Status Updates From Խաղաղություն

A man wanders the streets of Istanbul singing Türkü …. Which is to say ….

Singing Türkü refers to the performance of traditional Turkish folk songs. Türkü are a deeply rooted form of music that reflect the emotions, history, and daily life of the Turkish people, often passed down orally through generations. 

Mümbatz is in anguish over his failed relationship with Nuran, a failure for which he accepts the blame, torturing himself with regret and remorse - “Bliss was a glass goblet lying in shards.” He wanders about Istanbul much as Bloom wanders about Dublin in Joyce’s Ulysses seeking resolution. The novel is a profound immersion in a culture different from any I’ve lived in, the writing intense yet meditative.

Mümtaz was no stranger to how Nuran made use of muteness, which gave her the bearing of an idol whose every line and curve had been culled and created through the visions of centuries; he was aware of the way she took refuge, by degrees, behind this forced smile and quiescent poise, and how from that coign of vantage, distressed and distraught, she peered out over the landscape and over their lives.

Strong poetic and reflective, even philosophical, writing. Contemplative.

Looking forward to this novel. I guess my fav kind of reading is world literature, getting into fiction from every country and every culture 🙌🏼