Istanbul Noir

Istanbul is the place where East meets West, literally. It is, as convention would have it, a meeting point, a crossroads. At the same time, it marks the spot where geography is irreparably rent it two: it is a fissure in the continuum, a seething rupture, so to speak. (Introduction: Transgression and the Strait: Politics, Passion, and Pain, pg. 13)

Perhaps all of this still would have happened, even if the city hadn’t been caught up in the tempestuous lodos that night. But the truth is, that frantic wind, spinner of its own mysteries, provided justifiable motive for transgression. Strange, droning, lukewarm, the lodos keeps in its thrall not only the city, but the souls of its people as well. And Cavidan Altan was one of those people. Perhaps what would occur later hadn’t even remotely crossed her mind when she left home that day. I say “perhaps”, because we can never know for sure what’s on a woman’s mind. Now, I could pretend that I knew, but I don’t want to taint the authenticity of the story by adding to it something I’m not sure about. We can safely assume the same about Tolga Gucel, and say that he, too, never would have guessed that he would experience the things he did that evening, or any other evening for that matter. (Hitching in the Lodos by Feryal Tilmac, pg. 39)

The other day I was running into the library to pick up some books I had on hold, when I took a quick glance at the new books shelf. There was a slim volume called Istanbul Noir (edited by Mustafa Ziyalan and Amy Spangler). I was intrigued because my parents had visited Istanbul a few years ago and they loved it. My mother tells me of how beautiful the city is and how hospitable its inhabitants were. I picked it up and took it home and read sixteen original stories each set in a distinct neighborhood of Istanbul. Fourteen of the stories were written by Turkish authors, the other two by authors who have lived in Istanbul. All the stories (except for the two) were translated by the Editors.

This wasn’t noir as in hard boiled detective fiction. Instead it is noir in the original sense: black – these stories delve into the darkest parts of a person’s soul. They cover the gamut of grief, revenge, loss, and guilt all of which feature a heaviness of spirit or “huzun” This may sound a little depressing but the stories are more about an itch under the skin that won’t quite go away rather than doom and gloom.  They are a mixture of the real and the surreal but each gives the reader a sense of the geography of the city – not only the feel of the neighborhoods but also the social, political, and historical geography featuring Istanbul’s complex religious, social, and political history. The stories range from large issues, the beginnings of an extremist political group and the effect on those involved in those beginnings to quiet stories of individuals just trying to get by. My favorite is The Smell of Fish by Hikmet Hukumenoglu. The main character, a middle aged Turkish woman, fondly remembers working with her father, a fisherman. She mourns the changes in her neighborhood and dislikes the fact that her friends keep trying to set her up with suitors. Because the woman has a difficult time saying no, she has to come up with creative ways of dealing with these unwanted suitors. It is a clever story and while the ending isn’t surprising, it was enjoyable to read and I found myself smirking at the woman’s cleverness.

This collection is part of series from Akashic Publishers. Each book is set in a different city (from around the world) and features original stories with each set in a distinct neighborhood. Some of these books have well-known editors: Edwidge Danticat (Haiti), Laura Lippmen (Baltimore), Boston (Dennis Lehane), Manhattan (Lawrence Block), and New Orleans (Julie Smith). The Copenhagen Noir has just been published and I will definitely be looking for that one and I would love it if they did an Amsterdam Noir. I found this book to be a great “palate cleanser” and I look forward to exploring the rest of the series.

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