![]() Inspired by Al Jazari’s The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices and published in 1996, Kitab-ül Hiyel tells the story of three generations of inventors of devices. Gregory Key is very much in command of the novelist’s authorial voice and his translation of such a complex finesse is a great contribution to Turkish literature in translation. Besides, not only Kitab-ül Hiyel provides readers with a good idea of Anar’s literary style and distinctive mode of storytelling, it is also a good translation. Considering there are many good Turkish writers not translated at all, even one work is important. Anar is one of the many Turkish writers who are yet to reach a broader global audience due to a lack of translations and only one of his novels is available in English: Kitab-ül Hiyel, that is, The Book of Devices. ![]() ![]() While there is much to be said about the barriers before literatures in translation, there has also been a heartening increase in publications. However, today, he is indubitably recognised as a historical novelist with a unique authorial style that combines an Ottomanesque language and postmodern narrative techniques. ![]() A professor of philosophy by profession, maybe he did not initially consider becoming a “novelist” per se and there is a seven-year gap between these first works and the others that will follow. Beginning with his first three novels ( Puslu Kıtalar Atlası, Kitab-ül Hiyel, and Efrasiyab’ın Hikâyeleri ), İhsan Oktay Anar quickly established a niche for himself in contemporary Turkish literature. ![]()
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