Purgatory High Alert: Kurt Seyit and Sura

Alright you guys. Listen up. All you hopeless romantics who don't mind a little old school charm; Kurt Seyit ve Sura is for you. It is based on a book by the same name by author Nermin Bezmen. I am four episodes in and I am positively ENRAPTURED.

My apologies to my awesome Outlander buds, Tonya and Carla who told me to watch this eons ago and I put it off until now. OK so let's get the up-fronts out of the way: #1) If you are like me and are one of those people who would much rather read the book first, you may change your mind. I tried. And it's a good, solid, well-written book. But I got halfway through the sample and wasn't feeling quite the splendor of the romance on the TV series. The TV series has turned the relationships into full, vivid, technicolor, Wizard of Oz-transformation FABULOUSNESS. There are so many twists and turns and things you weren't expecting...you won't be able to turn it off. (Mind you, I said it charged up the ROMANCE. The history and geography writing is so far above me, I need a class on Crimea just to keep up. It's awesome.) #2) American friends, hear me now: some of the music will make you giggle, because we aren't used to this type of overly dramatic scoring of our TV series. You'll be like "What 1970s soap opera am I watching? Was this made with Gone with the Wind??" JUST KEEP WATCHING and tune it out if you think some of it is - how shall I say it? Slightly cheesy. TRUST. You'll be BEGGING to hear it in about 2 or 3 episodes. #3) Not a subtitle person? Not only do you forget about them in about 30 seconds, but listening to Seyit the Wolf (played by the ridiculously luscious Kivanç Tatlitug) WHISPER SWEET NOTHINGS IN TURKISH will drive you to a madness you have only read about in books. I-AM-SO-NOT-JOKING. So GET ON IT and watch this series. It's on Netflix. You're welcome.

UPDATE 6/2/18: I FULLY intend to go back and READ have been reading Nermin Bezmen's Kurt Seyt & Shura, and you will want to as well. The book is the REAL story, and as much as I love the TV series, you are going to want to know "what really happened" when you are finished.

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

You are exactly where I am. I love it. So dramatic and the slow motion is so cheesy but it's easy to forget.

Purgatory Carol said...

TOTALLY! In fact, you get to the point where you welcome it! LOL I can't even get through my day; I NEED to know what happens! 6 eps in so far! :)

Unknown said...

I loved the TV series the acting is fantastic and so is everythig at all.

But I am very sad about the way the.REAL story ends, the hero seyid stoped being a real hero when she left Shura to her fate.
I tried to understand his decision but can find an explanation. I hate to think that he a so called "brave man" never realy loved Shura and had no courage to continue protecting her. He abandoned her to her fate, while he conforted and refuged in the core of a musulman family. He was musulman after all and could not marry a woman who wasn't. It is so disapointing coming from a supposed brave and almost heroic Loutenant.The story should be called "Shura" only. My sincere appologies to the author whose writting is amasingly poetic and profoundly touching to the heart.I wished she wouldn't had said it was a real story.

Unknown said...

I am a student of Imperial Russia History and have researched this story in depth. I take issue with the original meeting of Alexandra and Seyit Eminof, because of the following; Sura would have been 14 years old at this supposed meeting and First Lt. Eminof would have been 27. The setting probably took place during the Christmas Ball (January 7, 1917). It is doubtful that a Turkish Army Officer would, #1 be invited to a Ball with Nobility, regardless of the fact he was a son of a respected Boyer in Crimea and a member of the Tzar's Life Guard, and #2 doubtful that Sura's parents would have allowed a 14 year old girl to date a 27 year old man especially if he was a Turk, and who was not nobility. Sura was the youngest of Julian Verjansky's three daughters born in 1903, Tina (Valentina) was next olseat BORN IN 1902 and Nina was the oldest. Likewise there was an older brother born in 1895, who was not mentioned at all in this story.

Many liberties were taken with the storyline and the events that took place in Istanbul later. For instance, Petro & Celil & the Baroness did not go to Istanbul, it is believed that Petro was killed in Russia during the revolution. Baroness may have been a write in to the script as there is no record of this person in St. Petersburg prior to or during the 1917

uprising.

Beyond that, this is a very well done TV Series with great acting by all members of the cast. Thanks for reading

Anonymous said...

Please,please post any factual
Information you obtain in regard
To afore subject. What actually
Happened? To Shura, her mother
And two sisters. Shura and her
Mother buried in California.
Shura 1966.
Thank you for SHARING your
Research into this period of
Russian history.