‘ nihilistic wit reminiscent of Samuel Beckett

Independent on Sunday

With penetrating insights into the poor man’s tragi-comic hunt for money in the surreal world of commerce, a confrontation of brothers provides the ‘open-end’ for a story of unending struggle by one of Turkey's best known novelists.

Swords of Ice is part of a trilogy (with Dear Shameless Death and Berji Kristin) based on her concern to voice the language of the underprivileged rural poor who migrate to cities searching for a better life, but rarely finding one.

Halilhan Sunteriler, would-be entrepreneur, rescues a red Volvo from the scrap heap, which he believes will lead him to big money in business ventures. So he solicits the help of his staunch friend Gogi, the most 'cultured' man of the neighbourhood, and gradually, Halilhan's two younger brothers, Hazmi and Mesut, are also drawn into the project. Hazmi is aggressive and fights Halilhan whenever he gets a chance, Mesut lives too much in the shadow of his wife to confront his elder brother, and as for Halilhan, he is too busy having affairs to take much notice of either of them - or his wife Rübeysa.

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