Δύο φίλες

by Perihan Mağden, Ιώ Τσοκώνα (Translator)

Η Περιχάν Μαγκντέν είναι μια από τις πιο εφευρετικές και ειλικρινείς συγγραφείς της εποχής μας. Ο τρόπος με τον οποίο χειρίζεται τη γλώσσα και η ευφυέστατη ενασχόλησή της με θέματα που όλοι σκέφτονται αλλά κανείς δεν τολμά να ντύσει με λέξεις, της έχουν χαρίσει την αγάπη των αναγνωστών και το σεβασμό των συναδέλφων της.

(Ορχάν Παμούκ)

Καλοκαίρι στην Κωνσταντινούπολη. Η Μπεχιγιέ προετοιμάζεται για τις εισαγωγικές εξετάσεις στο Πανεπιστήμιο. Ευαίσθητη, καλλιεργημένη, αλλά και ιδιόρρυθμη, κοινωνικά απροσάρμοστη και γεμάτη θυμό, κινείται στα όρια του προσωπικού, σιωπηλού της χώρου, ενσαρκώνοντας με τρόπο μοναδικό το εφηβικό υπαρξιακό άγχος. Κλεισμένη σε ένα αδιέξοδο αποπνικτικό, αναζητά τη σωτηρία από τη νεανική της απελπισία, την "Αίσθηση θα Γλιτώσεις", όπως η ίδια την αποκαλεί. Η γνωριμία της με την πανέμορφη Χαντάν, που με την ευγένεια, την καλοσύνη και τη γλυκύτητά της εκπροσωπεί όλες εκείνες τις αρετές που η ίδια αρνείται, θα της αλλάξει για πάντα τη ζωή. Με πρόσχημα ότι θα την βοηθήσει να περάσει στο πανεπιστήμιο δημιουργεί μαζί της αμέσως μια σχέση στενή, έντονη, υπερβολική, που την οδηγεί σε ακραίες καταστάσεις: Πιέζει την Χαντάν να εγκαταλείψουν τις οικογένειές τους, να αφήσουν για πάντα πίσω τους την Κωνσταντινούπολη και όλα όσα νιώθουν να βαραίνουν τις εφηβικές τους πλάτες. Πού θα βρουν όμως τα χρήματα για την καινούρια ζωή που ονειρεύονται, πώς θα αποφύγουν συγγενείς και γνωστούς, πώς θα καταφέρουν να βγάλουν βίζα για να ταξιδέψουν στο εξωτερικό; Πώς αντιμετωπίζουν τους εύπορους και νέους άντρες που τις περιτριγυρίζουν και που ανακαλύπτονται κάθε τόσο από τις Αρχές δολοφονημένοι;

Είναι ίσως η πρώτη φορά μετά τον "Φύλακα στη σίκαλη" του Σάλιντζερ, που η εφηβική αγωνία αποδίδεται με τέτοια αμεσότητα και πειστικότητα.

Genres: Fiction, Turkish, Young Adult, Turkish Literature, LGBT, Roman, Romance

351 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

Perihan Mağden is a Turkish novel writer and columnist in newspapers, especially known for her wit and diverse use of language.

Mağden was born in 1960 in Istanbul. After graduating from Robert College of Istanbul, she studied psychology at Boğaziçi University. By her own account, she was an unruly student—and her mother was proud of it.
One of the most famous writers in young Turkish literature, Perihan Magden has spent some time at Yaddo, the famous artists' community.
Mağden is a single mother who lives in Istanbul.
In addition to writing editorial columns for Turkish newspapers, Mağden has also published fictional novels and a collection of poetry. Mağden's novel İki Genç Kızın Romanı (Two Girls), published in 2005 by Serpent's Tail, was praised for pushing "Turkish beyond its conventional literary patterns" and compared to J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye for the way she had captured adolescent anguish.
She spent some years in far east countries. Her novel 2 Girls has been a big success in homeland Turkey and became an award winning movie premiered in Europe in London Film Festival right after Sydney. She is the author of Messenger Boy Murders (Haberci Çocuk Cinayetleri), The Companion (Refakatçi) and Escape (Biz kimden kaciyorduk, Anne?). Her latest novel Ali and Ramazan published in 2010 in Turkish and now out by Suhrkamp (German) and AmazonCrossing (USA). Her latest essays on Turkey are collected under the title Political Essays (Politik Yazılar). Her novels have been translated into 19 languages including English, French, German, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek and Russian.

Reviews

[Em Chainey (Bookowski) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Saptantili Behiye ve onun yüzeysel oyuncağı Handan. Olay Behiye'nin üzerinden döndüğü için ondan bahsedeceğim. İç sesleri, duygu durum tekrarlari, bunalım ve kasvet kokan cümleler beni bitirdi. Magden'in acayip anlatım tarzı da buna tuz biber oldu. O kadarcik günde bu kadar fazla duygu yoğunluğu ben de yasasam intihar ederdim herhalde. Sonu da çok havada zaten. İçim şişti ama en azından okudum diye teselli ediyorum kendimi. Aslında Behiye'den çok daha kapsamlı ve karanlık bir hikaye çıkardı. İçindeki bu sevgi aşkı, bu para ve erkek nefreti, bu doldurulamazlik çok daha güzel anlatilabilirdi. Onun yerine yazar garip bir şekilde hikayeyi işlemeyi tercih etmiş ama olmamış bence. Keşke oya gibi isleseydi hikayeyi. Bir platonik LGBT hikayesi ancak bu kadar acayiplestirilebilirdi yani. Ali ile Ramazan da bu anlatima sahipti ama hikaye daha gerçekçi ve oturmustu bence. Kıssadan hisse okumasaniz da olur, istiyorum illa diyorsanız okuyun:)

[Baklavahalva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is not easy for a smart, OCD, self-starving, hard-drinking lesbian with serious cooking skills (lemon köfte! shapeless hazelnut-tangerine cake!), who moves in with her hot, vapid, probably heterosexual female friend and the friend's terribly attractive, infantile mother who happens to be a mistress by profession. Behiye is a great character, a love child between Ernest Hemingway and Catherine Breillat.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first ever Turkish novel and I was really excited about reading it. I liked the stream of consciousness. I really disliked the lesbian stereotypes: can I just once have a healthy, loving relationship between two girls, possibly with a happy ending?
Or is that off limits for wlw?

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very odd book. At first I really enjoyed it but then as it progressed I found myself getting more and more annoyed with it as the characters turned into cliches and we had another instance of the "monstrous lesbian" and subculture is bad for you stereotypes.

The book was about a young girl who was depressed, alternative (her favourite bands were Blink 182 and the Cure), she wore black and purple, she read intresting philosophical European literature and unlike her friends had managed to get into university because she was clever and studied hard (and her family were quite well off). She met a young girl who was incredibly beautiful and fell in love with her, originally her plan was to help the young girl study so she could get into university but then it all went horribly wrong.

She decided her perfect girl listened to the wrong music, read the wrong things, and hung out with the wrong people. She wanted to change everything about her (except her good looks). She moved in with the girl but instead of helping her studies she forced her to give up her college place (Because of a very odd story about an insane brother) and then spent all her time cooking and cleaning for the beautiful girl, which hardly seems like an intellectual feminist way to get a girl to like you. The girl and her mother were very normal, obsessed with name brands but very poor so her mother was a professional mistress so she could afford the nice things she wanted (though that didn't seem to be working out that well for them as they had maxed out credit cards and were behind on the rent). The only time the beautiful girl seemed like a real character was when she was chiding her mother for buying things they couldn't afford.

And someone was randomly murdering rich young men (and commenting on their penis size) which wasn't explained but perhaps we were supposed to think it was the main character as she had a scalpel, though she didn't get that till after the first murder. That part really didn't make much sense at all. It was just chapters inserted into the main narrative.

The whole obsession only lasted a couple weeks and it was hard to explain why the girls actually liked each other, except that one was beautiful and one was a good cook. It's probably also worth pointing out that the main character, who did all the cooking was also starving herself so she could be thin and beauitful, whereas the naturally beautiful girl who liked all the vapid things just ate and ate.

The message seemed to be if you were an alternative queer girl you were likely to have serious psychological issues and were unsafe and if you liked popular things, were straitght and beautiful you were probably a good person who would turn out ok in the end. Which was quite disappointing.

[Betül · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben bu kitaptaki karakterleri, karakterlerin betimlenişini, karakterlerin çevrelerinde olan bitene verdikleri tepkiyi, olan biteni, yazarın karakterlere dönüşüp her birinin aklından geçenleri olduğu gibi aktarabilme yetisini çok sevdim. Kitabın adındaki ironiyi, kitaptaki genç kızların düşüncelerini sevdim. Küfretmelerini, bıçak çekmelerini, belki de öldürmelerini, cesaretlerini sevdim. Ben bu kitabı okuduğumda okuduğum kitaptaki karakterler gibi insanların yaşadığını bilmezdim, belki de o yüzden ben bu kitabı çok ama çok sevdim, sebepsiz yere tarifi olmayan bir bağlılıkla sevdim, kitaptaki iki genç kız da beni sevmiş olacak ki nereye gitsem yanımdaydılar.

[Nancy Siouri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't relate to it at all. I couldn't sympathise with Behiye and found all characters overwhelming and made up. Wouldn't recommend it.

[fairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

average first wlw situationship (probably one sided too)

[Cizgi · Rating 4 out of 5]

gunlerce elimden birakamadim aklimdan cikmadi, mommyyy yazmis yine super bi kitapti filmini de izlicem

[Elif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biraz tekrara düşmese daha çok severdim

[Oytunla Hayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perihan Mağden'in kaç kitabını okudum hatırlamıyorum ama öyle bir yazıyor ki, sevsem mi sevmesem mi arada kalıyorum. Ya da bana öyle denk geldi...

Karakterler şahane; hayata tutunamamış takıntılı Behiye ve masum küçük bir kız çocuğu gibi gözüken ama aslında çok da masum olmayan Handan. Ve Behiye'nin Handan'a karşı duyduğu platonik aşk... Tam da dantel gibi işlenebilecek bir konu.
Tekrarlar içine girerek ve nereye bağlanacak diye merak ettiğim ancak hiçbir yere bağlanmayan otopsi raporları derken sonunu da benim hayal gücüme bırakmasın mı?

Ve sonuç; sevsem mi sevmesem mi ikilemi :/

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very hard to get into. The main character instantly falls in love with a girl she sees and from then on she is basically obsessed with her.
I actually put the book down for some weeks, months maybe, before I picked it up again. It gave me some time to get used to the insta-love and was more believable after that. However, it still wasn't great. It's mostly written as a stream of consciousness, which of course is quite strange if the main character is having some serious, serious issues.

I did grow to like it more towards the ending. However, nothing got really wrapped up. What has happened to the main character? No idea.

The strangest thing about this book was the murder though. At the start a dead body is introduced. It leads you to believe that the main character might be responsible for it, but you never find out for sure. In fact, you don't even know who the dead guy is. Very strange.

Anyway, if you're into strange books and don't mind open endings and a lot of obsessive rambling, you might be able to enjoy this. Otherwise though, best to skip this book.

[hazal · Rating 2 out of 5]

?????

[Nie_nett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behiyes destruktive Gedankengänge können einem ganz schön auf die Nerven gehen und zerren und rütteln so an ihnen, dass es fast schon weh tut. Mit all ihren Stimmungsschwankungen und ihrer extremen Art bleibt sie dennoch ein absolut glaubwürdiger, menschlicher Charakter. Die eingestreuten Obduktionsberichte geben dem ohnehin schon atemlos erzählten Roman eine zusätzliche Spannung zwischen Realität und Phantasie.

[Hannah Ege · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing like I've ever read before. A very funny and at times annoying stream of consciousness of the protagonist Behiye who was a polarising character to say the least. I wish some of the other characters were as well developed as she is. The best thing about this book by far are the descriptions of Istanbul, and particularly all of the meals Behiye, Handan and their families enjoyed together. With that being said, if this book wasn't queer I probably would have given up 20 pages in.

[Ludmilla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Teknik açıdan oldukça zayıf. Sadece birine bağlanma duygusunu iyi aktarıyor. Bir nevi Zülfü Livaneli aslında Perihan Mağden de, ilgi çekici bir konu, roman sanatındaki onca gelişmeyi hiçe sayan bir aktarım, tekrarlar, duygusal anlar... Tek farkı Mağden'in uydurma kelimeleri, bir de bol küfürlü konuşmaları...

[Lulufrances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very different to what I normally read.
Someone compared the vibe of youthfulness in this to The Catcher in the Rye but I did npt get that reference.
Interesting and bewildering would be my choice of words for this book.

[Aymir Gamze Ünalır · Rating 3 out of 5]

Akıcı bir dil,
sürükleyici bir hikaye,
sohbet tadında bir yazım tekniği...
.
.
Tek eleştirim; bu kitabı çok çok daha genç yaşlarımda okumalıymışım...

[zeynep · Rating 2 out of 5]

açıklamaları yapılmayacaksa bu otopsi raporları neden araya serpiştirildi ki

[Salome · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character of the book, Behiye, hates her life and family, is mentally unstable and impulsive and has anger issues, always carrying a lancet with her and frequently thinking about killing others. On the one hand she has low self-esteem and doesn't really believe she deserves better than this life she hates so much, while at the same being arrogant, thinking shes smarter than everyone and constantly degrading her childhood friend Cigdem and others around her. At university, she meets Handan. She is convinced that the innocence and benevolence of Handans persona could purify her and solve all her problems/"rescue her". She falls in love with Handan who returns her affection but seems unaware of the romantic undertones of their relationship. Behiye becomes emotionally dependent on Handan and loses control everytime she fears losing her (to someone else). While Handan unknowingly holds all power over Behiyes emotions, Behiye still dominates in their dynamic. She controls Handans actions, forbids her to go to university or to spend time with others by emotionally blackmailing her. Behiye is convinced that since Handan has come into her life, everything changed for the better and she'll "be rescued" but since she fixates so much on Handan and becomes hyperdependent on her love and affection, her mental state is extremely fickle and she has numerous breakdowns.

It was both a chore and joy for me to read and finish the book. It took me some time to warm up to it, sometimes I felt like it started growing on me, other times I just continued for the sake of being done with it.

Parts of it felt very badly translated, especially the dialogues and nicknames they gave each other, eg. my baby girl, my blue rabbit. These might make sense in Turkish but in English it felt rather weird/outdated. Periyan madgen is known for her beautiful writing style but her worldplays just didn't translate well. However, I did still enjoy her use of figurative language. I also enjoyed the detailed descriptions of whatever was going on inside of Behiye, how frustrated and unstable she is. The relationship between both seemed really toxic and while it was clear that Behiye was in love with Handan (to an extent of obsession), I couldn't figure out whether she knew that and whether Handan felt the same. It did seem like Handan was naive enough to think Behiye affection towards her was friendly and saw her as nothing more than a friend. On the other hand, she seemed so naive that I wondered if she was oblivious to her own feelings for Behiye, too.

Regarding the killings in Istanbul - I didn't get the connection to the story at all. Until the end I thought this will be explained and that Behiye might have killed her brother, or the taxi driver or Handans boyfriend with her lancet. I'm not sure whether the reader is supposed to connect the dots themselves or if there simply is no connection.

[Beatriz Moreno Cabello · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5. Un grato descubrimiento ha sido esta autora y este libro. Me ha gustado mucho su manera de escribir tan original y directa (se nota que es periodista), también el uso del flujo de conciencia ha sido un punto a favor (aunque a veces creo que lo utilizaba demasiado). Lo único que no me ha terminado de encajar es la relación de amistad-amor entre las dos chicas; Handan y Behiye. Por momentos, me parecía que era un relación tóxica y obsesiva, sobre todo por parte de Behiye hacia Handan. En general, si os queréis adentrar en autores e historias diferentes como esta escritora turca, esta es tu novela.

[Anka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ve been thinking if this book deserves 1 or 2 stars.Cause i reaaaally didnt like it.But i decided not to be too harsh,but maybe it s even for 1.I cant even describe how much i didnt like it-the writing,the style and the plot it was ughhhhh

[Sofija Živković · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knjiga je totalno vrtložna stilski i mene lično je baš upila i osvojila. Ne zna se nekako ko šta gde priča, kad je naracija, kad dijalog, al baš to mi se jako svidelo. Kao neki čudan tok svesti. Njihove emocije, stanja, situacije su iznete vrlo konfuzno - dakle, tema i stil rezonuju :)

[Berna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 yıldız üzerinden 4 yıldız.
Bir trafik kazasına bakmaya kendini alamazsın derler ya, bu kitap da öyle oldu benim için. Karakterler hiç sevilesi değildi ama dilinin gerçekçiliğini ve sürükleyiciliğini sevdim.

[Bilge B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Handan’ın ağzına kürekle vurmak istiyorum. Güzel bir kitaptı ama daha güzel olabilirdi. Perihan Mağden’in daha güzel yazabileceğini düşünüyorum.

[Digby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Schrecklich geschrieben, kitschig und wirr.

[Jul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado bastante sobre todo la forma de escribir, me esperaba algo más de romance pero creo que es más poético. Creo que entiendo lo de los asesinatos, pero no estoy segura del todo.

[Virgowriter (Brad Windhauser) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story, but the translation is flat.

[Cansu Varol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behiye ve Handan birbirlerinden çok farklılar ama birbirlerini seviyorlar. Handan, Behiye'yi seviyor mu hiç emin değilim ancak Behiye, Handan'ı adeta takıntı haline getirmiş. Ben bu kitabı sevdim. Kitapta homoseksüel değil heteroseksüel bir ilişki geçseydi eminim daha az insan eleştirirdi.

[Ilirjana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totalno poremećena knjiga.
Gora od ' U Kaselu logike nema' i '100 godina samoće' zajedno.

[Gu Gu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Klasik Perihan Mağden. Şikayet ettiğime göre çok üstüste okudum galiba. Ama gerçekten de üst üste kaldırılmıyor.