The Prisoner of Ankara

September 30, 2024
Dervis (In the Shadow of the Yali), who died in 1972, chronicles a Turkish man’s release from prison after serving 12 years for murder in this uneven novel, which was originally published in 1957. Vasfi, now in his 30s, wanders homeless on the streets of Ankara. In flashbacks, Dervis recounts Vasfi’s poor upbringing and tragic downfall in Istanbul, where his widowed mother sacrificed everything in hope of her only son becoming a doctor. At 22, Vasfi falls under the spell of Zeynep, a beautiful but coarse country girl who plays with his emotions. When Zeynep’s mother promises her to Vasfi’s wealthy old uncle Sakir, Vasfi is unconsolable, as is his cousin, Nuri, who hoped to inherit Sakir’s wealth. Nuri disparages his uncle’s bride-to-be, prompting a drunken Vasfi to kill him. In Ankara, a stranger gives him half of her cheese sandwich, but he’s dirty, unable to find work, and reduced to sleeping at a table in an all-night coffee shop. There is a sense of redemption when he returns to Istanbul to seek out Zeynep, but while Vasfi’s brokenness is palpable, his self-pity wears on the reader, as does the slow pacing. This one doesn’t quite hold up. Agent: Meriç Güleç, Onk Agency.

November 1, 2024
A man reflects on the crime that sent him to prison--and on his uncertain future. Turkish author Dervis' novel, first published in 1957, is now available to Anglophone readers in Freely's tautly paced translation. The title character is a former medical student named Vasfi who's leaving prison after having spent more than 12 years there, sentenced for his role in a man's death. Initially, his mood upon reentering the wider world is bleak: "To look at the people around him and think of himself as a murderer was a torment he could barely endure." Eventually, he thinks back over the events that sent him to prison, which related to his infatuation with Zeynep, a woman who lived in his neighborhood. He longed to be with her, but fate had other plans, and she ended up engaged to his great-uncle. When he confronted her with his feelings, she rejected him and went on to reveal that there were aspects of the situation--including the fact that she had previously been married and divorced, and had a 4-year-old child--of which he was completely unaware. His unresolved feelings remained an issue, however, and he eventually got into a fight with his cousin Nuri when Nuri claimed that Zeynep had been unfaithful to her new husband. That fight resulted in Nuri's death and Vasfi's prison term. In her introduction, Freely accurately describes this book as "a social-realist page-turner." It isn't until the long flashback has ended that the book takes a more philosophical turn, as an increasingly destitute Vasfi wanders through the city overcome by desperation and self-loathing. And he gradually realizes something: "His Zeynep--the incomparable Zeynep of his youth--no longer existed." It's not until after this moment that he can find a path toward redemption. A melancholy look at dashed illusions.

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