Zülfü LivaneliCríticas

Livaneli’nin öykülerini okumayi seviyorum. Çok basit ve akıcı bir dili var. Ne komplike cümleler kurmaya çalışarak okuyucuyu yoruyor, ne de sürekli bir mesaj iletme kaygısında. Bir çırpıda bitirdim huzursuzluğu. Okuyup bitirmem ne kadar çabuk olduysa da, öyküyü sindirmem günlerce sürdü. İlk gece kabusla uyanınca öyküde yaşanan acıların beni ne kadar derinden sarstığını fark ettim. Livaneli’nin ustalığı da burada zaten. Çabucak zevkle okuyup bitirdiğiniz kitaplar derin bir iz bırakıyor, siz hemen fark etmeseniz de.

Yine Livaneli'nin bir kitabini hizlica ve severek okudum.
Bana gore iyi bir yazar basit cumlelerle en acik sekilde derdini anlatirken, hikayesiyle okuyucu surukleyip guclu duygular hissettirebilen yazardir.
Edebi ya da felsefi yazacagiz diye uzun anlasilmaz karisik cumleler kurmaya calisanlar, hem okuyucu kaciriyorlar hem de kendi hikayelerini kucumsuyorlar.
Bu sadece edebiyatta degil, bilimsel yazilarda, gazete kose yazilarinda da boyle. Derdinizi uzun ters cumlelerle degil, olabilecek en basit cumlelerle anlatmaniz lazim. Sonucta anlattiginizin gucu okuyanin anladigi olcude olacaktir.

Zulfu Livaneli yi cok yonlu bir sanatci, yetenekli bir muzisyen olarak bilirdim. Meger ayni zamanda cok guclu bir yazarmis.

"Historia de amor en el ‘Struma’, el barco hundido con 800 judíos en el Bósforo", El País 23.02.2023: https://elpais.com/cultura/2023-02-23/historia-de-amor-en-el-struma-el-barco-hun...

Wird in der Türkei gehypt, aber ich finde das Buch "Serenade für Nadja" des Autors wesentlich besser. Das Thema von Glückseligkeit ist zwar spannend, das Buch beginnt auch gut, doch dann wird es über weite Strecken langatmig und am Ende verläuft die Handlung viel zu schnell und kommt (im Vergleich zum Hauptteil) mit viel zu vielen Wendungen daher. Schade.

Livanelis 160-Seiten Roman verfolgt eine interessante Erzählweise. Es geht um einen osmanischen Sultan, der mittels Intrigen durch seinen Sohn ersetzt wird. Nun, in seinem Palast-Gefägnis, steht ihm einzig der Obereunuch des Harems als Kontakt zur Außenwelt zur Verfügung.

Aus dessen Perspektive ist die ganze Geschichte geschildert. Die eigentliche Handlung ist Recht kurz und spielt nur an wenigen Orten im Topkapı-Palast. Doch jedes noch so kleine Ereignis wird durch den Erzähler - also den Sklaven des Padişahs - kommentiert und sowohl mit Rückblicken als auch mit seinen Gedanken versehen. Hierdurch erhält man einem tiefen Einblick in die Lebenswelt und Politik des osmanischen Hofes, und das Auf und Ab verschiedener Karrieren jener Zeit.

Spannend ist natürlich auch die Wandlung im Charakter des Herrschers, an welcher der Obereunuch nicht ganz unschuldig ist.

Einziges Manko: Am Ende ist nicht so ganz klar, worauf Zülfü Livaneli eigentlich Hinauswill. Bloße Unterhaltung ist es nicht, denn dafür geht es viel zu sehr um Macht, ihrem Umgang und was sie aus Menschen macht. Vielleicht muss ich aber auch einfach noch ein paar Tage darüber nachdenken.

Serenade for Nadia: A Novel, Zulfu Livanelli, author
Maya Duran, a divorcee, works for the Rector of Istanbul University. She has one son, Kerem. Mothering him is not her strong suit. Kerem is a nerd and is closer to his computer than to her. When an elderly German man, Maximilian Wagner, who had been a visiting professor at the university almost six decades ago, returns to speak at the university, Maya is assigned to pick him up and take him to and fro. She takes an immediate liking to him and becomes more involved than she intended, or should be, and is slowly embroiled in an investigation of Max, and then, even of herself!
At the same time that Maximillian Wagner had taught in Istanbul, there were many Jewish professors who were also visiting professors there. They were unable to teach in Germany after Hitler enacted laws curtailing the activities of the Jews. Turkey offered them sanctuary. While Max was not Jewish, his wife Nadia was Jewish. As Maya discovers their secrets, and those of her own family, she laments man’s inhumanity to man and the reasons for it.
She discovers that the background of both of her grandmothers had to be kept secret. If known, the family could be in grave danger. The government was in charge, right or wrong, and as her brother told her, supporting the government was his job, even if the government was wrong. Soon she learned that the government knew more about her than she might know herself.
As Maya spends more and more time with the 87-year-old professor, she notices that men in a car seem to be watching her, she engages her son's help and asks him to do some research on Wagner. Could he be a spy? This project brings Kerem and his mother closer together. As she becomes more and more involved with the mystery surrounding Max, the corruption of the men in her own government and others is revealed. The shameful disregard for human life during the Holocaust is illustrated.
It seems that a boat that was not seaworthy was engaged to transport Jews to Palestine, in an effort to save their lives. Instead, a terrible tragedy ensued. The boat carried 800 passengers instead of 100 and had only one toilet. Overloaded and in terrible condition, when it arrived in Istanbul, they were not allowed to disembark. There were no ports of entry that would welcome the Struma. The passengers were left on the boat, in its dreadful state, as Turkey was persuaded not to let them enter and Britain refused them entry to Palestine. Turkey and England behaved abominably. Wagner’s wife was on that boat. The boat was sent back to Germany, but it was not seaworthy and was soon left afloat in the water.
Wagner was a talented musician, totally devoted to Nadia. He had written a serenade for her, but the score disappeared when he was forced to leave Istanbul because of the cover-up of the Struma incident which caused the murder of all but one passenger who survived. The boat was torpedoed. This part of the novel about the Struma is based on an actual travesty of justice.
Because of Maya's involvement with Max, her own reputation is sullied by those who spend their lives criticizing the behavior of women while their own behavior is more than suspect. Good Muslims were supposed to behave properly. Who decides what is proper? Her relationship with Max opens Maya’s eyes to her own vulnerability, and the injustices of the world around her, since her own behavior is questioned and found wanting.
When the book opens and concludes, she is on her way to America. On the plane, she writes her story. It involves the tyranny of many countries when power is entrusted to evil men. The plight and suffering of the Jews, Armenians, Muslim Tatars and even the Yazidis is noted. Meeting Max has changed Maya and given her a new purpose in life coupled with a greater sense of her own need for real freedom of choice and the realization that blindly following a corrupt power is not a righteous choice.
Quoting from the book about Germany sums up how power can corrupt. “Looking back, it’s hard to understand how an entire nation could be so blind and acquiescent, but, then again, it’s easy to imagine the same thing happening here."(In the book they mean in Turkey, currently under the yoke of a government with too much power.) The quote continues, "No one listens to the few lone voices who point out how the Islamists are taking over the judiciary, the upper levels of the police, the schools, and, indeed, the entire government bureaucracy – how they’re already pushing ahead their agenda in the major cities whose administrations they control….Hitler managed to get the Enabling Act passed in parliament, giving his government unlimited power. How long will it be before something similar happens here?” (Once again, the novelist refers to Turkey.
Today, could it not easily describe the climate in the United States, as well? The novel illustrates changing times and the subtle control, the tyranny of power, when one philosophy takes complete precedence over reason.

Die 15-jährige Meryem wird in einem ostanatolischen Dorf vergewaltigt. Archaische Traditionen verlangen ihren Tod. Zum Vollstrecker des Ehrenmords wird ihr Cousin Cemal auserwählt, welcher gerade nach der Ableistung seines Präsenzdienstes aus dem Bürgerkrieg gegen die PKK zurückgekehrt ist. In Istanbul wiederrum führt Irfan ein dekadentes Leben, ehe er sich die Sinnfrage stellt und zum Aussteiger wird.

In Livanelis Roman kreuzen sich die Wege der vorgenannten Charaktere. Er zeigt die Zerissenheit der modernen Türkei zwischen Tradition und Moderne sowie zwischen Ost und West. Gegenübergestellt werden das in archaischen Traditionen verbliebene Ostanatolien, die Kriegsschauplätze im Kurdengebiet, das mondäne Istanbul sowie die Touristenhochburgen an der Ägäis. Livaneli zeigt die Türkei und seine Menschen in unterschiedlichster Ausprägung eingebettet in eine tragische Familiengeschichte.

This is a beautifully written, heartbreaking story based on the real-life sinking of the Struma – a ship that launched from Romania and carried nearly 800 Jewish refugees on their way to Palestine. In February 1942, the ship was torpedoed while off the coast of Istanbul after being turned away by Turkish authorities.

The book is written with two timelines- one in 2001 with Maya Duran who is an employee of Istanbul University and her assignment of looking after Maximilian Wagner, a German-born Harvard professor. The other timeline is set during WWII and tells the love story of Max and Nadia, who were very much in love but were separated by the war.

During her time with Max, Maya soon learns his true reason for returning to Istanbul after a 59-year absence. Slowly he reveals that he last saw his beloved wife Nadia 59 years ago there in Istanbul. Their love story is told with great passion but then veers into a horrific and heartrending conclusion. The past and the present collide leaving the reader emotionally drained. A true emotional rollercoaster.

I must mention the brilliant translation done by Brendan Freely. He was able to maintain the magic of Livaneli’s writing throughout the story. The book also reveals some of the birthing pains of the Turkish nation itself, the atrocities committed against Armenians and Crimean Turks, the WWII politics between Turkey, Great Britain, and Russia.

I enhanced my understanding of the historic event by watching the short documentary “The Search for the Struma” on YouTube.

"Ben insandım ve nasıl bu kadar duyarsız hale geldim" diye düşündüren harika bir kitap. Eline sağlık Zülfü Livaneli.

"Ölmek isteyeni kurtarmak, öldürmekle birdir."
-Horatius

Ibrahim hat seine südostanatolische Heimat schon lange verlassen, um in Istanbul als Journalist zu arbeiten. Als er auf eine Todesmeldung stößt, wird er stutzig: kann es sich bei dem in Amerika getöteten Türken um seinen alten Schulfreund handeln? Alles spricht dafür und so reist er nach Mardin, um die Hintergründe zu erforschen. Was er dort erfährt, wird sein Leben nachhaltig verändern. Hüseyin war verliebt in eine Frau, doch es war eine Liebe, die nicht sein durfte. Er Muslim, sie Jesidin aus einem der stadtnahen Flüchtlingslagern. Ibrahims Spurensuchte führt ihn zu diesen Geflüchteten und die Geschichten, die er hört, lassen ihn nicht mehr los.

Zülfü Livaneli ist neben Orhan Pamuk eine der bedeutendsten Stimmen der Türkei, vor allem, weil er in seinen Romanen gesellschaftskritische Themen verarbeitet und unbequeme Wahrheiten anspricht. So auch in „Unruhe“, das den Umgang mit Jesiden, die Verachtung dieser Religion und die Ablehnung der Menschen offen anspricht und am Beispiel von Hüseyin und Meleknaz die Absurdität auf die Spitze treibt.

„Im Nahen Osten ist es seit jeher üblich, dass man sich gegenseitig umbringt und nicht merkt, wie man sich dabei selbst tötet.“

Es sind solche Sätze, die wie Nadelstiche auf diejenigen wirken müssen, an die sie gerichtet sind. Es ist nicht nur das unsägliche Treiben des IS, das im Namen einer Religion legitimiert wird und weltweit für Entsetzen sorgt, das Livaneli kritisiert. Dies ist einfach, denn kaum jemand wird ihm da widersprechen. Schwerer wiegt jedoch der Umgang der Bewohner im Grenzland mit den geflüchteten Jesiden. In einem Lager dürfen sie hausen, man kümmert sich auch dort um sie, aber sie sollen bitte auch dort bleiben und auf keinen Fall Beziehungen mit Muslimen eingehen. Meleknaz erfährt kein Mitleid für ihr Schicksal, statt Verständnis schlägt ihr Hass von Hüseyins Familie entgegen.

Aber auch Ibrahim muss erkennen, dass sein Verhalten zweifelhaft ist. Beobachtet er zunächst die Haltung von Hüseyins Familie, ist hierdurch geradezu verstört und sucht fieberhaft nach der jungen Frau, so muss er sich doch irgendwann eingestehen, dass auch er mehr aus Eigennutz handelt als aus Nächstenliebe: er will sich selbst und anderen beweisen, dass er ein guter Mensch ist, seinem Leben Sinn geben. Dass er dabei die Bedürfnisse der Frau ignoriert, wird ihm erst spät bewusst.

„Unruhe“ ist ein kurzer, schonungsloser Roman, der das Schicksal einer Glaubensgemeinschaft ins Zentrum stellt, deren Geschichte von Verfolgung und Hass gekennzeichnet ist. Er wirft kein gutes Bild auf die Welt, die zusieht, im besten Fall schweigt, im schlimmsten für zusätzliches Leid sorgt.

Aslinda surukleyici, ilginc bir hikaye. Bir zaman acaba ne eksik diye dusundum. Hikaye Leyla Haim ile Rukiye (Roxy) arasinda geciyor. Tamamen farkli hayatlar: Biri varlikli bir aileden, digeri Almanya'da dislanan, zorluk icinde yasayip, kotu bir meslege karisan iki bayan. Hikayeleri Istanbul'da kesisiyor.

Benim bu hikayede sevmedigim sey, degisik hicbir sey sunmamasi ve karakterlere karsi yakinlik duyuramamasi oldu.

Orjinal bir kitap. Okuduktan sonra da insani dusundurmeye devam ettiriyor. Yasadigimiz ulkelerdeki hukumetlerle karsilastiriyor. Hatta Toronto/Kanada'da bir kucuk adada (Island Park) bu kitabi hatirlayip- acaba yazar buradan mi bahsetti diye dusunmustum...

Turkiye'de hukumetler degisse de, bu kitabin icinde gecen entrikalar degismez. Alegorik turunun guzel orneklerinden.

Interesting story combining issues facing eastern, less cosmopolitan Turks and western more cosmopolitan Turks. All are finding themselves in different ways on their own journeys which come together. I liked this.

A book read for book club -- I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, but am glad to have read it. First half was very slow build-up; I simply counldn't get "into" the book and feel for the Meryam, though upon reading the summary, I thought empathisizing with Meryam would be easy. It wasn't until the three characters finally joined together (half-way through) that the book grabbed my attention and made me want to keep reading. Interesting to read of two kinds of muslims -- the extremist muslim and the honorable muslim. The first half of the book earns a 3-star (potential unrealized). The second half of the book earns a 4.25 star (potential finally realized).

I struggled with this book, but during the discussion with the book club, the watching of the movie, and the dinner with the author, I saw it in a better light. Still, as a rating, 2 stars is right for me.

Meryem, a young Turkish girl is raped by her uncle. That same uncle sentences her to death for dishonoring the family.

It is her cousin Cemal, her uncle's son, who is ordered to take her to Istanbul and carry out the sentence. Cemal begins to feel a crisis of conscience.

So begins their journey where they meet with a professor from Istanbul who is expriencing a life crisis of his own. The three form a shaky alliance, each searching for a safe harbor from the demons that plague them.

Livaneli wove together many facets of Turkish life so beautifully. He seems to write with deep insight about the many cultures and religious groups which form Turkey, as well as Turkey's history and politics.

I found this to be a moving story. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Turkey.

A good read about German-Jewish academics, who sought refuge in Turkey before, during and after the World War II. the story is told in modern times by a young woman, who happens to meet an academic of those days, during his brief visit to Istanbul.

A well written book with an unusual construction in that the author introduces you to each of the three characters individually, but for much of the book you have no idea how their lives will intersect.

Meryem is the character who grows the most, but then she's the youngest and has been living in a very protected situation. She has very little education and by culture has been separated from the men as have all the women in the town. She is brutally raped by her uncle, the local Imam, who then sentences her to death for her "filth". She is imprisoned in a barn, and left with a rope with which they expect her to hang herself. Though in her despair she considers it, eventually she refuses and her uncle then gives the job of disposing of her to his son, Cemal, who was a childhood playmate of Meryem. Cemal has very recently returned from military service in the civil war and has not had time to come to grips with how he himself has changed. He takes Meryem to Istanbul in the hopes that he can find a way to murder her in that city. Cemal is lost and is casting around for sure footing, but is not yet ready to take chances or make big changes in his life.

The third character is Isfan, a professor from Istanbul, who is undergoing a mid-life crisis and walks away from his marriage and work and tries to emulate a childhood friend who long ago sailed away in search of adventure and his place in life. Isfan's journey is one of self-discovery, but he seems incapable of really learning as much as he could.

A very satisfying read where I learned a good deal about Turkey, its problems, and its culture.

After a string of relatively boring reads it's nice to have read a really, really good book. Given the subject matter it's amazing how warm this book is. Now I really want to visit Turkey - it is almost a character in this novel. What a fascinating insight. If I had any reservations about the novel it would be that I read the blurbs at the back first - I think some of the comments are spoilers and the book would have had more tension if I had just launched in and read it through.I'll check with j4shaw and then it's off to babydoll857 (I think).½

I read the Mandarin verson, of course if I can get the English verson it would be better. It is about a girl from little village near Istambul been raped and is about to be killed by his own cousin, which been order to do this by his father, the girl's elder uncle, also the raper...

An eye opener to a world most people would not know about. Three lost souls three different people going through a ruff part in their life when they end up meeting. Through this they find out who they are. A book I could not put down I read it put it down and had to pick it up again. It makes you see things you would never have though thought before.

Amazing novel in the post-colonial tradition of how cultures interact and change accordingly: this time for the better.½

"Fifteen-year-old Meryem lives in a rural village in eastern Anatolia, Turkey.
Her simple, conventional way of life changes dramatically after her uncle, a
sheikh in a dervish order, rapes her - and condemns her to death for shaming
the family. Asked to carry out the "honor killing" is his son Cemal, a commando
in the Turkish army. So begins a long, mystifying voyage for Meryem as her
shell-shocked cousin ushers her to the shining metropolis of Istanbul where
another troubled soul, the Harvard-educated professor Irfan, embarks on his own
journey of transformation - one that catapults him into the heart of Meryem and
Cemal's conflict. The crossed paths and interwoven destinies of these three
characters make for an affecting, by turns brutal and life-affirming, portrayal
of traditional and modern-day Turkey that no reader will soon forget." --back
cover