Read Around Asia Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in Asia.
Best books from Asia (1972)
Turkey1812.
The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk EN
Description:
The Museum of Innocence - set in Istanbul between 1975 and today - tells the story of Kemal, the son of one of Istanbul's richest families, and of his obsessive love for a poor and distant relation, the beautiful Fusun, who is a shop-girl in a small boutique. In his romantic pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal compulsively amasses a collection of objects that chronicles his lovelorn progress-a museum that is both a map of a society and of his heart. The novel depicts a panoramic view of life in Istanbul as it chronicles this long, obsessive love affair; and Pamuk beautifully capt... continue
1813.
The Garden of Departed Cats by Bilge Karasu EN
Description:
A surreal, utterly unique Turkish novel about a human chess game.
1814.
The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar EN
Description:
This is the story of the misadventures of Hayri Irdals, an unforgettable antihero who, along with an eccentric cast of characters (a television mystic, a pharmacist who dabbles in alchemy, a dignitary from the lost Ottoman empire, the 'life-artist' Halit), founds The Time Regulation Institute. The institute's quixotic quest: to make sure all the clocks in Turkey are set to Western time. Thus begins a brilliant satire about the calamitous arrival of Western and corporate values in tradition-bound Turkey.
1815.
The Disconnected by Oguz Atay EN
Description:
“My life was a game, but I wanted it to be taken seriously,” says Selim, the anti-hero of the novel. But the game has a terrible end with his suicide, and his friend Turgut’s quest to understand this is the story of the book. He meets friends whom Selim had kept separate from each other, he finds documents in a kaleidoscopic variety of styles, sometimes hugely funny, sometimes very moving, as Selim rails against the ugliness of his world whether in satire or in a howl of anguish, taking refuge in words and loneliness.
Under layers of fantasy is the central concept of the D... continue
1816.
Çalıkuşu by Reşat Nuri Güntekin TR
Description:
Reşat Nuri Güntekin'in 1922 yılında ilk kez Vakit gazetesinde tefrika edilen en tanınmış eseridir. Fransız Lisesi mezunu gencecik, delişmen bir kız olan Feride'nin serüveni yaşadığı derin bir hayal kırıklığı sonrasında nişanlısını, ailesini İstanbul'da bırakarak Anadolu'nun küçük bir köyüne öğretmen olmasıyla başlar. Daha sonra bu köyü diğer kasabalar, şehirler izler. Önceleri her gittiği yerde Kurtuluş Savaşı'nın etkileri görülür, güç koşulların, sefaletin izlerine rastlanır. Sonraları... continue
1817.
Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu by Peyami Safa TR
Description:
Peyami Safa'nın şaheserlerinden Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu, Türk edebiyatında "insan ruhunun derinliklerinde ve labirentlerinde dolaşan ilk roman" olması ve hasta bir insanı ve onun psikolojisini ele alması bakımından önemli bir yere sahiptir. Birçok araştırmacı ve yazar tarafından Türk edebiyatında bir ilk kabul edilen Dokuzuncu Hariciye Koğuşu, Tanpınar'ın dediği gibi, "acının ve ıstırabın yegâne kitabı" olarak hem kemiyet hem de keyfiyet bakımından başka hiçbir eser olmasa da Türk romanının var olduğuna delil gösteril... continue
1818.
Cold Nights of Childhood by Tezer Özlü EN
Description:
The narrator of Cold Nights of Childhood grows up in a rapidly changing Turkey, where the atmosphere is nationalist, patriarchal, technocratic. As a misfit in search of freedom, love and happiness, she escapes to Berlin, is overcome by depression on her return, and trapped in a psychiatry clinic for five years. After electroshock therapy and inhumane treatment, she is released into the care of friends and family, making tentative steps in a halting journey towards recovery.In her unique, unstructured style, Tezer Özlü explores the extremity of her inner life and the painful pleasures of memory... continue
1819.
Dawn : Stories by Selahattin Demirtas EN
Description:
A new book from Sarah Jessica Parker’s imprint, SJP for Hogarth: Written from behind bars, the unforgettable collection from one of Turkey’s leading politicians and most powerful storytellers. In this essential collection, Selahattin Demirtaş’s arresting stories capture the voices of ordinary people living through extraordinary times. A cleaning lady is caught up in a violent demonstration on her way to work. A five-year-old girl attempts to escape war-torn Syria with her mother by boat. A suicide bombing shatters a neighborhood in Aleppo. And in the powerful story, 'Seher', a young factory wo... continue
1820.
Estambul, Estambul by Burhan Sönmez ES
Description:
Cuatro hombres comparten una estrecha celda subterránea en un centro de interrogatorio de Estambul. Para hacer el tiempo más soportable, comparten historias llenas de ternura y dolor, que giran siempre en torno a la ciudad que parece ignorarlos. Durante diez da̕s se narran cuentos y experiencias personales y, se revelan también deseos y temores, anhelos de futuro y penas del pasado.