Exile

by Çiler İlhan, Ayşegül Toroser Ateş (Translator)

Exile is a collection of short stories with the taste of a novel which won the author the European Prize for Literature, 2011. Dedicated to those who have been alienated from their homeland, from their families or from society, this extraordinary collection offers readers short, vivid glimpses into other worlds. Be they of real or fictional characters, Ilhan builds a patchwork of stories which highlight the lives of the dispossessed. As a woman writing in modern day Turkey, she is not afraid to take on the themes of honour killings or the American occupation of Iraq, pouring her empathy and understanding into narratives that we usually only hear about through news reports and cold statistics.

Genres: Short Stories, Turkish

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Çiler İlhan (born 1972) is a Turkish writer. She studied International Relations and Political Science at Bosphorus University and hotel management at the Glion Hotel School in Switzerland. She has variously worked as an hotelier, a freelance writer and an editor. Currently she works as the PR manager of the Çırağan Palace Kempinski hotel in Istanbul.

As a writer, İlhan has been active since her youth. Back in 1993, she won the Yaşar Nabi award for one of her short stories. She regularly publishes stories, essays, book reviews, travel pieces and translations in Turkish newspapers and magazines. In 2011,her collection of stories Sürgün (Exile) won the EU Prize for Literature.

Reviews

[Narmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

With every short (2 pages max.) story, it feels like you've read a hundred pages novel. Each of them is quite successful in passing the emotions, the whole life story of each character. Definitely not a time waster piece.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a powerful read demanding that citizens notice situations, victims, and perpetrators of acts that cause people to live in 'exile' from themselves, from their souls. To let the book have maximum impact, I would suggest setting aside an afternoon and reading it straight through. If that's not possible, because the short stories are really short, this would be a terrific commuting read.

I wrote about the book and its author here: https://glli-us.org/2017/08/09/an-exc...

[Esmé Boom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tja, wat moet ik van dit boek vinden? Hier en daar voelde de taal heel ouderwets, misschien was het de vertaling. Nergens kon ik goed wennen aan de stijl van de verhalen, maar ik kon het boek ook niet goed wegleggen. Sommige verhalen raakten me en andere begreep ik niet. Ik weet het niet. Er was misschien niet genoeg samenhang, maar tegelijkertijd had dat het boek wellicht ook wel kapot kunnen maken, als het wel mooi afgerond was in plaats van scherp en rafelig.

[Maria Bache · Rating 4 out of 5]

Verden er ikke for begyndere, og det faktum behandles nøgternt og kortfattet. Der er mange, små tekster i denne samling, men en del af dem hænger sammen i større og mindre grad. Sprogtonen er nærmest nøgent referat, så al følelse overlades til læseren.
Min eneste anke er: Jeg gider ikke læse om hunde. Irriterende, skidende gø-dyr.

[Jolieg G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was blij met het boek, zoveel boeken van Turkse schrijvers zijn er niet vertaald.
Toch is het me tegen gevallen, maar hou eigenlijk ook niet van losse verhalen.
Geen vrolijke verhalen trouwens... mensen en ook dieren die verbannen worden..

[Alberte Rydahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: abuse, sexual assault, murder, suicide and war

This book was very powerful! Every short story had a meaning and some of them were continuations of previous short stories in the books, from a different perspective!

[Levan Shakulashvili · Rating 5 out of 5]

ისეთი წიგნია მე რომ დავწერდი და თავიდან ძალიან მეუცნაურა ეგ. Slife of Life ჟანრია და კონტექსტიდან მოწყვეტილი ისტორიები, მოკლული, ნაწამები ქალების, ბავშვების, ძაღლების ხმა კივის ამ კრებულში და ერთმანეთში იხლართება.

[la Maga De Rayuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

მთებში ქალებთან ერთად წასაკითხი.

[Victoria Appel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense leeservaring. Ga zeker nog boeken lezen van deze auteur.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like something was lost in translation. The stories in this collection are full of misery: child rape, marital rape, honour killings, police brutality, unwanted bastard children...the only characters who seem to be treated well are stray dogs. It's not that I wanted the stories to be happier—if this is the author's experience of Turkiye, all the power to her for writing about it—but I wanted them to be more artful. Most of the stories are two pages or less, with stiff dialogue and almost no figurative language or imagery. It was difficult to become immersed in the scenes or feel anything for the characters' struggles. The only interesting technique is that the author often revisited the same story from a different POV. I really don't think Exile deserves a literary prize...it screams "diversity pick."

[Natalia Pì · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alcune storie fortissime, altre meno, nel complesso, tre stelle. Da leggere quando si è ben saldi emotivamente, perché quello che hanno (quasi tutte) in comune, queste storie, è che pesano sul cuore come un'incudine fatta di sangue, onore, famiglia, amore e vendette. Per stomaci forti.

[Charly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translated from Turkish, a slim book of collected vivid, contemporary monologues, some really short, less than a page; most concerned with surviving male violence & oppression. Some pack a hard emotional punch, others come across as stretchy, repetitive codas.

[Maja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iako su priče vrlo mračne i teške za čitati, jasno prikazuju položaj žena u odreženim zemljama istoka.