Novel
Eskici ve Oğulları
Not translated into English
Orhan Kemal · 1962
Synopsis
In Adana, a cobbler from a ruined wealthy family, who lost a leg in the war of 1912 according to soL, runs a small workshop with his sons. The elder, Mehmet, a father of three, has lost his job at the factory; the younger, Ali, is his father's favourite. When a Yugoslav immigrant opens a shop opposite, the workshop can no longer feed the family, according to turkedebiyati.org. The father asks Mehmet to look for work elsewhere, and Ali reproaches him for treating his brother as a burden.
Context
The novel appeared in 1962 from Ak Kitabevi, according to soL, and the Küre notes its reissue of 1970 under the title Eskici Dükkânı. The author adapted it himself for the stage, and the play was produced in 1969 at the Ankara Sanat Tiyatrosu; the book was made into a film in 1990. The critic Berna Moran, cited by soL, saw in it a family drama rather than a social novel. The book describes the end of an artisan whom machines and imported goods ruin after the war.
Who it is for
A novel in Turkish of nearly four hundred pages, in twenty-five chapters according to soL, with no known French translation.
Prizes and reception
Listed among the hundred basic works of the Ministry of Education, according to the cover of its current edition cited by soL.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.