"An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go and so decide to reverse roles. The man goes out wearing make ...
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reviews
Jul 28, 2011
Zenu
rated it: 
The Gaze is an amazing book. With its action taking place in the colonized Siberia of the 17th century, revolutionary France of the 19th and modernizing Ottoman Empire of the late 19th it turns out to be story of an obese woman and a dwarf in the nowadays Turkish Republic.
Respectively, the book has many layers including a Dictionary of Gazes – a lifelong project of the dwarf and a focal point of all the stories. In turns, we observe the interrupted transformation of a shaman in Siberia, resulted More...
Respectively, the book has many layers including a Dictionary of Gazes – a lifelong project of the dwarf and a focal point of all the stories. In turns, we observe the interrupted transformation of a shaman in Siberia, resulted More...
Nov 07, 2011
Ellen
rated it: 
While certainly interesting, The Gaze is not the masterpiece that The Bastard of Istanbul is. While the latter explored the minds of its characters in depth, the only character who receives this treatment in The Gaze is the nameless fat woman who narrates some chapters. Personally, I would have found it interesting to see Shafak explore the inner lives of some of the carnival performers. Those sections often dragged a bit compared to the ones about the fat woman and her lover. The Dictionar
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Feb 12, 2008
Katherine
rated it:
What begins as a simple story of a relationship between an obese woman, who values her privacy above all else, and a dwarf, who wants to be noticed, mushrooms into an absurd parade about the roles of desire and objectification throughout history.
Although The Gaze is wildly imaginative, original, and funny, this is another case of the novel's reach exceeding its grasp, and the ending, I felt, only represented a return to things as they were.
Although The Gaze is wildly imaginative, original, and funny, this is another case of the novel's reach exceeding its grasp, and the ending, I felt, only represented a return to things as they were.
Feb 12, 2008
Randi
rated it: 
Enchanting. Three stories permeate: one consisting of two Istanbul lovers, one a hugely obese woman who shrinks from people's stares and wishes she could retreat forever far from others' eyes, the other a midget who defiantly meets those same stares head on and acts out in spite of them. Their interaction and the other two stories of the power of the gaze is captivating.
Jul 29, 2008
Datsun
rated it: 
I dunno if it's the translation or what, but this was just a little too elliptical, a little too suggestive, and a little too... thin for my taste. After being promised a fat woman and a dwarf, I just felt let down. But that may be because I was spoiled by Katherine Dunn's fantastic Geek Love.
Jan 29, 2012
Godelief
rated it:
Ik had gewaarschuwd moeten zijn door het citaat uit the Economist op de kaft: 'Shafak heeft alles in zich om de plaats van Pamuk in te nemen als de belangrijkster romanschrijver van Turkije'. Het boek was een harde noot om te kraken....
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