In the beginning, I was a bit daunted by the 600 pages before me, but they flew by in just over a week. Murat Isik is a great storyteller and definitely has the knack of keeping you wanting to know what is coming next. The length of the book is also necessary, because it enables him to let the characters grow and develop.
Despite not having lived in the Bijlmer, there were a lot of recognisable points in the book for me. The flats were very reminiscent of the flats I lived next to in Manchester in that period - also demolished in the end, only in that case after a campaign from the residents to have them knocked down. I also clearly remember that evening in October 1992 when a plane flew really low over my head, obviously in trouble, before crashing in Amsterdam. The book also made me think about how being an immigrant from an EU country (which I am) is very different from being an immigrant from a country like Turkey.
I read the book because it was available in the Brommer op Zee app. The author's commentary was a great added benefit. It was very interesting to see what thoughts were behind the way he structured the book.