Madonna in a Fur Coat - Sabahattin Ali
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali is
considered one of the foremost Turkish classics of the 20th century. Written in
1941 and describing how both Germany and Turkey had changed following the Great
War, this classic is now available in English for the first time. Using the
life of a translation clerk named Raif Efendi as a metaphor to show how the
world has changed, Ali delivers a hidden gem of a classic to western readers.
Our story begins as a narrator in search of work finds employment as a clerk in the same office as Raif Efendi. Noticing that Efendi is often out ill, his colleague offers to bring him his work to his home. The two develop a rapport but then Efendi's health takes a turn for the worse, and he asks the narrator to collect his personal items from his desk. One of these items is a black leather bound notebook that piques the narrator's curiosity and Efendi allows him to read it. It is in the pages of the notebook that the bulk of the story takes place.
Our story begins as a narrator in search of work finds employment as a clerk in the same office as Raif Efendi. Noticing that Efendi is often out ill, his colleague offers to bring him his work to his home. The two develop a rapport but then Efendi's health takes a turn for the worse, and he asks the narrator to collect his personal items from his desk. One of these items is a black leather bound notebook that piques the narrator's curiosity and Efendi allows him to read it. It is in the pages of the notebook that the bulk of the story takes place.
As a young man in
Istanbul, Raif Efendi desires to see Europe in order to improve himself as an
artist. His father finances a trip to Berlin, and Efendi stays there in a
hostel for two years. While there, he masters the German language and witnesses
how the young people are without a care in the world living their lives
jubilantly during the years between the two wars. Immediately, Efendi passes
his time at the art museum and is enraptured by a painting entitled Madonna in
a Fur Coat. Eventually, he befriends the artist, a woman named Maria Puder who
lives a life of contradictions, and, despite their cultural differences, become
the love of their early lives.
Ali's prose is charming as he writes of missed opportunities of a love that might have been. I have read a number of European classics from this era this year, and have noticed a theme of wistfulness, of missing out on opportunities especially with love, and of reminiscing of a life gone by. Ali's Turkish classic fits in this mold nicely as he writes of the interwar years and how people's expectations have changed, and then returns to Raif Efendi contemplating what might have been in his life.
Ali's prose is charming as he writes of missed opportunities of a love that might have been. I have read a number of European classics from this era this year, and have noticed a theme of wistfulness, of missing out on opportunities especially with love, and of reminiscing of a life gone by. Ali's Turkish classic fits in this mold nicely as he writes of the interwar years and how people's expectations have changed, and then returns to Raif Efendi contemplating what might have been in his life.
Madonna in a Fur Coat is a story of missed opportunity. It is a short novel of lovely prose, and I enjoyed my brief journey to Turkey reading about Raif Efendi. Sabahattin Ali is considered the leading Turkish writer of the 20th century, but unfortunately he was murdered in 1948. Madonna remains his leading classic, and it can now be enjoyed by western audiences. As the world becomes smaller and works from all over the world become available to read, there is no limit to the number of classics that are being uncovered.
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