| Title | : | The Bellini Card (Yashim the Eunuch, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0374110395 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780374110390 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published May 6, 2010 |
The Bellini Card (Yashim the Eunuch, #3) Reviews
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The strengths of The Bellini Card are the sense of place, characterisation, and historical detail. Goodwin places the reader in both Istanbul and Venice -- the landscape and architecture, the sights, sounds and smells, and the social strata and living conditions. The descriptions are wonderfully evocative and come to life in one’s mind’s eye. This is aided by a melting pot of nicely drawn characters -- a mix of fading aristocrats, bureaucrats, servants and criminals -- and their interactions conditioned by social standing. This is all well framed with respect to byzantine politics and the long history of connections between the two cities. The plot, however, is also somewhat byzantine. It might have been because I was tired when reading, but as the story progressed I became increasingly lost as to logic driving the story and I reached the end without really understanding the denouement. Maybe if I read it again it would become clear, but on first reading the complex weave and twists in the story never fully unravelled to reveal themselves. The result was a tale I enjoyed for the rich portrait of people and places, but where the plot became evermore incidental.
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This is the third novel about the eunuch detective Yashim in 1830’s Istanbul. Formerly of the Sultan’s court, he uses his contacts to solve mysteries in the multi-cultural chaos of the Ottoman capital.
This time, though, the year is 1840, and the action moves across the Adriatic Sea to Venice. For centuries a power in the Eastern Mediterranean, after Napoleon Venice is an outpost of the Austrian empire, slowing falling into decay.
A richly woven tale involving the Venetian aristocracy, including a beautiful Contessa, and political intrigue and secrets from the past and present. I love Jason Goodwin’s Istanbul, but I must admit that I found all the different twists and turns in this book overwhelming. -
Not as good as The Snake Stone. The writing and descriptions are so good and the characters are so likeable that I kept reading and enjoying all the way to the end. But the plot is murky and illogical and it jumps around a lot, often even midstream in chapters that are only 1 or 2 pages long. But it's STILL a fun read!
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Officially, I only skimmed the second half of this. I enjoy Yashim and his friends, but I just couldn't get through this one. After 6 months of pretending to try, I am giving up.
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Meh. Incoherent plot and excessively "cinematic" writing made it both dull and hard to follow. I enjoyed the Janissary Tree but am losing interest in the series as I go on.
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I saw this mentioned somewhere -- maybe fivebooks.com -- as a great historical mystery. I think the interviewee said something like "he really makes Venice in 1840s come alive; I'm a historian of Venice and I felt like he knew more about it than I did!" So I added this to my To Be Read list as a "try something different" when the time arrived for a palate cleanser. After the disaster that was
Real Men Knit I felt that time had arrived.
First a disclaimer: this is the third book in a series of detective mysteries that are mostly set in 1840s Istanbul featuring Yashim the Eunuch, a kind of problem-solver extraordinaire for the sultan. I have no read any of the previous books in the series but I find that's not usually an insurmountable hurdle for mystery series, which tend to be fairly self-contained.
The book starts off a bit strange: Yashim isn't really the main character of the first half the book. The book takes place in Venice and he sends his Polish friend Palewski in his place. Much of the first half of the book is just Palewski kind of...putzing around Venice somewhat ineffectually looking for a painting.
There are a series of murders occurring in Venice but it has not much to with Palewski. He doesn't know the victims, he's not investigating them. There's a weird lack of tension and drama. It almost reminded me of
The Catch, except Palewski isn't quite that incompetent. He's more just out of his depth rather than incompetent per se.
Then, after you've been following Palewski for half the book...suddenly Yashim shows up and Palewski is shelved. We follow Yashim for the rest of the book. It is just kind of jarring. I imagine for a fan of the series it might be even more jarring. (After all, the series is "Yashim the Eunuch" and he's not even really in the first half of the book.)
Despite all that...the first half of the book was somewhat entertaining. The author is tremendous at depicting Venice in the mid-19th century and he is especially good at detailing anything involving food.
Once Yashim shows up the book descended to the ridiculous. There's a jarring sequence where . There's some mystical mumbo-jumbo about how the Sand-Reckoner's Diagram is not just the basis for fencing and wrestling (and Yashim and the Contessa both just happen to be trained in this same style!) but also, uh, everything?“Patterns aren’t measurements,” Yashim said finally. “I’ve seen the Sand-Reckoner’s diagram on a sheet of paper and on the floor of the wrestling school, in Istanbul. It’ll work on any scale.”
“Of course.”
But probably the biggest "are you kidding me?" is the whole sequence with
Oh, and the same exact location of the infamous gambling night many decades ago that set everything in motion, also happens to be where Maria gets stashed, and is also where the decides to hide out?
This book is just contrivance piled on top of contrivance on top of contrivance.
I'm only giving this 2-stars instead of 1-star because I feel slightly bad about jumping to the third book in a series and then giving it 1-star.
(Also, why does the decide to cut off someone's head and put it on dramatic display?) -
This Is the third book in the series that I read so far, and is my least favorite. Maybe it is because I got used to the storyline of the author and it is a bit repetitive. However I was bit bored while reading this book How despite the fact I really like the main character, Yashim the Eunuch.
Yashim It’s a private detective close to the Sultan of the ottoman empire and is often tasked by the Palace to solve mystery crimes. He is the James abomination of the ottoman era. He’s also an amazing cook, and Goodwin makes a point of describing every meal who cooks in the books.
The reason I did not enjoy this one as much as the previous books it was due to the repetitive nature of the storyline and Yashim not being the main character in the majority of the book. Most of the story takes place in Venice and the main character is Palewsky, Yashim’s friend, The Polish ambassador. Palewsky is sent to Venice to trace back a portrait of Mehmet the 2nd painted by Bellini. As usual with this series he ended up being tangled in a mystery murder case and Yashim appears towards the end to solve the cases.
The storyline is so convoluted one loses track of who is who and what is happening. The writer tried to use twists to shift the suspicion from one candidate to the other but after multiple attempts it gets a bit stale.
Over not bad, but not impressive and memorable either. -
This is the third book in this delightful series. It is my third book as well. For once, I’m reading a series in order. All the elements I enjoyed in the first two books are here. A strong sense of place in 1840 Istanbul, almost a character itself, our protagonist, Yashim the Eunuch, is like no other in this genre, and Yashim’s cooking, which he is as adept at as investigating, adds daily life to the adventures. Plus, this volume has the bonus of Venice to the mix. A new locale for the author to transport us to. But Venice is in a sorry state. Long past her glory days, now under an Austrian thumb in a post Napoleonic world. Actually, Yashim’s dear friend, Palewski, is the one who takes the lead in the first half of the book, on a delicate mission to Venice. It’s a rather complex plot of serial murders, lost artwork, faded nobility, secret identities, courtesans, palace intrigue, and geopolitical consequences. Granted there’s a few holes here and there, but it doesn’t cancel the reading enjoyment which takes us from the Topkapi Palace to the Grand Canal with plenty of sleuthing and daring do throughout.
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I listened to this book on audiobook. I always clarify that because I think it significantly affects how you enjoy a book. I like the actor for the most part, but eventually the accents grated on me. I believe it was a bit harder to follow in listening rather than reading, as I'm not an auditory learner and it helps me keep track of the characters to visually see their names. Several characters have similar names, so this was a bit of a struggle.
Overall though it was a great mystery, truly only wrapping up until the very end. Half a CD ago I was seriously concerned that I didn't follow the plot and I was maybe a little pathetic, but then all the loose ends were tied in the very last two chapters. I would read more by this author - pleasant, intelligent writing style that's not at all simplistic (as I've experienced with popular mystery writers).
This book has the added bonus of having a historically significant setting (Venice/Istanbul in the 19th century), so if you like that kind of thing, this book may be for you. There isn't a ton of gore or descriptions of violence, which I also appreciate. -
I think the author may have missed his calling in food writing - the descriptions of food and cooking were mouthwatering, but the rest of the book wasn't so impressive. Scenery and setting descriptions were all right, and the main characters were likable enough, but the plot was weirdly convoluted and spent too much time happening alongside the main characters. Something that might have worked if Palewiski had seemed threatened by the mysterious murders (which, I think he actually was, but it wasn't clear enough from the story, or all his dithering around). Without that suspense, it almost felt like there were two separate plots going on for much of the book: the search for the Bellini and the extremely weird murders.
Speaking of which...either I missed something or there was never an explanation of the weird and highly theatrical murders. I mean, there was an explanation of why the people were killed, but not the how. Unless we're just supposed to go with "because Venice is theatrical"? -
The Bellini Card is a charming literary get-away to the Istanbul court of the 1840's and the struggling city of Venice under Hapsburg domination. The principal characters are wonderful and the writing successfully evokes the manners and politics of the era. The author deftly weaves the search for a lost masterwork (a Bellini painting) into the novel and that creates the mystery and tension which makes it fun for folks who like more than just an historical novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. -
I bought this book because I had just returned from Venice and wanted to extend the trip by reading more about the city. The premise of the book is believable but the resolution is not. I really dislike books that reveal all right at the end without giving you enough clues to try to figure it out for yourself. And, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm not sure after reading it what really happened. Maybe it's just me. I did not find the book suspenseful just confusing. Judging by the ratings everyone else has given the book, I'm in the minority.
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I found this a cracking good, intelligent mystery with plenty of surprises along the way.
The book is very rich in its descriptions and Goodwin recreates the faded splendour of 19th century Venice with the same skill he has applied to Istanbul in all three novels. I appreciated the author's end note about the Bellini portrait, which does exist, and how it came into the possession of Britain's National Gallery. A delightful series of historical mysteries that I hope will continue. -
When the new sultan of Istanbul voices a desire to own a rare painting of Mehmet the Conqueror by Bellini, Investigator Yashim enlists his friend Stanislaw Palewski, the Polish Ambassador, to travel to Venice to locate the painting while posing as a rich American named Signor Brett.
Third historical to feature the eunuch Yashim as an investigator, but can stand alone.
Intellectual rather than fast-paced. Complexly plotted with intriguing chracters. Great atmosphere of the time period.
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Just one word sums up this book for me. Byzantine. The plot, the characters and the settings. This book is about a search for a painting by an enuch in the 1840s. A fairly good read once I put on by history cap and tried to remember what was going on in the world at that time and during the Bellini's time.
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Jason Goodwin has become one of my favorite authors. In this novel Yashim lalla (eunuch)sends his friend the Polish ambassador to Venice to find a portrait of the Sultan's ancestor Memhet by Bellini. Goodwin's up to par with intrigue, romance, mystery, and more local color than most authors. Plot turns and twists that will leave your head spinning. I am ready for his next book.
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another great installment in the Yashim series, this one taking us from Istanbul to Venice and back. Yashim's friend Palewski plays a more active role, and Goodwin continues the delightfully descriptive cooking classes!
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I have enjoyed all of this series. I like Yashim and I liked the expanded role of the Polish ambassador in this one. Also like the Venice setting. I did find the plot machinations got away from me a bit for a while there; I didn't quite follow what was going on, but eventually I caught up.
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I found this book really delightful. In contrast to the last one (The Snake Stone), this one had a much more comprehensible plot, and the descriptions, as always, were vivid and the settings entrancing.
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I always have a hard time following the denouement of Goodwin's novels. But the settings are fascinating and every book has several very good recipes that I love trying out for myself.
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Initially intrigued by the change of scenery (1840 Venice under Austrian control, instead of Istanbul) in this third installment of Yashim the Ottoman detective, and the fact that his Polish friend Palewski gets a greater role as he's sent to investigate alone in Venice, I found myself ending up struggling to understand who's who, and the connections between the different characters. It's all a bit bizarre and disjointed. And it gets worse when Yashim appears as a beggar who transforms into pasha the day after, to help out his friend entangled in a series of murders...
I find the plots in the Yashim series generally disjointed and hard to follow, but this one is on another level! It's never a good sign when I find myself skipping paragraphs especially in a crime novel!
The series is interesting to read though, for the historical background and the very detailed depictions of culture, architecture, life and politics in Venice (for this tome) and Istanbul.
I enjoyed Goodwin's Lords of the Horizon, on the Ottoman Sultans, a nonfiction book, and maybe that's what he should focus on, history and travel writing? Because he does that very well. -
This is less satisfying than the first two in the series due to the convoluted—or more appropriate, Byzantine—plot and characters. I couldn’t keep the characters straight, and after a while, I didn’t care. Akin to being lost in Venice’s canals and alleys, I just wanted to escape the confusion and get back to Istanbul.
While Goodwin’s 19th century Venice is richly evocative, I think the story lost something for not being set in Istanbul and not focusing on Yashim, a more interesting character than his Polish friend Palewski, whom Yashim sends to Venice as his emissary. Once we again focus on Yashim, the pace picks up and events are clearer.
As in his other books, Goodwin doesn’t explain enough. I often only half understand what characters are talking about. And why does Carla try to kill her Turkish visitors? How does Yashim figure everything out—he just does without much true detective work. -
The third Yashim the Eunuch book takes place mostly in Venice. The new Sultan has heard rumors of a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror by Bellini. He dispatches Yashim to buy it. After being told by the Sultan's vizier to not go, Yashim asks his friend the Polish ambassador to travel to Venice instead. Multiple murders occur and Yashim goes to help.
There are wonderful descriptions of Venice in decline under the Austrian rule that succeeded Napoleon. There is a commissario named Brunelli, who is an homage to Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti. On the whole it is a good story and setting.
