Birds Without Wings tells of the inhabitants of a small coastal town in South West Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: Iskander the Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmet-ik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town, Mehmet-ik teaching the illiterate Karatavuk how to write Turkish in Greek letters; the two holy men of ...
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Birds Without Wings tells of the inhabitants of a small coastal town in South West Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: Iskander the Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmet-ik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town, Mehmet-ik teaching the illiterate Karatavuk how to write Turkish in Greek letters; the two holy men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja, who greet each other with the words 'infidel efendi'; the landlord Rustem Bey, his wife's adultery and stoning, and his journey to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. It tells also of Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue of military genius and sheer bloody-mindedness defeats the Franks and reshapes the whole region in his image. When jihad is declared against the Allies the young men of the town are sent to war. Karatavuk soon finds himself at Gallipoli where he experiences the intimate brutality of trench warfare, the loss of many comrades and of his own innocence. As the great world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Epic, yet profoundly humane, Birds Without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists.
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Add this copy of Birds Without Wings to cart. $169.84, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2004 by Harvill Secker.
Add this copy of Birds Without Wings to cart. $202.84, new condition, Sold by Kennys.ie rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Galway, IRELAND, published 2004 by Harvill Secker.
Add this copy of Birds Without Wings to cart. $360.27, new condition, Sold by Black Gull Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from St Leonard's on Sea, EAST SUSSEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2004 by Secker and Warburg.
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Seller's Description:
New. Size: 9x6x2; First edition. Signed and limited leather edition to 100 copies, this is a sealed copy in original plastic from Pan's Bookshop, and so we have not opened to examine which number this is. Bound in full green leather with gilt lettered spine and signature to title page, this is a brand new copy housed in original green buckram slip case.
Add this copy of Birds Without Wings to cart. $482.00, like new condition, Sold by Revere Books, ABAA & IOBA rated 1.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fernandina Beach, FL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Secker & Warburg.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Not Issued jacket. Limited Edition. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Signed by Author First edition, limited to 100 leather bound numbered copies issued signed by de Bernieres on the title page. Copy #21. Full leather. Satin pagemarker. Issued without dustjacket. Slipcase. Unread copy in Fine condition in a Fine slipcase.
Mr de Bernieres is unquestionably talented and I have previously enjoyed one of his book enormously. While this book tells me about provincial life in south-western Turkey much more than I ever wanted to know, I did appreciate the rather complicated action and some of the heroes self-told stories. Not unlike most contemporary novels, this one suffers a little from stylistic longeurs. Overall, a pleasant and smoth reading book and a well written, well told story. The biography of Mustaf Kemal TTaturk, serves well as a nice historical commentary and background.To say more would require enterring into a historical analysis of Turkish history, which defined very much their national character, and of the Balkans, a fascinating, interesting but much too convluted subject. Novels are written and read to enjoy and not to serveas subjects to geopoliical and historic contemplations. (Be careful here , your historian's education is showing!)
