Quote:
Originally Posted by caleb72
I was thinking about the two main characters in two lights:
1) That Hoja was actually the Italian man who did actually throw away his faith at the decisive moment and from that point forward lives as two personalities: Hoja and the Venetian. I know that's a bit problematic for various reasons, but it interests me to think of it in that way.
2) That the Venetian represents a Western ideal or vision that was enviously stolen by the Turkish to push themselves forward and that the Turkish empire struggled between the more mystical nature of its past and the new rationalism/science that they wanted to adopt. (...)
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Bravo, Caleb, you have some valid points there.
I think the authenticity of (historical) things is flawed, the reader is warned in the preface, as well as reality itself is in question in this book. I think one is encouraged to see these things as symbolic.
Therefore it is difficult to give a clear view on the whole story. It’s all in the (readers) mind, so I embrace and take the freedom the writer gives me, in interpreting this novel.
I go with the hypothesis that there wasn’t a ‘Venetian’ at all to begin with; the encounter, the tale of his capture symbolises the interaction between the East and the West. Therefore I can place the capture of the ‘Venetian’ as the ending of the separation of the two. Remember the Arab conquests of part of Spain, Sicily and France from the 7th -15th century and the subsequent influence on the Renaissance, in a way a rebirth of the Western values, culture. Yes, perhaps a ridiculous explanation, but here it is.
Remember that the writer of this novel is Turkish…….
I get the feeling that the best way to ‘attack’ this book is concentrating on the story as it is and let the big picture evolve. Let’s pretend the Venetian is the West and Hoja is the personification of the East, and try to find a meaning in this novel.
Hm, perhaps the above is rather outrageous, but I find it not impossible, so I'll ponder on this a bit more.....