Questions tagged [elif-shafak]
Questions about works of Turkish author Elif Shafak (1971) or her life as a writer. Questions about her works originally published in Turkish should be tagged with [turkish-literature].
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What are the Forty Rules of Love?
In Elif Şafak's novel The Forty Rules of Love, the titular rules are frequently referenced by Shams and others, and several times in the book a rule is quoted in full, but they are never listed all ...
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Why doesn't Shams give Kimya any closure?
Shams rejects Kimya and she dies. Why doesn't he comfort her, explain why he doesn't want to make love to her, or in some other way acknowledge her love? I expected them to have some kind of heart-to-...
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Is there any significance to the format of Aziz's name?
One of the main protagonists in the outer frame story of Elif Shafak's The Forty Rules of Love is a man named Aziz Z. Zahara. This name immediately struck me because of its interesting relationship ...
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The Forty Rules of Love - what kind of "love"?
In Elif Safak's novel The Forty Rules of Love, Shams has a list of rules which he calls the Forty Rules of Love and encourages everyone to live by. What kind of "love" are these rules trying to govern?...
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Why include the frame story in The Forty Rules of Love?
The book The Forty Rules of Love contains two stories told in parallel: firstly, the story of Ella and Aziz in the 21st century; secondly, the story of Rumi and Shams in the 13th century as told by ...
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Was The Forty Rules of Love originally written in Turkish or in English?
I was trying to figure out whether or not to use the turkish-literature tag for my questions here about Elif Şafak's novel The Forty Rules of Love, i.e. whether or not the book was originally written ...
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Why did Shams refuse to sleep with Kimya?
Towards the end of Elif Şafak's The Forty Rules of Love, specifically the book-within-a-book Sweet Blasphemy which is largely a retelling of the real-life story of Shams and Rumi, Shams gets married ...
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How do the letters S, U, F, I symbolise the stages of Aziz's life?
In Elif Şafak's novel The Forty Rules of Love, in Aziz's correspondence with Ella, he tells her his life story, completing the final part when he meets her in person. Each part of his life he refers ...
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Why was The Bastard of Istanbul translated into Turkish as "Father and Bastard"?
The novel The Bastard of Istanbul was originally written in English (by a Turkish author, and set largely in the eponymous city in Turkey). It's been translated into various other languages, as listed ...
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Why are the chapters in The Bastard of Istanbul named after ingredients of ashure?
The Bastard of Istanbul is a novel by Elif Şafak which explores Turkish and Armenian culture and history; you can read a summary and 9-page excerpt online. One of the questions from the "reading guide"...
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Are 'The Forty Rules of Love' real?
One of the best-selling 21st-century novels, The Forty Rules of Love, shows historical fiction employing the love of Shams of Tabraiz and Mevlana Rumi. Were those 40 rules by Shams or were they made ...
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