Кеча ва кундуз

by Choʻlpon, Чулпон

Night (1934), the first novel of Abdulhamid Sulaymon o’g’li Cho’lpon’s unfinished dilogy of novels, Night and Day, gives readers a glimpse into the everyday struggles of men and women in Russian imperial Turkestan. More than just historical prose, Cho’lpon’s magnum opus reads as poetic elegy and turns on dramatic irony. Though it depicts the terrible fate of a young girl condemned to marry a sexual glutton, nothing is what it seems. Readers find themselves questioning the nature of women’s liberation, colonialism, resistance, and even the intentions of the author, whose life and sequel, Day, were lost to Stalinist terror.

Genres: Classics, Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2019

About the author

[Chulpán - Choʻlpon]
Abdulhamid Sulaymon oʻgʻli Yunusov, was an Uzbek poet, playwright, novelist, and literary translator.

He was one of Central Asia's most popular poets during the first half of the 20th century. He was also the first person to translate William Shakespeare's plays into the Uzbek language.

Choʻlpon's works had a major impact on the works of other Uzbek writers. He was one of the first authors to introduce realism into Uzbek literature. Choʻlpon was executed during the Great Purge under the leadership of Joseph Stalin.

Reviews

[Dilrabo Tursunova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night and Day - Cho’lpon (Abdulhamid Sulaymon o’g’li Cho’lpon)

Cho’lpon was an iconic writer and poet of modern Uzbek literature in 20th century with his sharp, unforgettable voice. He was shot during the Stalin’s Great Purge in 1938 among other bright talents and intellectuals of Uzbekistan.

Night and Day is a duology with Night part becoming one of the best novels of Uzbek literature while Day part’s manuscript is believed destroyed by NKVD.

The novel, Night, follows the fate of a 15 year old girl, Zebi as she falls in love with a neighborhood boy yet gets married off to an old administrative official, Akbarali Mingboshi, as a fourth wife. With that her and her family’s life take complete different turn.

At the backstage Cho’lpon portrays darkness the nation is in:
- patriarchy repressing Uzbek women, with physical violence, emotional and financial abuse deemed to be norm, and women has no choice other than to surrender or turn into a trickster.

- state, religion officials both corrupt to the root, serving their self interests and Russian empire only, oppressing already poor common folk.

- the nation too naive, trustful and fearful deprived from knowledge and information with almost no hope of tomorrow.

But there was hope, jadids - reformists, much needed rescuers of the nation. They were advocates of literacy and modern education, advocating for progressive values, opening schools and establishing newspapers, theaters and much more... and of course Russians being against it, trying to hold on to its vassal. And of course local conservatives (almost whole men of power and religious fanatics) being against the reform.

One can believe Night was all about the nation in the darkness, its suffering, while Day was about the hope, bright future, what Jadids could have turned their reforms into a national revolution.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highlight of Uzbek (or, more generally, Central Asian) literature, it took time for me to get into this novel. The particulars of the culture, politics, and relationships that are so important to understanding the plot are complex and far from my usual experience. That said, it is a story that is gripping, humourous in places, and highly interesting to get to know a culture and era that is worth exploring.

[Hannah]

Note to self: the "Day" novel never got published.

[RD Chiriboga Moncayo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about early 20th Century Uzbekistan in this poetic, tragic novel.

[Muazzam Khamdamova]

Жадидлар нима учун курашканликларини чуқурроқ тушундим.

Ўқишга озроқ қийналдим. Асардаги рамзлар (символика) маъносини тушуниш учун тарихни яхши билиш керак экан

[Shohjakhon · Rating 1 out of 5]

vaqtilarga to'g'risi arzimaydi

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is actually "Night", part of a two-novel series (Day being the 2nd part), the last part of which was never published (though there is some indication it might have been written and destroyed by NKDV) due to the unfortunate circumstance of being written around the time of Stalin's great purge - the "Terror". "Excessive Nationalism" is what Stalin accused people of, and even through such an innocuous novel such as this one incurring the wrath of totalitarian leftism. And, while this was certainly not a novel worth killing for, neither was it a novel worth dying for. Not that he should have had to die, to blame the victims is something that leftist totalitarianism is also good at. "Well, he shouldn't have said that!" - and the edifice of civilization comes tumbling down.