Short stories
Semaver
Not translated into English
Sait Faik Abasıyanık · 1936
Synopsis
Eighteen stories in the 1936 edition, nineteen in current editions, first published in the journal Varlık. They are set in Istanbul, in its districts and streets, among ordinary people, shopkeepers, craftsmen, porters, grocers or prostitutes, and a few in Grenoble, where the author had stayed. In the first, Ali, a young worker at a factory on the Golden Horn, lives with his mother, and each morning the samovar gives them a moment of warmth before the day. Other stories are titled after a hotel, a café waiter or a third-class journey.
Context
The collection appeared in 1936 with Remzi Kitabevi; it is the first of the ten collections published in the author's lifetime, according to La Procure. Its preface recalls that the stories had appeared in Varlık from 1934 to 1936, the one that gives the book its title in April 1935. Alain Mascarou translated it into French under the title Le Samovar, published by Bleu autour, in 2011, with a preface by the writer Enis Batur.
Who it is for
Very short stories in Turkish, about ordinary people, translated into French; each can be read on its own.
Prizes and reception
The author's first book, whose name has designated a Turkish short story prize since 1955.
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The pages consulted to check this page.