4.5 ⭐

This read is such a success for me because the thing is this is THE 3RD BOOK of Ottomans Quartet and i highly enjoyed it! also this turkish translation also is one of my first reading from Turkish author.

slide right for the synopsis.

the story is already at the opening in midst of Ottoman Empire was in the road of its demise. even that so, the povs were belong Osman in the future who able to communicate with his ancestors family. it sounds like time travels stuff thingy.

the narrative explores on torment love relationships and exposure on Türkiye's political turmoil. with these heavy topics discussed, it came along in form of such an elegant & beautiful prose writings. this story is definitely carried with slow burn pace along the philosophy's discussion. history/politics were described really well and i am so intrigued that i had to google to understand better.

the best part of the philosophy mentioned was relatable too as it touched a lot on islamic perspectives. there are also anti-war theme tackled in war scenes and not shy in describing the ugliness of war. it also tackled on autorianism, politics and coup d' etat. morever, in sealing this grey feelings, it added the complicated family trees but luckily i was spared with references. depressed, anxiety and sadness feelings were really appealing. the emotions shown were all out, strong and kinda left you sorrowness feeling haunted you in the end.

as for the characters written, mostly men here were terribly upset with political struggle as war, autorianisms & coup d'etat overpowered. this left women's characters in despair and anxiety as their love & passion will left extinguished slowly. even some relationships curated here getting me frustrated and my fist in my mouth.

however, i wasn't prepared for the dramatic ending that also pushed me wanting to read more and desperate to find closure. overall, this is quite heavy reading for me but somehow it pumps out my adrenaline while reading. exciting yet gloomy.

This third volume of Altan's epic quartet continues with the same guiding conceit as the earlier books: that Osman has locked himself away in his house in Istanbul where he is visited by the ghosts of his family who recount their stories to him. Once again, the narrative veers from the intimacy of troubled relationships of love to the wider political struggles of Turkey: we're now in the twentieth century and on more familiar territory than the earlier books which I read with Google open beside me.

While reading this, I was thinking about how Altan's literary models seems to be a merging of 'War and Peace' with Proust's great epic of memorialising the past - and, I'd assume Turkish modes of writing of which I am sadly unaware. Only at the end do we really comprehend Osman's fear of the future, always unknown, and, thus, what a refuge, if a violent and troubling one, the past is for him.

Once again, Altan's writing is elegant with a philosophical edge even while he deals with Turkish politics: war, coups, authoritarianism, a struggle for some kind of individual and national agency - the latter reflected in his female characters who are plunged into agonies of love from which they may withhold themselves because they fear the loss of independence that passion may bring.

With a dramatic climax that crashes into the reader, this is both a challenging read and an immersive one, though I'd say you need to give yourself time and space to appreciate this - I can already see myself re-reading the whole quartet once the final volume is completed.