10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World - Elif Shafak

There is nothing more beautiful than starting the year with a good book. Even though the adjective does not do it justice, I insist to keep it for I am always asked to recommend a good book.

I have heard before of Elif Shafak, but I have kept myself away (like I always do when a writer is too much promoted and I somehow wait for her/ his fame to set in in order to be able to rejoice in her/ his book rather than in her/ his reputation).

'10 Minutes 38 seconds in This Strange World' is a manifest for tolerance. There are in this book so many references towards religion, sex, society, way of living, education, nationality, ethnicity, color of the skin, and all of them have different valences. Enough to open the minds, even just a little bit, upon them. If I may I will paraphrase the sacred teachings: those who have their minds prepared will understand.

In a nutshell, the book recounts the last 10 minutes and 38 seconds of Leila's cerebral activity, after her assassination. Tastes and odors apparently accidentally chosen by the brain, take us through important moments of Leila's life.

Each memory is like a link in a chain, bonded by friendship. People say that we cannot choose our family, but we can choose our friends. And, sometimes, it turns out that friends are even more loyal than the members of a family. Five, in Leila's case. Five loyal friends who are there for her even after her death.

Sexual violence against minors is, in fact, a stand-alone thread in the woven of the story. The framework in which it appears, humans' attitude towards it, and also the impact it has on its victims and the society, are minutely described, without drawn conclusions or recommendations. Actually, in this lies the beauty of the book. There are no conclusions or recommendations. Everyone is free to draw their own conclusions, if they such wish, and teachings.

And speaking of freedom, Martin Luther King. Jr.'s speech acquires extraordinary meanings in this book, playing the role of a gardian-angel to the main character. Leila had seen the speech as a kid, and at the moment of her own liberation, the circle closes with the uplifting words:
'Free at Last!'