A SEASIDE VIEW: Reflections on Kaya Village
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Jane Tuna
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 10, 2009 00:00
FETHİYE - Waking up to the sounds of morning, feeding the stove, making some steaming coffee and padding around in cosy pyjamas and slippers, or reading a book, is a great way to spend a winter Saturday morning in Fethiye Ğ or, indeed anywhere else.
If you haven’t tried it, please do, whatever your work ethic Ğ believe me, it can produce a ’feel good’ factor with hardly any effort at all. Also, even if the electricity happens to be off because of the previous night’s storm, all these things can be achieved without itÉof course if the power is on, it is possible to add to the sensation of comfort by listening to some quiet music, or like I do these days, listening to BBC radio 4 on my laptop. It has never sounded so good.
Last Saturday morning there was a particularly interesting edition of ’Radio 4 Live’, when the main guest was one of my all time favourite authors, Louis de Bernires. Grabbing my coffee I settled down to listen to him. For some reason, here in Turkey I can sit and listen to the radio without feeling guilty, while before I used to incorporate it into tidying activities. A good change, I think. Anyway, there I was, listening to the man who wrote one of the best books ever Ğ no, not "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin" in case those words were already forming on your lips Ğ which although brilliant, isn’t a touch on "Birds Without Wings" in my opinion and, so I learnt, also his. I was always curious as to why it didn’t reach the vertiginous heights of ’Corelli’ and had (unsuccessfully) mused as to why.
Consequently, I was delighted to hear that he is writing the screenplay for the forthcoming film of the book. Hopefully, this will mean that his extraordinary imagination and use of language will not be lost when metamorphosed into celluloid. But it is not only his prose that is magic to my ears; that morning a dream of mine came a little nearer to fruition for this novel is entirely set in Turkey. The main action is based in a town that is as close as makes no difference, to Kaya Köyü. Of course, he has used his knowledge of the area to add some extra flourishes; poetic licence. The town was then called Levissi but the fact is Éhe is writing about the history of the place evokes a sense of sadness, loss and yet a strange peace in everyone of its crumbling, mossy stones.
Everyone who knows both Kaya and the book, has been waiting for the time when this graphic account would be brought to a wider audience. What will happen then? The questions the film will raise are diverse and the discourse surrounding the valley and its future remains as ever confused, opaque and lacking the official support, to understand Kaya Köyü’s problems in its entirety.
Empathetic, sensitive
De Bernires' account of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, The War of Independence and the exchange of populations resulting from the Treaty of Lausanne, in 1923 is empathetic, sensitive and thought provoking even for those with the most flimsy knowledge of the history of these parts. The portrayal of the characters enlivens them so that they virtually jump off the page and lodge in the readers mind long after the book is finished; such is the quality of De Bernires’ narrative.
I lived in the valley for eight years and during that time hardly a day passed without my seeing the deserted town spread across the hillside. It posed in its silent, accepting way a serious of questions that badly need to be explored and considered even if we are not prepared to find the answers. It is a symbol that must be respected and kept as a reminder of those difficult days. Maybe the authorities will appreciate this when they realise that the film of "Birds Without Wings" will draw the attention of the world to this valley in a way that also happened in Cephalonia following the film of "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin."
Last Saturday morning there was a particularly interesting edition of ’Radio 4 Live’, when the main guest was one of my all time favourite authors, Louis de Bernires. Grabbing my coffee I settled down to listen to him. For some reason, here in Turkey I can sit and listen to the radio without feeling guilty, while before I used to incorporate it into tidying activities. A good change, I think. Anyway, there I was, listening to the man who wrote one of the best books ever Ğ no, not "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin" in case those words were already forming on your lips Ğ which although brilliant, isn’t a touch on "Birds Without Wings" in my opinion and, so I learnt, also his. I was always curious as to why it didn’t reach the vertiginous heights of ’Corelli’ and had (unsuccessfully) mused as to why.
Consequently, I was delighted to hear that he is writing the screenplay for the forthcoming film of the book. Hopefully, this will mean that his extraordinary imagination and use of language will not be lost when metamorphosed into celluloid. But it is not only his prose that is magic to my ears; that morning a dream of mine came a little nearer to fruition for this novel is entirely set in Turkey. The main action is based in a town that is as close as makes no difference, to Kaya Köyü. Of course, he has used his knowledge of the area to add some extra flourishes; poetic licence. The town was then called Levissi but the fact is Éhe is writing about the history of the place evokes a sense of sadness, loss and yet a strange peace in everyone of its crumbling, mossy stones.
Everyone who knows both Kaya and the book, has been waiting for the time when this graphic account would be brought to a wider audience. What will happen then? The questions the film will raise are diverse and the discourse surrounding the valley and its future remains as ever confused, opaque and lacking the official support, to understand Kaya Köyü’s problems in its entirety.
Empathetic, sensitive
De Bernires' account of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, The War of Independence and the exchange of populations resulting from the Treaty of Lausanne, in 1923 is empathetic, sensitive and thought provoking even for those with the most flimsy knowledge of the history of these parts. The portrayal of the characters enlivens them so that they virtually jump off the page and lodge in the readers mind long after the book is finished; such is the quality of De Bernires’ narrative.
I lived in the valley for eight years and during that time hardly a day passed without my seeing the deserted town spread across the hillside. It posed in its silent, accepting way a serious of questions that badly need to be explored and considered even if we are not prepared to find the answers. It is a symbol that must be respected and kept as a reminder of those difficult days. Maybe the authorities will appreciate this when they realise that the film of "Birds Without Wings" will draw the attention of the world to this valley in a way that also happened in Cephalonia following the film of "Captain Corelli’s Mandolin."