- Paperback: 238 pages
- Publisher: Telegram Books (Sep 1 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1846590671
- ISBN-13: 978-1846590672
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 249 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#973,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #26 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Middle Eastern > Turkey
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Music-loving aesthete and Turkish air-force pilot, Kemal enters a weird twilight existence in Istanbul after his plane crashes and a secret benefactor sets him up in a grand house in the haunted streets of old Balat. There follows an entertaining, somewhat absurd Hitchcockian comedy-mystery, rich in dropped names and arty jokes. It sends Kemal to the US on the trail of (of all McGuffins) Edgar Allan Poe. For readers here this cheeky romp, briskly translated by Clifford and Selhan Endres, may appeal most for its atmospheric glimpses of an inexhaustible city. Boyd Tonkin The Independent 27th November 2009 Praise for Songs My Mother Never Taught Me: 'A brilliantly edgy, witty thriller.' Maureen Freely 'Altun's prose has a dreamlike urgency; his novel is a major achievement.' John Ashbery
Product Description
Praise for Songs My Mother Never Taught Me:
“A deft, zinging whodunnit which is also a metaphysical puzzle worthy of the Oulipo group. Altun’s prose has a dreamlike urgency; his novel is a major achievement.”—John Ashbery
“This intelligent thriller from Altun, his first to be published in the U.S., nicely evokes modern Istanbul. . . . The lean prose and deft pacing make this more than a routine revenge tale.’”—Publishers Weekly
Kemal’s friend mysteriously disappears, leaving him a generous allowance and the use of his large house.
He discovers that his new dwelling involves an inheritance of $1.3 million, and a Russian nobleman’s missing son. Kemal embarks on a missing person case that will bring chaos and romance to his life.
Clues lead him from Istanbul to Buenos Aires, Boston, and eventually Baltimore, where Kemal visits the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. There in the museum is a poster announcing the Nevar Foundation’s offer of $200,000 to the winner of a first novel competition.
Kemal buys paper and a pen. He has decided to enter the Nevar competition with his first mystery novel, called Many and Many a Year Ago.
Selçuk Altun was born in Artvin, Turkey, in 1950. Telegram published Songs My Mother Never Taught Me in 2008. He lives in Istanbul and is a retired banking executive and bibliophile.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
interesting character tale, Sep 4 2009
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Many and Many A Year Ago (Paperback)
Within the Turkish Air Force, Kemal Kuray's rapid rise has become legendary as does his even faster fall when a plane engine fails. He knows he is fortunate to be alive, but he has to heal from his injuries, Kemal detests desk duty.
Kemal is assigned to a top secret translation project team where he and technology expert Suat Altan meet and become friends; in spite of ironically Kemal being career military and Suat meeting his military obligation on the assignment. Not long afterward, Kemal learns from Suat's identical twin Fuat that his sibling vanished; but left behind a note for his new friend; provided him an expensive house to live in rent free, and set up a monthly allowance of $5,000 upon his retirement. Kemal struggles with what Suat has done while searching for him around the world and a greater guiding principle in his life.
This an interesting character tale with mystery elements that is more an inner search for being even though the quest takes Kemal into North and South America, Europe and Turkey. With irony, the story line is driven by Kemal's need to know. Although at times the tale seems too clever losing its innocent whimsical charm though regains it too, MANY AND MANY A YEAR AGO is a fine look at finding one's self.
Harriet Klausner
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, Sep 2 2009
By Demir TOSUN "D." - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Many and Many A Year Ago (Paperback)
A voyage to the world of literature, a smart writer who knows hove to make us turn the pages by passion from the first page to the last... Another view to Turkish Istanbul Family Life after Orhan Pamuk's books.
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