This year was maybe not as I expected to be, not at all, but I least I am happy to have the chance to read more than I ever planned and discover interesting voices from all over the world.
The multi-awarded Turkish author Zülfü Livaneli is my newest interesting read. I´ve met this famous author - at least in his home country - through a German translation of his novel Schwarze Liebe, Schwarzes Meer and instantly fell in love with his storytelling art.
Basically, it´s a mystery novel, as the story revolves around the search for the killer of a controversial localite lady, murdered after a lavish party. The events are taking place in a remote village near the Black Sea Coast, and the main storyteller is a recluse retired architect. He was apparently close to the victim, but how close it´s left to the mystery surrounding his life and the facts he is talking about. His main account is shared with a young journalist lady from Istanbul that was dispatched to research the case.
The surprises are to come at the end, when it seems that the facts he was talking about - that included some suspense political adventures for love in Chechnya, USSR and the then Soviet Republic of Belarus, including about a twin brother, were actually the result of his imagination - and of a mental disorder. However, the end of the book doesn´t bring the solution to the murder and all we assumed we know is, in fact, just dust in the wind.
The book has many interesting observations and thoughts about love and life, especially about love which I deeply enjoyed. On the other hand, the story is evolving at a great extent around the storyteller and his adventures, but misses more than once the connection with the crime and the victim.
However, I really enjoyed the philosophical and literary creativity of the book and would search out for more books about this very interesting author, probably in German too.
Rating: 3 stars
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