Category Archives: Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap

The Monday Book: ISTANBUL PASSAGE by Joseph Karon

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We apologize for recent glitches in the blog timing. We were experimenting with presetting, and it’s not been going well. We’re going back to manual settings and will be good for Monday, Wednesday and Friday regular blogs henceforth. Technology wins again…. :] and now, Jack’s review of ISTANBUL PASSAGE
I’m a sucker for spy novels, and Wendy and I recently spent two weeks in Istanbul, so this screamed at me when it came into the shop.
I wasn’t disappointed!
Karon is often compared to Le Carre and Greene and my first observation to Wendy was “this is a cross between ‘The Third Man’ and ‘Smiley’s People’”.
The plot is both dense and enthralling – I was continually sucked in and drawn along. To begin with I was confused (actually, after finishing the book I had to go back and re-read the first few chapters). Wendy and I had not only visited Istanbul, but also Romania (not to mention Rumania and Roumania), so all the settings meant a great deal to me. Did being familiar with the places make the book more meaningful? I really don’t know!
Having said that, I definitely got an extra jolt from knowing the settings of the story.
Briefly this is a tale set in Istanbul just after the 2nd World War and as the Cold War is getting going. I had either forgotten or never realized that Turkey was neutral during that war. It was, therefore, one of those strange places like Switzerland and Portugal where the spies, diplomats or black-marketeers could mingle and play out their dramas. One of the main characters is an American businessman who’s become a ‘semi-detached’ spy and another is a Romanian double-agent. In the end the story ends up being about their relationship as much as anything else.
The descriptions of Istanbul rang very true. The book is set in 1946, but all the descriptions of streets and landmarks are just familiar enough to take me back there. Not just that, but the atmosphere as well!
When Wendy and I were flying home from Istanbul after our 15th anniversary vacation last year, one of the movies on the plane was the latest James Bond, which started with a scene in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – we’d just been there and one of the settings in Karon’s book is also there. Not just that, but Wendy had almost been pick-pocketed there as well.
In the end the book is about choices. Who you owe most to and where your loyalties lie.
There’s an interesting interview with Karon at the end of the edition we have where he says that the best spy novels are not about spying but more about moral dilemmas. I wonder whether all the best books, no matter what the genre, are about those?

The Sweetest Mysteries of Generosity

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stuffTwo large parcels arrived yesterday evening just as my friend Elizabeth and I were headed to Needlework Night. I wished afterward I’d opened them before we left.

They were from John, a nice man who has a soft spot for cats. He sent me his wife’s crafting collection, as Alzheimer’s had ended her use for it, and he wanted the cats to have its benefits.

john box(Thank you, John!)

Among the oodles of lovely yarn and really nice cross stitches and books were a few items I’d never encountered before. Some looked like they were for knitting, which is great, because my friend Isabel and I have an arrangement; she takes the knitting stuff and brings me lovely character knit dishcloths to sell for the cats.

But amid the stitch counters and holding pins and needle tippers were some items that looked…. diabolical. In his sweet note John had said quite pointedly (ha ha, get it, pointed?) that he didn’t have a clue what some of the items were.

Neither did I.

Enter the fine folk of CROCHET ADDICT, a list of some 70,000 participants on Facebook. I photographed the seven mystery items and put up the photo.

Oh dear…… Who knew there could be such debate about some items?Thankfully, there were no fistfights – and if you’re on a large crafting forum on Facebook, you know exactly what those cyberfights look like. If you’re not, well, think political debate, with yarn, add menopause and PMS, and then factor in that the discussion is exponentially more important to those participating than any rhetoric of politics.

Then run for your life.

thingsHave a look, from top left being number 1 to bottom right being number 7, and see how many you can name. And then scroll down to see what the list came up with. The little photo is a close-up of number four in the picture, because the first time I posted, someone said the black bit was velcro. I’m no great shakes as a photographer.

 

 

DONT PEEK

DON’T PEEK

ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE TIRED OF GUESSING?

 

OKAY – here we go

1 is either a bobbin or a pompom maker, and quite possibly useful as both

2 is a cable knitting needle (think Fair Isle sweaters, because I am!)

3 is bobbins for a graphgan (and I have one in mind so am excited to have these)

4 is something to put over knitting needles to keep them from sliding off a project – except it might be a threader instead, depending on which faction you follow on Crochet Addict.

5 is a very old thread waxer – not even sure they make these anymore. You thread your thread (yes, I know, bad Wendy, verb and noun same word) through it and the beeswax keeps it from tangling and makes it stiffer for getting into the needle and working with on finer projects, like delicate quilting. (WHEE! I’m so happy to have this!!!!!)

6 is another kind of cable knitting needle – yo, Isabel!

7 is a (pick one) darning needle, amigurami needle, setting buttons into upholstery needle, surgical suturing needle. I’m cool with any of these.

December folder 047I’m also grateful to John for sending these and the rest of that big stash for the benefit of the Wise County Cats. Hadley and her friends say “THANKS MR. JOHN!”

And Jack and I continue to hold you and your wife in the light. Thanks!