Customer Reviews

Bliss: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read "Bliss" first in 2002 from the original language it's written, Turkish. I was mesmerized by it, touched my heart, my soul. Ever since, I read it over and over again and I have been waiting for it to be translated into English so I can share this wonderful book with my friends, and everybody I know and do not know. An excellent translation! If you read a book a year, this should be your "only" one. BLISS is a deeper look into human soul. A universal search for happiness. The characters are so vivid, you can see them, feel them, be them. Universal in the sense of soul searching, but also gives an accurate and great overall picture of Turkey today.

I am currently an expat living in Turkey with my Turkish husband and his family. For many years I have been interested in Turkish literature and this book is not only a great example of Turkish literary style, it is also the most accurate depiction of the strong social divide between city and village, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, available to the English speaking world. Livaneli offers a photorealistic portrait that is incredibly important for the world to see. Most importantly, the translation is exceptional. Turkish and English are at opposite ends of the language spectrum and therefore it is incredibly difficult to get an accurate translation. However, this translation has been brilliantly done and the lyrical style of the original has held true. I recommend this book highly.

I was interested in this book from the cover and inside blurb, but once I began reading, I could see a lot of problems that an editor might have helped with. The author created a good premise, but it was extremely disjointed. It seems that he wanted to put anything in that occured to him, regardless of whether it supported the story or not. Perhaps he was trying to paint a portrait of life in Turkey, how the religion influences society, and how things are changing in some parts of the country - but as a story, it had very odd pacing, strange character behavior and motivation, and lots of loose ends (he would bring in things like homosexuality for no reason, and Irfan had so many book and author references, it was like name-dropping, again, for no reason.) I grew very weary of Irfan and his search, even though I found it interesting at the outset. I thought Meryem the most vibrant character, but some of her behaviors were also not realistic - no one gets over rape as quickly as she did, particularly in a country where she's told she's useless and sinful, and where she knows she'll be killed. I also waited for a showdown with her and Cemal regarding his father, but this didn't unfold the way I expected - and the way it DID unfold was given extremely short shrift. The writer deserves more for his effort than for the actual result.

With his genius Livaneli has opened a window to the world that is becoming more and more puzzling for the West. He created three strong characters representing the three layers of Turkish society, the innocent, the ignorant and the intellectual, all lost and confused in their own way, looking to find happiness and self-acceptance.

I highly recommend it.

This is a book that has many layers of associations and messages. The subject of honor killing is certainly important enough and Livaneli has the courage to expose this albeit remote disgraceful practice in eastern Turkey for what it is. However, the liberation of women, the complex head covering issue and the loss of values so prevalent in burgeoning upper middle class of the big cities of Turkey is brought together through authors' artistry and skillful character development and juxtaposition. Unfortunately this painfully misunderstood country may suffer even more in the eyes of its western readers by this subject matter but that in itself is a testamony of its accelerating progress.

You want to know what I loved about the movie, Titanic? I loved the underwater shots of the ship itself as remote control cameras panned the doomed ocean liner, revealing its secrets. I loved the depth and coldness of the ocean and seeing how it had consumed life, frozen it in time, like a gallery to our own excess. What I hated about the movie Titanic overshadowed what it was I loved. I hated the contrived story, the melodrama and the predictable characters.

Which brings us to this book, Bliss by O.Z. Livaneli. I can't give it one star because it's beautifully written with long flowing passages that cause to you live in the scenes of villages, cities, and the rugged landscape that is Turkey. I've been to Turkey and I experienced more of that nation through this book than I did while I was physically in country. As a travelogue the book it brilliant, moving, flowing, rich with detail. As a travelogue it's nearly unparalleled.

As a story it's not so much. I can't give it five stars because the story felt manufactured. I understand that there's oppression and ritual slaying and women are treated like chattle, harbingers of anything evil. I understand that and I'm horrified by it. But just putting that into a book doesn't make it an important work of fiction.

Livaneli symbolizes the injustice of his nation in the character, Meryem, a fifteen year old girl who is raped by her uncle. She's expected to kill herself because of this loss of honor, but when she can't go it, the killing is assigned to another. Cemal, her cousin, is told to take her to Istanbul - a euphemism for removing her from the village and murdering her. Cemal represents the old Turkey, the stringent Islamic nation struggling to balance between the West and the East, always in turmoil, always at war, and always injured. Then Livaneli introduces enlightenment and hope for the future in the form of Irfan, a professor they hook up with on their journey. He's trying to symbolically escape the Turkey of oppression while maintaining aloofness from the materialism of the West. In reality he's a romantic, addicted to his Western lifestyle and attempting to quit cold turkey in a sailboat.

For the descriptions it's a great book. For the plot it's predicable. As fact it works, as fiction it falls short.

- CV Rick

Bliss by O.Z. Livaneli is a novel about culture, class, and destiny. The main characters, Meryem, Cemal, and Irfan are all struggling with their own destiny when magically their paths intersect. Cemal, is the soldier, the village hero, who has been suffering and fighting in the Turkish mountains. When he finally cracks under the pressure of warfare, it is obvious that he is a suffering soul within his shell of silence. Meryem is a young girl who is raped by Cemal's father, the village Sheikh who afterwards banishes Meryem to death.

The village of Lake Van is one that is so far behind the times regarding exploitation of women, and actually, not necessarily behind in the time, more, backwards as far as how women are treated that it is shocking to know that some of this horrible treatment still goes on today. The way that the women treat each other, with shame and punishment for being women, seems awkward and is almost embarrassing to read about. That anyone would want Meryem to suffer for what has happened to her is just so wrong. I found myself getting emotionally involved with the story and had to extract myself when I put the book down. Its that real and it gets to you.

As Meryem travels, there are people who reach out to her and this is an accurate translation of a culture in Turkey that is at odds with itself; actually, of the many cultures that are at odds with each other. Once Meryem travels outside of Lake Van and see's there are women who don't have to have their heads covered and who wear shorts and are allowed to be beautiful, well, her eyes are opened. Meryem's transformation is a beautiful thing to watch, especially when Meryem comes full circle with her destiny. Have some Kleenex handy.

Next, there is the story of Cemal and the horrible things that he had to do; I get the sense that there are many soldiers who would identify with the specific hardening that he had to undergo, and yet the inner struggle of not being able to give up being a human being; so there is severe emotional pain of murdering innocent people, and then having to live with oneself. Cemal has grown up in Lake Van and so he carries with him the same religious narrow mindedness and brainwashing that holds him prisoner through much of the book. This oppressive mindset also keeps him from making humanistic decisions as far as how to treat others, and contributes to an almost complete lack of compassion on Cemal's part. It isn't until one puts themselves in Cemal's shoes that it is possible to see the trauma and pyschological torture that he has undergone and wonders how in the world it will ever be possible to break him out of that impenetrable box that he has locked himself up in.

Irfan, is a man facing a mid life crisis. He goes through the different stages of fear, this is when he realizes his life course and see's that he cannot continue to live within the palacial fallacy that he has built around him. He must escape. The inner dialogue that that comes of Irfan's struggle is magnificent, and delicate. Anyone who has done an about face with their pursuit of success and then also held the mirror up to popular culture and money, will certainly identify. There is the question of authenticity that looms in front of Irfan, how will he go about becoming real once again, now that he has built a completely fake emotional life for himself. Irfan's escape is romantic and one that many people probably fantasize about, I know I have. Sadly, Irfan's grand escape is only possible with large amounts of money. Buying and sailing a yacht around the Aegean Sea isn't cheap. But it sure is fun!

The novel, is one that dispenses many important life lessons; and was a joy to read; however, Cemal doesn't seem to receive the same dose of mercy that Irfan and Meryem receive. There is a crucial point on the yacht when Irfan sets himself against Cemal, in order to save Meryem, yet I got the sense that Cemal had ceased with planning to kill Meryem and that he was undergoing a sea change of the heart. This was an important change in the novel because of the way that Irfan treated Cemal, by isolating him and freezing him out; he only exacerbated Cemal's anger and frustration. Once they are docked and living their lives, again Cemal is isolated and turned away. If the author wanted to truly take two warring sides and teach them how to hold hands; this was the moment. Not in turning away the soldier from the other side, rather, to envelope him and flesh out those religious differences; show him kindness and love and help him to be a better person. If there was anything different I would have liked to see, it would have been an arm reached out to hold onto Cemal instead of turning him away as if he were the devil.

There is so much love and compassion within this book, but it does a disservice in ignoring the villain. I would have liked to see more of a healing take place instead of the other way around. Because in essence, it ends just as it has begun, with a shaming of a person and a banishing. Maybe this is Livaneli's idea of justice. Nevertheless, Bliss is a novel well worth reading, and thinking upon, and definitely worth reading while sailing languorously upon the Aegean Sea.

This novel was extremely moving in its portrayal of all 3 main characters, and the further I read, the more it occurred to me that this book is relevant to people from ALL societies, not just Islamic ones. The extreme sexism portrayed, especially in regard to rural Turkish society, does not seem all that shocking when one thinks about how women and girls are treated everywhere in the world . . . our main character, Meryem, feels shame and anguish over how she's been treated (and she's bought into a lot of it, too; she's come to believe that as a female she is "evil"). But when we think about the experiences of teenage girls everywhere (and, yes, including here in the States!!!!) aren't their experiences rife with sexual objectification (and abuse), shame, etc.? Aren't they being told everyday that they are defined only by their bodies? The objectivation of one young girl in a Turkish village is really no different from the objectivation of others worldwide (true, the kind of extreme physical violence - and the reality of so-called "honor" killings - are not typical worldwide, but they ARE just other examples of sexism, albeit much more brutal).

The character of Irfan, the professor,interested me as an example of someone fed up with a materialistic (and un-REAL) lifestyle, and in his case, that experience also is not strictly a Turkish one. His decision at the end of the novel to give up his materialistic (and phony) lifestyle, and also to give up on his vague, far-fetched dream of "freedom" is a decision which makes him one of the most outstandingly human characters I've met in any novel, anywhere.

Cemal interested me less than the other 2, since I cannot really relate to him. However, I feel he's a good example of someone who's bought a line of crap hook-line-and-sinker and ends up paying the price for it (I'm not sure what lessons he's learned at the end, he mostly just seems confused). I do have empathy for him as someone who's been forced to participate in violence (war and the intended honor killing) and can only imagine what it must be like to raised to be so cold and viscious.

Characterization aside, I found this to be an engaging and excellent story, and would trip over myself getting into the bookstore to read anything else by this fabulous author.

The author has a beautiful writing style that kept me swept up in the culture, the surrounds, and the lives of the three main characters. The inner struggle of each character was beautifully expressed and each character had both flaws and strengths--something too many books ignore. Very complex issues, but handled in a beautiful and understandable way. The growing pains of a culture and the people in that culture were heart-breaking. I loved the book and am recommending it to others.

That sort of burqa has nothing to do with anything in this book. The main character is certainly an oppressed young woman, but she merely wore conservative clothing and covered her hair with a scarf.

I really resent blending all middle eastern countries together, and Turkey is special in that the government is dogmatically secular, not Islamic. Certainly a cover like this does the author a great disservice. He so wonderfully blends together so many different kinds of Turkish experience and Turkish people- from the utterly cosmopolitan intellectual elites, to the poorest women, to the Kurds, to the observant Muslim, to the religious minorities. This is a book that shows you so many layers- and the humanity of each person, they are not merely caricatures or symbols.

That's why this cover is so so offensive. This is a book that explodes stereotypes- all the while telling a very compelling and interesting story- and the cover is one that exploits them.

I purchased a different edition of this book that did not have this cover. I encourage you to look for it.