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Fiction
Birds Without Wings
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Birds Without Wings |
This book was sold everywhere in Istanbul, but paying €30 for a paperback seemed ridiculous, so I bought it here. The plot isn't terribly intricate and the characters are only briefly sketched, but the story is decent. It also serves as a basic introduction to the Ottoman collapse and subsequent birth of modern Turkey (for those who find actual history icky).
Birds Without Wings juxtaposes the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with that of a tiny Lycian coast village and its inhabitants. The villagers are Christian and Muslim peasants who live side by side in relative peace, intermarry and even partake in each other's religious rituals. Eventually, global events detailed in the Atatürk chapters begin to have an impact on this idyllic village. Armenians are killed, Muslim boys go off to war (and are subsequently traumatized), Christians are deported and bandits overrun the countryside. The main love story, involving a Muslim boy and a Christian girl who have been besotted with each other since birth, obviously ends in tragedy.
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Posted by eerie at 11:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Midaq Alley
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Midaq Alley |
I generally avoid fiction and know very little about modern literature in the region, but I found this book by Naguib Mahfouz immensely appealing. The setting is Cairo, specifically a small neighbourhood in the old city during WWII. Every character is vaguely reprehensible yet interesting in terms of motivations and appetites. My favourite portrayal is Hamida, because in a bizarre way she reminds me of myself (don't judge, we are all narcissists). It's not often that I can relate to female characters in fiction, usually they're simpering, maudlin, 2-dimensional caricatures, but Hamida has a very unusual temperament, especially when one considers the setting. She is beautiful (and knows it), fickle, aggressive and bent on an existence that is something more extraordinary than an unrewarding life in Midaq Alley. However, she's not entirely sure what she wants, or how to achieve it within acceptable social boundaries. Her willingness to marry and have children is based entirely on the potential for increased status, so she is quite cavalier with prospective suitors.
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Posted by eerie at 11:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Palace Walk
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Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy) |
Part of the famed Cairo Trilogy, Palace Walk is the story of a Cairo family headed by a pious, oppressive authoritarian (or so his family believes). Every night, he meets up with friends and leads a hidden bon vivant life of debauchery, adultery and indulgence. His wife, who hasn't left the house in 25 years, is content with being completely obedient and submissive, though she's prone to attacks of anxiety and self-doubt. Mahfouz spends a lot of time fleshing out his characters and explaining motivations and the story touches on a lot of "issues", such as marriage, morals, nationalism and the British protectorate.
Posted by eerie at 06:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
