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A review by itshaldun
Tutunamayanlar by Oğuz Atay
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
It only took 200 or so days!
I don’t even know why I am bothering to write this review, because this book is so extremely interwoven with Turkish culture and language that I cannot even begin to imagine how one would translate it. There are parts of it where I felt I was not Turkish enough to understand properly!
It’s name would literally translate to “Those who can not hold on”, but the official translation uses “The Disconnected”. It is a story about a married man discovering that his university friend had committed suicide. Feeling as if he did not do his friendship justice, he sets to explore every aspect of his friend’s life and his stance on life starts to change.
The text itself, being postmodern, is astonishingly diverse in its format, switching styles and perspectives without a care. There is a 100 page long section told entirely in poem form. One 85 page long section is a thought-stream without a single paragraph break or punctuation, forming an essentially 85 page single sentence.
Where the book really shines, though, is the authors otherworldly talent (especially for the time) at drawing profound and introspective meanings and explanations from simple events or sayings. The book tackles the norms of marriage, friendship, work, intellectualism and more. It can also be read as a neurodivergent story, since the person who killed himself clearly shows signs of not fitting in and faking basic social interactions.
SUMMARY
This book is a linguistic, cultural and literary achievement in every way, not just of Turkish literature, but of all literature. It is slow, it loses track, it is dirty, and it is all part of its design. The only reason it is not getting a perfect score is because it is so hard to read and very inaccessible to wider audiences.
It is a masterpiece you (probably) won’t read.
I dedicate this review to those who could not hold on. Your legacies will forever live on with this book.
I don’t even know why I am bothering to write this review, because this book is so extremely interwoven with Turkish culture and language that I cannot even begin to imagine how one would translate it. There are parts of it where I felt I was not Turkish enough to understand properly!
It’s name would literally translate to “Those who can not hold on”, but the official translation uses “The Disconnected”. It is a story about a married man discovering that his university friend had committed suicide. Feeling as if he did not do his friendship justice, he sets to explore every aspect of his friend’s life and his stance on life starts to change.
The text itself, being postmodern, is astonishingly diverse in its format, switching styles and perspectives without a care. There is a 100 page long section told entirely in poem form. One 85 page long section is a thought-stream without a single paragraph break or punctuation, forming an essentially 85 page single sentence.
Where the book really shines, though, is the authors otherworldly talent (especially for the time) at drawing profound and introspective meanings and explanations from simple events or sayings. The book tackles the norms of marriage, friendship, work, intellectualism and more. It can also be read as a neurodivergent story, since the person who killed himself clearly shows signs of not fitting in and faking basic social interactions.
SUMMARY
This book is a linguistic, cultural and literary achievement in every way, not just of Turkish literature, but of all literature. It is slow, it loses track, it is dirty, and it is all part of its design. The only reason it is not getting a perfect score is because it is so hard to read and very inaccessible to wider audiences.
It is a masterpiece you (probably) won’t read.
I dedicate this review to those who could not hold on. Your legacies will forever live on with this book.