review, Booklist
"Gripping . . . Through flashbacks to [the protagonist's] life in modern-day Turkey, minute by minute, you’ll feel her wonder, her joy, her pain. You’ll feel empathy for a girl whose life is upended from the day she is born. It’s companionship with other Istanbul transplants that saves Leila from complete despair. And as you get to know Leila’s other friends on the margins of society, you find yourself rooting for them in the unlikeliest of endeavors." - NPR's Book Concierge
"Shafak portrays Istanbul in all its glorious chaos against the backdrop of civil unrest that culminated in the Taksim Square Massacre of 1977. Despite being harassed by Turkish authorities for her depiction of sexual violence, the author uses the megaphone of her 12th novel to further expose female exploitation and sexual abuse. In this way she succeeds in giving a voice to the voiceless." - Shelf Awareness
"This is a vividly realized and complicated portrait of a woman making a life for herself in grueling circumstances, and of the labyrinthine city in which she does so." - Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Lyrical and often magical . . . a love-letter to Istanbul." - The Economist
"A bold step forward by Turkey’s most significant woman writer . . . Elif Shafak is enormously gifted." - Counterpunch
"Elif Shafak's audacious, dazzlingly original storytelling brings Istanbul's underworld to life via the vivid recollections of sex worker Tequila Leila, recently dumped for dead in a rubbish bin . . . A work of fearless imagination, the story takes the reader into the vertiginous world of its irresistible heroine, whose bloody-minded determination and fierce optimism make her an unforgettable character whose death, albeit foretold, still comes as a shattering blow. Courageous and utterly captivating, this telling novel is a testament to the power of friendship and of the human spirit." - The Booker Prize panel
"A heartbreaking meditation on the ways in which social forces can destroy a life. Elif Shafak can be unsparing, lyrical, political, intimate... Several novels live in this one, and all of them are moving, generous and elegantly written." - Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of THE SOUND OF THINGS FALLING and REPUTATIONS
"Elif Shafak brings into the written realm what so many others want to leave outside. Spend more than ten minutes and 38 seconds in this world of the estranged. Shafak makes a new home for us in words." - Colum McCann, author of LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN
"Haunting, moving, beautifully written―and based by an extraordinary cast of characters who capture the diversity of modern Turkey. A masterpiece." - Peter Frankopan, author of THE NEW SILK ROADS
"[Elif Shafak is] one of the best writers in the world today." - Hanif Kureishi
"Simply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end." - Philippe Sands, author of EAST WEST STREET
"A work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness" - Simon Schama, author of The Story of the Jews
"A vivid carnival of life and death, cruelty and kindness, love, politics and deep humanity." - Helena Kennedy, author of Eve Was Shamed
"A rich, sensual novel . . . that gives voice to the invisible, the untouchable, the abused and the damaged, weaving their painful songs into a thing of beauty." - Financial Times
"Beneath the lush scene-setting and romantic storytelling . . . are strident calls to challenge fundamentalism and misogyny in the Middle East." - The Times
"Lush, evocative and compassionate." - Mail on Sunday--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
Publisher : Penguin; 1st edition (June 6, 2019)
Publication date : June 6, 2019
Print length : 305 pages
About the author
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Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels. She is a bestselling author in many countries around the world and her work has been translated into 55 languages. Her latest novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize; and was Blackwell’s Book of the Year. The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by BBC among the 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. The Architect’s Apprentice was chosen for the Duchess of Cornwall’s inaugural book club, The Reading Room. Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. She also holds a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bard College.
Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature. She was a member of Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. Shafak contributes to major publications around the world and she was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people “who will give you a much needed lift of the heart”. Shafak has judged numerous literary prizes, including PEN Nabokov prize and she has chaired the Wellcome Prize.
www.elifshafak.com
Twitter @Elif_Safak
Top reviews from other countries
beverley fergar
5.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite writerReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2019
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The premise is 'Leila the dead prostitute' 10 minutes and 38 seconds of consciousness after her murder. Thereby follows, chapter by chapter, her background, the most influential people in her life and her musings on her life. Istanbul is brought to life with all it's colours, sounds, smells and politics. Sounds pretty straightforward but no. Ms Shafat's writing is perfection and I would class this as one of the very best modern day novels that I have read for a very long time. I am eager to read everything that this author has written.
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Egle Aleknaite
2.0 out of 5 stars Aiming at good, but…Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2019
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To my literary taste, it appeared too declarative, with one-sided good and bad characters. But literature can serve many functions besides feeding my obsession with complicated nature of things – for example, to educate and to raise awareness.
And the novel does that. Fight for the rights of women, celebration of diversity and defence of all sorts outcasts are hailed there, reflecting Elif Shafak’s career as a human rights activist. The story raises awareness of injustice, challenges stereotypes related to sex workers, LGBT people and other vulnerable groups and shows how society creates circumstances that force some people to take roles we detest.
The only problem is that in her endeavour, Shafak uses other stereotypes and in doing so reinforces them. Take, for example, representations of religion in the novel: Islam has some place in Shafak’s vision of cherished diversity: one of the main positive characters, Zaynab122, is a devote Muslim. Alas, Shafak allows other characters to share some interesting insights, thus showing them as thinking personalities, whereas Zaynab122, with her attempts to provide religious protection to her friends, appears as a good-natured and tolerant, but superstitious and rather primitive. Virtually all other references to Islam show it as practices and ideologies serving patriarchal hegemony, degrading human dignity and significantly contributing to the poor state wherein the main characters find themselves.
Nobody denies that religion is often used to justify patriarchy, unfair treatment and outcasting of various groups. But such selection of representations of Islam as found in the novel ignores diversity of Islamic thought and practices, growing body of Islamic feminisms and Muslims fighting for universally applicable human rights. Celebrating diversity and fighting for rights of women and many vulnerable groups are appreciated. But doing this by reinforcing negative stereotypes widely associated with Islam seen as inherently patriarchal and hostile to women and reason in the context of growing worldwide Islamophobia and the divided Turkish society does no good for women and any vulnerable group – Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
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John Theakstone
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written book on a most unusual themeReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2019
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The recounting of Leila's life through her reflections during the 10 minutes 38 seconds after her death, including her friendship with other outsiders in Istanbul is beautifully told. This is almost a book of two halves, for there is a change of tone as the others are brought to the fore after Leila's burial in the Cemetery of the Companionless. This is strikingly imaginative writing which will lead readers to experience a range of emotions. The book provides a picture of Istanbul over the years - affectionate but also disturbing.
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Beth
1.0 out of 5 stars One star for premiseReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2019
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I really wanted to love this book because the premise sounded so interesting, that someone can still think after they have died and how the story can unfold from this. The writer's credentials are impeccable and I love how she highlights the plight of those in society, who are on the edges. However, I really, really struggled to finish it. I persevered, trying to tell myself that it had such great reviews, well it must be me. The writing let's it down. Terrible, boring, cliched and so dull it sets your teeth on edge. I cannot understand how it got through the editing process.
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Marianded
4.0 out of 5 stars The life and death of LeilaReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2019
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This is a beautifully written book, it deals with the life and death of Leila who was brutally murdered. We are taken back through her life thanks to the electrical impulses from her dying brain.
This section of the book is brilliant, there are scenes of Turkish life and customs, beautifully and vividly painted. We also meet Leila's five friends and there are brief sketches of their back story. These friends turn out to play a pivotal role later in the book and for me, this is where I started to lose a little patience.
They embark on a mission (not being more specific to avoid spoilers) but just felt credulity was stretched. However the last few pages, absolutely gorgeous so I can see why this plot line was introduced.
I would definitely recommend this book and I intend to read some other works by this author.
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