Q & A with Jason Goodwin discussion

Yashim, the investigator who first appeared in The Janissary Tree, is a sleuth, a cook, and Ottoman gentleman - and a eunuch. So what's that about?
Well, one thing I'll say for starters - in a traditional society, where women and men were generally segregated, Yashim is the only guy who can legitimately move between them, from the public world to the private realm of the harem.

I was drawn to the Yashim character because it gave life to Middle East history classes I took at as an undergraduate and graduate student. Do you feel that your readers need some background on the Ottoman empire to appreciate the intricate plots?

How interested are modern day Turks in their Ottoman history? They seem to me more future oriented than baskers in their Sultanate roots.

Several friends have loaned me Attaturk books, but no one has offerred Yashim! (I had to find him on my own) :) I'm just curious what people generally think about that part of their history.

Charlotte wrote: "I was drawn to the Yashim character because it gave life to Middle East history classes I took at as an undergraduate and graduate student. Do you feel that your readers need some background on the..."

It's interesting that you came to the Yashim books by that route, Charlotte - you're not alone in that, and I can see why you might think that a certain prior knowledge would be useful. But remember all the readers who come to the books for the food, or because they've been to Istanbul, or because they're drawn to mysteries...or a certain writing style..or a character, a relationship, or even a historical period. Every reader brings something to a book - as they say, writing is a two-way process, really.

I ground my novels in fact, for sure; but like any novelist I am responsible for creating what is, in the end, an imaginary world. You don't have to be a chocolate expert to appreciate Charlie's visit to Willie Wonka's factory. By the same token I always adored Raymond Chandler, long before I'd been to LA: Marlowe's Los Angeles is, in the end, an imaginary world, too.

I hope readers can come to the Yashim stories without knowing anything about the Ottomans, but that they leave having discovered something new.

Fred wrote: "How interested are modern day Turks in their Ottoman history? They seem to me more future oriented than baskers in their Sultanate roots.

Several friends have loaned me Attaturk books, but no one ..."

Interesting question, which would need a whole post to itself to do it justice! Basically, the Turks broke with their past, big time, when they established the Republic in 1923. Ataturk created a secular constitution and a few years later he reformed the script: what had previously been written in Arabic script was now to be written in Roman letters. So at a stroke, centuries of Ottoman literature was lost to the people - they had to read it in modern versions. On the other hand, reading became accessible to the masses, and the country became vastly more literate...
For years, it's true, the past was something of a no-go area. But I think that's changing as the Turks grow in self-confidence, and as some old wounds begin to heal. One minor indication is that all my books are translated into Turkish, and they seem to be fairly popular there!

Say - have you read any of the Turkish translations of your books?

Deniz wrote: "Say - have you read any of the Turkish translations of your books?"

As a matter of fact I haven't, but friends who have read them tell me that the translations are excellent. The latest, BiR UCU ALTIN BOYNUZ, was done by M. Begum Guzel, who I recently met in Istanbul.

Neat! Maybe I'll try it in Turkish first...

Deniz wrote: "Neat! Maybe I'll try it in Turkish first..."
I read and really enjoyed Janissary Tree as a leap in the dark having forgotten all I ever knew about the Ottoman empire.I've been dreaming of the Bosphorous ever since so maybe I should read Lord of the Horizons next and come back to Yashim to enjoy the fragrance with deeper understanding?