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Arzular Kenti Istanbul
2000 yıl boyunca imparatorluklara başkentlik yapmış İstanbul'un öteki adıdır "arzular kenti".
Cornelia Golna, ağır sarsıntılar geçiren ve yıkılmak üzere olan bir imparatorluğun, Osmanlı'nın başkenti İstanbul'u anlatıyor bu kitabından. Tanzimat'ı yaşamış olan bu kent, 1908'lerin Müşrutiyet'ini yaşamaktadır. Pera, İmparatorluğun yaşadığı sıkıntılardan bağımsız bir ada gibidir. Avrupalılar, Levantenler, Türkler, Rumlar, Ermeniler, Paris havasını yaşamaktadırlar burada. Ailesi ile birlikte Pera'ya gelen Theodora için Doğu'nun bu büyüleyici kenti umulmadık süprizlerle doludur.
Cornelia Golna, ağır sarsıntılar geçiren ve yıkılmak üzere olan bir imparatorluğun, Osmanlı'nın başkenti İstanbul'u anlatıyor bu kitabından. Tanzimat'ı yaşamış olan bu kent, 1908'lerin Müşrutiyet'ini yaşamaktadır. Pera, İmparatorluğun yaşadığı sıkıntılardan bağımsız bir ada gibidir. Avrupalılar, Levantenler, Türkler, Rumlar, Ermeniler, Paris havasını yaşamaktadırlar burada. Ailesi ile birlikte Pera'ya gelen Theodora için Doğu'nun bu büyüleyici kenti umulmadık süprizlerle doludur.
527 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people want to read
About the author
Cornelia Golna
8 books11 followersCornelia Golna is the author of City of Man’s Desire, a Novel of Constantinople (2004) and Tainted Heroes (2017).
In her own words:
Appropriating my parents’ nostalgia for their world, a world I did not know: perhaps this has been the enduring theme of my life.
I was born in Bucharest, Romania. My mother was Romanian. My father came from Greece. My parents managed to leave Romania, thus avoiding my father’s imprisonment by the communists, when I was 7 months old. They struggled to survive in post-civil-war Greece for four years until they were able to immigrate to America, where I grew up and was educated.
In my mid-twenties, I decided to go out into the world and seek my fortune. With $1000 in my pocket, I flew to Europe. My plan was to get to Romania, to see the land of my birth, and to Greece, the land of my earliest memories. In time, I reached both goals.
In Romania I encountered totalitarianism for the first time. It was an eye-opening and mind-expanding experience. Many aspects were intimidating, not to say frightening, but most of all it was totally different from the life I had known. I relearned my mother’s language and met many fascinating people. I saw how people adapted to constricting circumstances yet struggled to preserve something of their individuality, their dignity, in the process. There I also learned about Balkan hospitality and the role of cunning in survival. Already more than a quarter century has passed since the fall of communism, yet even today I believe that my initial visit to Romania was the most profound experience of my life. I also met my husband then, Jan Willem Bos, a Dutchman studying Romanian literature, who brought me to Holland, where we have lived ever since. When my parents retired, they moved back to Greece. I have since relearned enough Greek too to be able to be able to gossip with my neighbors and to chat a bit about daily topics. For more than 35 years we have been visiting both my parents’ homelands on a regular basis. These prolonged stays in the Balkans have enriched me. They have fed my love for both my countries of origin and stimulated my imagination. My two novels are the result of this experience.
In her own words:
Appropriating my parents’ nostalgia for their world, a world I did not know: perhaps this has been the enduring theme of my life.
I was born in Bucharest, Romania. My mother was Romanian. My father came from Greece. My parents managed to leave Romania, thus avoiding my father’s imprisonment by the communists, when I was 7 months old. They struggled to survive in post-civil-war Greece for four years until they were able to immigrate to America, where I grew up and was educated.
In my mid-twenties, I decided to go out into the world and seek my fortune. With $1000 in my pocket, I flew to Europe. My plan was to get to Romania, to see the land of my birth, and to Greece, the land of my earliest memories. In time, I reached both goals.
In Romania I encountered totalitarianism for the first time. It was an eye-opening and mind-expanding experience. Many aspects were intimidating, not to say frightening, but most of all it was totally different from the life I had known. I relearned my mother’s language and met many fascinating people. I saw how people adapted to constricting circumstances yet struggled to preserve something of their individuality, their dignity, in the process. There I also learned about Balkan hospitality and the role of cunning in survival. Already more than a quarter century has passed since the fall of communism, yet even today I believe that my initial visit to Romania was the most profound experience of my life. I also met my husband then, Jan Willem Bos, a Dutchman studying Romanian literature, who brought me to Holland, where we have lived ever since. When my parents retired, they moved back to Greece. I have since relearned enough Greek too to be able to be able to gossip with my neighbors and to chat a bit about daily topics. For more than 35 years we have been visiting both my parents’ homelands on a regular basis. These prolonged stays in the Balkans have enriched me. They have fed my love for both my countries of origin and stimulated my imagination. My two novels are the result of this experience.
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