Love and Rebellion – Gürsel

Information

Author:

Nedim Gürsel

Date:

Dogan Kitap
September 2020

Author:

Additional Info

LOVE AND REBELLION

Rights Holder: Linwood Messina
Original Language: Turkish

Turkey’s critically acclaimed author Nedim Gürsel offers this sequel to Voltaire’s magnum opus Candide...

Taking inspiration from Voltaire’s Candide, Nedim Gürsel has his protagonist Saf Oğlan (literally young, naive man) face many obstacles, taking him from Venice to Constantinople where he encounters the Tulip Era of the Ottoman Empire when the Sultan Ahmed III was faced with the rebellion led by the Janissary of Albanian descent Patrona Halil.

Saf Oğlan/Candide will be confronted with the traditions, customs, folklores, schools of thought and political events of the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Gürsel cultivates the same flair and the same fun as Voltaire did to describe situations at times comical and at other times cruel.

Gürsel plays with the clichés and stereotypes while creating an historical setting where chaos resists all form of authoritarianism. Starting with Venetian anecdotes and then moving onto to Turkish ones, the story denounces certain hypocrisies and constraints remain relevant today. Nonetheless, we’re still given glimpses into the benefits of love, whether it be fleeting or constant.

Nedim Gürsel, born in 1951, is one of Turkey’s most prestigious authors. He is the prize-winning author of over 40 works translated into twenty languages. Nedim’s most well-known novels include The Conqueror, The Daughters of Allah, and The Red Angel (prix Méditérranée étranger, 2013). He currently resides in Paris.

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