The catalogue “Books from Turkey” consists of a collection of texts ...

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B O O K S F R O M T U R K E Y
A S L I E R D O Ğ A N
Aslı Erdoğan was named as one of the “fifty writers who will be remembered”
by the French journal, Lire. From her first book onwards it was evident that she
offered a different kind of narrative: melancholy stories and a rich language that
effectively conveys the tale to the reader. These characteristics feature prominently
in the the novel which made her popular, Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent (The City in a
Crimson Cloak,1998). The book is one of the most important narratives in recent
Turkish literature and has been translated into many languages. Her short story
“Tahta Kuşlar” / “Wooden Birds”, which received an award in Berlin in 1997, is also
considered one of her most important narratives. Her other works include; Kabuk
Adam (Shell Man, novel, 18th edition), Mucizevi Mandarin (Miraculous Mandarin,
novel, 7th edition), Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent (The City in a Crimson Cloak, novel, 7th
edition), Hayatın Sessizliğinde (In the Silence of Life, essays), Bir Delinin Güncesi
(The Diary of a Mad Woman, essays), Bir Kez Daha (One More Time, essays) Bir
Yolculuk Ne Zaman Biter (When a Journey Ends), Taş Bina ve Diğerleri (Stone
Building and Others, stories)
Foreign Rights: Mucizevi Mandarin/The Miraculous Mandarin: (Edition Galata,
Germany), (Actesud, France), (Buybook, Bosnia Herzegovina), (Ramus, Sweden),
(Gyldendal, Norway); Kırmızı Pelerinli Kent/The City in Crimson Cloak (Soft Skull,
USA), (Buybook, Bosnia Herzegovina), (Aton Odd., Bulgaria), (Unions, Germany),
(Cadmus, Syria), (Zamus, Switzerland), (Gyldendal, Norway), (Actes Sud, France)
KIRMIZI PELERİNLİ KENT
THE CITY IN CRIMSON CLOAK
Soft Skull, USA, 2007, 144 pages, Novel
Translated by Amy Spangler
ISBN: 9789752893580
LaurePecherlpecher@pierreastier.com
Özgür, having deserted her past and secluded herself
from the outer world, is poor, hungry, and on the verge
of a mental breakdown. She has a single weapon
left in the all-out war she has declared against Rio
de Janeiro: to write the city, which has trapped her
and robbed her of everything. As we read the bits
and pieces of Özgür’s unfinished novel, The City in a
Crimson Cloak, with its autobiographical protagonist
named, for the time being, only as Ö, we begin to put
together the fragments of Özgür’s story. Meanwhile,
the narrator tells us of a single day in Özgür’s life
which is, in fact, her last.