A review by bluepigeon
Happy Birthday, Turk! by Jakob Arjouni, Anselm Hollo

3.0

Happy Birthday Turk! is rife with noir cliches. A private eye who does not eat anything for days; he is so tough that he just drinks coffee and alcohol. He gets beaten up, his eye swollen shut and his jaw bleeding, yet he can go on to investigate crimes, interview people, chase down criminals. The plot is obvious from the very beginning and everything unravels very easily: It seems that people are just waiting to be asked to spill the beans. Perhaps the only redeeming quality is the "ethnic" identity of the private eye, a German-Turk, who is pretty German in culture, but looks like a Turk. So there is some biting commentary, and some incidences written into the plot, that bring out this aspect of the main character. He has a witty and fast mouth, which he uses well to dish out advice for those unfortunate enough to discriminate against him due to his looks or those who assume he is just another Turk. But then again, he also thinks Turkey is a dictatorship so who knows what that's all about... Maybe it is on purpose, to show us that Kayankaya is just like the other ignorant Germans, or it is a mistake the author made, or maybe the translator chose "dictatorship" but the actual text said "democratic rule often overseen by the military"? Also the whole family structure of the Turkish family (of the murder victim) is wrong. To imagine such an obedient and quiet mother-in-law, to the point that she'd remain silent when one of her daughters "gets sick" is unbelievable.

I hear that the translation is actually pretty good, so I am going to guess that, like most noir out there, the book was written in the choppy style that dwells way too much on minute-by-minute movements of the main character (i.e. "I opened the door. I walked in. I sat down. I reached for the glass on the table. I poured myself some water.") Just how many times can a smell "hit" someone's "nostrils"? Many, many, many times.