От кого бягахме, мамо?

by Perihan Mağden, Перихан Магден, Гюлчин Чешмеджиева (Translator)

Maйкa ми имa eдно cтрaшно минaло, зa коeто въобщe нe можe дa говори. Mного, много cтрaшно.
A aз нямaм. Mоeто минaло e иcкрящо от чиcтотa. И бъдeщeто ми. Тaкa кaзвa мaйкa ми. B моeто минaло e caмо, eдинcтвeно мaйкa ми. И в бъдeщeто ми. Зaтовa cъм щacтливa.
Maйкa ми нямa дa бъдe зaловeнa, кaто мaйкaтa нa Бaмби. И aз никогa нямa дa оcтaнa caмa.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Turkish, Turkish Literature, Thriller, Suspense

140 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

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

[Micha Goebig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be an outstanding piece of literary fiction and Perihan Magden an amazing novelist. Her writing is so strong, with such a distinct style that it's even obvious in translation. I particularly enjoyed the fact that there's an author who doesn't spell it all out for the reader like most do but just presents you with all the bits and pieces you need to know mostly through the eyes of a severely emotionally disturbed and deluded first-person narrator. At the same time, it's not hard to read at all, and with all the tension she so effortlessly builds up, it's a real page-turner.
Definitely going to read all of Perihan Magden's other books too!

[Cansu Varol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mutlulukla 5 puan veriyorum. Şimdiye kadar okuduğum en iyi kitaplardan biriydi. İnsanı sımsıkı kavrayan sürükleyici bir anlatımla yazılmıştı ve beni derin bir tekinsizlik hissiyle sarıp sarmaladı. Kitabın yarısına geldiğimde, olayın aslını anlamaya başladım ve daha da merakla okudum. Gizem, polisiye ve psikolojik ögeleri bir arada. Öneririm.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Hard-edged crime fiction is what you will usually find me reading. Then a book like Escape comes along to remind me why I need to widen my interests. Escape has stuck with me long after finished reading it...for the second time.

An unnamed mother and daughter flee from an unspecified threat. For the daughter, living in hotel rooms around the world is the only life she has known. When the mother says danger is near, they escape, heading to the airport, taking only what will fit in backpacks. Whatever they accumulated during their stay they leave behind, baffling the hotel staff.

There is an underlying metaphor of the life of the mother and daughter in this book, Felix Salten's Bambi. The mother only calls her daughter Bambi or baby. Bambi is their Book of Prayer, their book of signs. The mother says "the dangers in Bambi are just like our own." If all you know of Bambi is the Disney film, get a copy of Salten's book. I did, and it is a brilliant framing device for the story.

Escape is narrated mainly by the daughter looking back at her life on the run. Interspersed with the daughter's narrative are first person observations from hotel staff and other outsiders. What they see and conclude are a dramatic contrast with the words of the daughter. Do we have a reliable or unreliable narrator?

With only 208 pages, I first thought that Escape was going to be a simple, straightforward story but I soon recognized that it is a deceptively complex,  "slow reveal" novel where the reader is engaged in putting pieces of a puzzle together. The daughter's reminiscences and those of the outsiders are not told linearly so that events in one chapter will link to actions in later or previous chapters.  This shifting interpretation of events contributes to an active and satisfying read.

There is crime and there is mystery in Escape but I wouldn't call it a crime or mystery novel. It is more   an exploration of a strange, perhaps (or not) abusive relationship, a love between a mother and daughter so isolated, so encapsulated that the outside world doesn't have a chance of breaking in.

I enjoyed Escape, so much so that I read it twice and skimmed it once. Questions remain, there isn't a tidy resolution, but it is a very satisfying read and a book that I recommend.

Escape was translated from the Turkish by Kenneth Daken. I'm not sure how you evaluate a translation if you haven't read a book in the original language but for me, the language in Escape was natural and flowed. It didn't come across as stilted or with unusual word choices.

I received Escape as a review copy.

[Tári · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okuduğum en değişik romanlardan biri diyebilirim. Sade ve akıcı bir dille yazılmış, daha iyi yazılabilirdi diye düşündürüyor ama anlatımı daha çok süslenmiş olsa hikayenin gerilimini böyle yalınca hissedebilir miydik bilmiyorum. Baştan sona tekinsiz bir öykü, olayın aslını kitabın yarısına gelmeden anlasan da kitap bittiğinde pek çok şey havada kalmış oluyor, bazı şeyler açıklanmamış, okura bırakılmış. Ben biraz daha açıklama tercih ederdim sanırım. Özellikle sonunun farklı şekilde yazılmış olmasını isterdim, biraz daha özenli ve mümkünse kızın bakış açısından. Ama bir solukta bitti, beklediğimden çok daha iyiydi, hem gizem hem polisiye hem psikolojik ögelerle hoş bir tat bıraktı.

[Idilik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maraz anne- kiz iliskileri icinde gecen bir gerilim romani, alt mesajlari, elestirilere dikkat edilerek okunursa daha anlamli geliyor goze.

[Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabın ilk başlarında hikayeden biraz sıkılmıştım açıkçası, gerilim ve tekinsizliği tam olarak hissedememiştim. Kitabın ortalarına doğru hikaye hakkında daha fazla detay ortaya çıkmaya başladı, hikayeyi çözmeye çalışırken gerilim ve tekinsizlik hissi de beni sarmaya başladı. Kurgu ve anlatım biçimi olarak farklı bir kitap olduğunu düşünüyorum, hikayeye dair hala kafamda soru işaretlerim var mesela, hala merak ettiğim şeyler var. Bence okunmalı!

[Nihan D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Üslubu biraz sıkıcı olsa da etkileyici bir hikayeydi.

[Shirin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The English version of the book isn't online but this is it! Whom Were We Running From, Mother? is from a Turkish author I hadn't heard about until I picked up the book in an airport bookstore, oddly enough. And very different from other Turkish authors I've read (Pamuk, Shafak), Mağden has a minimalist style about her writing. I'm not sure how well her style translates in English but lots of repetition, short, stark sentences, and an air of mystery and timelessness to the narrative pervade the novel. I liked the story of this mother and daughter traveling together through what could be maybe be an allegory of Dante's Inferno. While the ending came as no surprise, the theme of what parents pass on to their children rang loud and clear as a warning, to society? The sort of dangers of being overprotective, not encouraging independence, and by doing so allowing violence, negativity, etc. continue. Overall, a great intro to an author that hadn't previously been on my radar!

[DPS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book. I was hooked from the first page. If I had been able to, I would have read it in one sitting. It’s a strange read, filled with a growing tension. The prose is spare, almost uninflected, which, to me, adds to the mystery. Why are mother and daughter running, from whom are they running? Actually, that isn’t as interesting as the dynamic between the two. I’m passing my copy on to a friend so I’ll have someone with whom to discuss it! Maybe first I’ll read it again!

[Margaret Özemet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know maybe I got lost a little with this book translated to English.. it was intriguing with the whole no names used and hotel hopping but then I lost interest and sad ending.

[Aycan Ünal Batmaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keşke iyi bir yönetmen şu kitabı görse de filmini çekse!

[Rosemary Littletoe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kim są: dziwna, nerwowa kobieta i jej piękna, może trzynastoletnia córka, jakby celowo ubierana tak, by wyglądać na młodszą? Z jakiego powodu muszą ciągle zmieniać kraje i hotele? Dlaczego podróżują bez bagażu, za każdym razem kupując ubrania i zabawki, które potem zostawiają? Jacy „oni” rzekomo je ścigają? Czego tak bardzo boi się jej matka? Co zdarzyło się w przeszłości? Wstrząsające studium paranoi, wyobcowania i toksycznych stosunków matki z córką.
(opis wydawnictwa)

Po raz pierwszy zdarzyło mi się wykorzystać w recenzji opis wydawnictwa by przedstawić Wam zarys fabuły. Miałam nadzieję nigdy tego nie zrobić, ale nie miałam wyjścia, bo... nie mam zielonego pojęcia o czym jest ta książka. Pożyczyłam ją od siostry jako jej ulubioną, a przynajmniej jedną z ulubionych powieści. Jestem w stanie w pewnym stopniu zrozumieć co jej się w tej historii podoba, ale... Nie, chyba jednak nie rozumiem. Co to, do jasnej cholery, było?

Nie wiem nawet co napisać. Ok, zacznijmy od akcji, bo tu sprawa jest prosta. Tu akcji po prostu nie ma. Jedyne, co się dzieje w tej książce, to przenosiny z jednego hotelu do drugiego, które za każdym razem wyglądają tak samo. Och, spóźniony spojler alert, bo właśnie opowiedziałam Wam całą fabułę. Poważnie. W tej książce nic się nie dzieje. Ile można czytać o tym, że matka z córką w pośpiechu opuszczają hotel i meldują się w kolejnym, a potem córka idzie popływać? Ok, może kilka stron. Ale na litość boską, nie ponad 200!

W opisie czytamy, że ma to być studium paranoi. Cóż, paranoję (albo może raczej odpowiednie grzybki) to miała co najwyżej autorka. Szkoda, że zanim się wzięła za pisanie, nie przeczytała "Zbrodni i Kary" - może wtedy wiedziałaby jak się pisze studium chorego umysłu. Bo to jest kpina a nie studium paranoi. Nie można w ten sposób określić ciągłego majaczenia córki i matki o byciu "księżycową jednością" (cokolwiek to znaczy) i o tym, że córka jest "małą Bambi" swojej matki. Tak, chodzi o jelonka Bambi. Nie sprawdzałam, ale mogłabym się założyć, że te dwa sformułowania występują na co drugiej stronie. Jak nie częściej. Ot, całe studium. Problemem jest to, że nie ma tu żadnej zmiany. Nie wiemy dlaczego umysł matki popadł w chorobę, nie widzieliśmy jak się w niej pogrążał, widzimy tylko jak już chory bredzi od rzeczy, a jego stan się nie zmienia przez całą powieść. W dodatku nie jest wystawiany na żadne bodźce, nie widzimy jego reakcji na różne sytuacje. Mamy jedynie brednie o księżycowej jedności powtarzane w nieskończoność. Bez sensu.

Bez sensu jest tutaj właściwie wszystko. Chronologia jest... nie, chronologii nie ma. Nie istnieje. Nie wiemy przed kim matka z córką uciekają, nie wiemy co zmusiło je do ucieczki, nie wiemy jak udaje im się uciekać tak długo. Nie wiemy co tak właściwie zmienia zakończenie. To mógł być jedyny w miarę interesujący punkt tej historii, ale niestety książka się urywa zanim zdążymy się dowiedzieć czegokolwiek. Z resztą nie wiem czy po 200 stronach nudy byłam jeszcze w ogóle ciekawa odpowiedzi na te wszystkie pytania. Może gdyby był tu jakikolwiek suspens, byłoby inaczej. Ale nawet tej podstawowej cechy każdego thrillera nie udało się autorce umieścić w swoim dziele. Smutne.

Nuda, nuda, jeszcze raz nuda. Zero akcji, zero napięcia, właściwie zero czegokolwiek. Totalny niewypał. Gdyby tę książkę ścisnąć do 15 stron i dopisać 200 kolejnych dalszej historii, byłoby ok. Ale w obecnej formie - nie jest ok. Strata czasu, ale na szczęście powieść jest tak krótka, że tego czasu nie straciłam dużo. Siostra, ja wiem, że lubisz takie paranoiczne klimaty, ale nie mam pojęcia co widzisz w tej konkretnej książce. Są tysiące lepszych. Nie polecam.

[Karie · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Escape” makes an interesting spin on an “unreliable narrator”. Not only does the reader doubt what is being recounted by “Bambi” – the nickname of one of the main characters of this story…the reader then comes to doubt almost everything that takes place – details as to time, location, actions and details about the characters…everything is in doubt.

In addition, there are so many emotional minefields just beneath the surface of this piece…that each page is turned with apprehension. At some point, events in the lives of this mysterious mother and daughter seem sure to come to a disastrous head. Their lives on the run from unknown enemies and secret origins provide a chilling vagueness.

“I may have done that sort of thing when I was little. Brought up questions that should never be asked. I didn’t understand Mother well enough, not yet. There are questions like that. Questions that must never be asked. Subjects that must never be brought up.”

Where at first it seems as if this is a story about a mother fiercely protecting her daughter from harm…it then becomes clear there is FAR more to it. The mother has given up not only her life for her daughter, but her daughter’s chance at any sort of a normal life. The roles of mother and daughter switch back and forth throughout.

“You can depend on me, Mother. There won’t be a single tear in my eye when we leave Fetus and go. I won’t make you regret having let me look after him and love him. But I’ll feel like I’m splitting up inside. I’ll feel a sadness inside, welling, swelling, first in my eyes and nose, then down. I’ll be under a heavy grief I’ve never known.”

“I’ll feel all of this and I won’t let you feel any of it.”

Even though I do not think it was intentional - the constant use of the term ‘Mother” kept making me think of another super healthy mother/child relationship in “Psycho” – which just added to my sense of dread.

In Mother’s words: “I remember how refreshed I’d feel every time I’d hear an ambulance, thinking they were coming to get your grandmother. So relieved that maybe she’d be out of my life. It’s a wearing sound, but strangely comforting: the indifferent shriek of an ambulance carrying evil off to the darkness, where it belongs, forever.”

There is something very, very wrong with this mother and daughter. Even after finishing the book, I can’t tell you too much more than that.

[Andrew Clement · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because I saw the television series of the same name and was interested, as a writer myself, in how the author handled the question of point-of-view in the original novel.
The book reads as a slice of life of a serial killer woman who is fiercely protective of her only daughter as they move around from one hotel to the next in an attempt to keep their identity a secret as the mother commits more murders.
The sections written from the point of view of the daughter, paint a picture of their relationship as one of that is mutually symbiotic , even once the daughter realizes what the mother is doing.
This is then contrasted from the points of view of various tourists, hotel workers, and people who have come into contact with the mother daughter, in order to pain the picture of a bond that is both abusive and full of love at the same time. Is the daughter the product of privileged and care-free childhood, or the victim of an acute case of Stockholm Syndrome? Where does the line begin and end? Can we even tell anymore?
The various perspectives in the novel come across as random or told in an unorganized way, with out much of a three-dimensional plot beyond the existential threat of running out of money and the cops chasing them. As so, it comes across as a think piece on mother-daughter relationships without much narrative drive.
One way in which the television series overcame this was to have there be a sub-plot of a police member who was tasked with finding and capturing the mother and daughter, which then tells parts of the story that are not supplied by the daughter, as a series of police interviews that the cop character does over the course of his investigation, culminating in the capturing and killing of the mother and the daughter's final escape.
In this case, I must say that the series adaptation gave something to the story that the original book was lacking.

[Ceren Duran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Akıcı bir psikolojik-gerilim kitabı ama beni bazı açılardan tatmin etmedi. Kitap başka yan karakterlerin bakış açılarıyla ilerliyor; fakat o karakterlerden birinin annenin(kitapta karakterlerin ismi yok) babasının olmasını isterdim. Böylece annenin hayatıyla ilgili biraz daha bilgi sahibi olurduk; kafamdaki bazı sorular “Gerçekten kendi anne-babası kızlarını sevmemiş mi?”, “Ya da aslında anne-baba hep iyi davranmış da çocuğun mu ağır psikolojik sorunları var?”. Beyaz köpek olayının anlatılışında da annenin tutarsızlıklarını görüyoruz, “Bambi” lakaplı karakter de bunu farkediyor. Kitapta merak ettiğim diğer şeylerden biri, Bambi’nin babası. İnsanlardan bu kadar nefret eden birisinin çocuğunun babası kim? Bu kadın aşık mı oldu? Yoksa kötü bir şey mi geldi başına? Adamla nasıl tanıştı? vs. Bu soru işaretleri oldu kafamda.

Yayınevlerinin burayı okuduğunu düşünerek yazıyorum. Kitap Everest Yayınevi’ne ait. Maalesef kitap kapağı beni rahatsız etti. Bu kitabı, kitabın dizisinin çıktığı bir zamanda internetten sipariş vermiştim. Kitabın kapağında dizi oyuncularının resmi var. İnternette sipariş verirken kitap bu şekilde değildi. Normalde kitap kapağına takılan birisi değilimdir; ama diziyi öne çıkarmak için kapağa koymaları hoş olmamış.

Kitap çok tatmin etmese de dizisini Melisa Sözen’in başarılı oyunculuğu için izleyeceğim.

[Aslı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aslında bu kitabı okuyalı nerdeyse 8 yıl olmuş ama bana hissettirdikleri hala aklımda çok derin bir yerde. Belkide o yaşımda okuyup etkilendiğim ilk kitap olduğu için bu kadar yeri yarı bende bilmiyorum ama bunları yazmak, tekrardan kitabı düşünmek istedim. Tabi bunun asıl sebebi de bu hikayeyi diziye dönüştürmeleri. Diziyi izlemeye başladım ve kitabı okurkenki o tekinsiz, gergin hislerle tekrardan buluştum resmen daha sadece ilk bölümü izledim ama o tanıdık hisler beni kitabı okuduğum zamana götürmeye yetti ve bu hissi çok sevdim. O zamanlar çok da iyi değildim aslında ama böyle derin hissetmeyi çok sevmişim demekki ki o zamanlara dönmek bile iyi hissettirdi. 💌

[Asaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wyjątkowo dziwna książka pokazująca toksyczną relację matki z córką. Zdecydowanie na pochwałę zasługuje sposób w jaki autorka odkrywa karty. Nie opisuje wszystkiego wprost, zostawia jedynie w relacjach świadków wskazówki dot. przeszłości Matki oraz możliwych przyczyn tytułowej ucieczki. Wnioski, drogi czytelniku, wyciągaj sam.

[essy · Rating 4 out of 5]

muhtesem bi kitaptı. dili cok güclü ve alısılmadıktı bayıldım. tek falsosu sonunun bi tık acelesi gelmesiydi bence ama yazarın gözünden baktıgımda bunun nedenini de anlıyorum. dizi daha kronolojik giderken kitap memoir okuyomusum gibi hissettirdi ki cok severim..anne sorunlarının 1 anneye ne yaptıgını görüyoruz kısaca

[Akça · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okuması o kadar duygusaldı ki. Bir çocuğun ebeveyninin garip ve anlamsız hareketlerini ve ruh hallerini gördüğü hâlde hâlen onu çok sevmeye devam etmesi bazen böyle hisseden bir çocuk olarak beni etkiledi. Bir annenin en az kendisi kadar kötü bir hayatı çocuğuna farklı ama bir o kadar kötü olacak şekilde yaşatması da kaçınılan şeylere bazen yakalanıldığını gösteriyor.

[Emina Buket · Rating 4 out of 5]

Netflix de görünce aklıma geldi kitabınin olduğu. Gidip aldım cünkü filmi/ dizisi varsa önce okumayı tercih ediyorum. Melisa Sözen gerçekten de anne rolü için biçilmiş kaftandir diye düşünüyorum (henüz izlemedim). Kitap olarak sürükleyici, gerilimi düşmeyen bir kitapti.

[Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging thriller where a mother and daughter are running from one of the grandest hotel to another. Enigmatic, suspense filled ride that dealt with v morally grey characters but makes u somehow root for them

[Keskot · Rating 5 out of 5]

İnsana dair belirli önemli halleri tanımlayabilme gücüne sahip kült karakterleriyle, özel bir roman. Oblomov gibi, Joseph K. gibi, Anna Karenina gibi, kendine has bir hissi, bir sıkışmışlığı anlamak ve anlatmak için Bambi ve Anne var artık hayatımda.

[Jami · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is well written, but it's chapter after chapter of the same debilitating mother-daughter relationship with perspectives of others interspersed. The book would have been more effective if it had been written as a short exposé.

[Annisa Saraswati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising at first, but the more I read the more I got used to the pattern which I found to be tedious. Wish there’d be a more climax at the end.

[Audre Sherwood]

Excellent and easy to read novel about a unique mother/daughter relationship.

[Rümeysa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Azra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son bölüm o kadar gücüme gitti ki… Bu kadarını ben bile tahmin edemiyordum. Kötülük. Sevgi.
01.10

[Ranette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who iss this mother running from? Is her daughter innocent of all the killings? Will they servive together? Scary and intreguing.

[Zeynep Esin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sayfaları hızlı hızlı çevirten sürükleyici bir roman. Tansiyonu çok güzel yükseltmiş ve yönetmiş yazar. Psikolojik ögeler içermesi de çok güzeldi.