Madonna in a Fur Coat: Sabahattin Ali (Penguin classics)

One of my favourite books that i will not stop recommending to people throughout my life; So beautifully written and thought. Arrived in great condition too.

Enjoyed the read.

In General It's a well-written, interesting, slow-paced tragi-romance story, that reveals its characters internal qualms about themselves and their relationships, some level of those which are very rarely expressed in real life, but with which the reader can readily sympathise. Particularly dialogued is a desperate precious pure-hearted longing for a unique love pitted against apprehension, a wall of preperceptions and seemingly unassailable expectations. It's not terribly exciting in any regard, though may perhaps have been for the retrospectively feeble-hearted unstimulated romantics of the time with no multi-channel televisions, CGI action thrillers, nor hard-core pornography at their fingertips. That said, it is most pleasant and evocative to experience second-hand this slower sepia-paced life with its incessant trivial observations of minutiae long-gone and ever-present. Perhaps, if I read it in the bleak mid-winter, rather than in spring, I might be more touched by the desperate lonely sentiment of it all... Of the Subject(/Object) Character (Note, this reflection was written before the full conclusion of the story.) We must all content ourselves with aspects of reality we cannot change. Maria was possessed of a type of human conditional craving that can never be sated, always wanting something else, something more, something total and profound, a perfect lasting connection to her own self-obsessed zharring personas, skipping just ahead of her, a figment that could never be realised. The like of which leads so many to addictions. She was bereft in her dissatisfied solitude, forever vainly seeking that missing piece of her puzzle. She needed to calm the heck down and get over herself. So did Raif. Maybe even more so. Jebus heck.

This is not a happy feel-good book but it is a book that deals with the marrow of life. The power of love and the ineffable fragility of life . To write like this requires an artist author: an observer of the essence of life. An unforgettable book - recommended to me by an 18 year old hotel concierge in Istanbul who wanted to converse so that he could practise his English and I could get insight into Turkish culture = serendipity

Madonna in a Fur Coat is a beautiful gender role flipped tragic romance about a woman who says she's 'like a man' and the soft, emotional man who adores her. I really loved this book and read it in a day, hurrying to get to the end to find out what happened to Raif and Maria. I so enjoyed the book I listened to the audiobook too. Philip Arditti invests the text with pitch perfect emotion from Maria's fierce speeches to Raif's anxiety, even an audible smile of delight a key moment without ever overwhelming the text. I'd love to hear Arditti narrate more audiobooks.

This is a slow, precise account of one man, Raif Efendi as told by one of his colleagues. If the quality of a novel is based on the quality of the characterisation, then this is certainly a sure-fire hit. Raif is seemingly a nondescript man who makes no attempt to make friends or court popularity. Mocked by shallow juniors at work and derided by many members of his family, he barely seems to exist. Turkish life of the period enhances the bleak descriptions of the period. The story is told by a colleague who barely knows Raif, and that too adds a cold irony to the storytelling. Yet when Raif dies in poverty-stricken circumstances surrounded by bickering family, his diary comes to light. At this point, we have an elegiac flashback told in Raif's own words: sadness, pain and longing infuse this tale of a seemingly soulless man. A book to haunt the reader long after the last page.

Please read it

Written by a Turkish dissident who was assassinated in the 1940s, this is a short semi-autobiographical novel about a Turkish man who falls in love with a artist in 1920s Berlin. It’s a 20th century classic I hadn’t heard of until it was picked by my book group. It opens with an unnamed narrator becoming fascinated by a colleague who seems oddly accepting of being dismissed and downtrodden by everyone in his life. The love story is contained in a manuscript that the downtrodden colleague shares with this narrator. I really loved the bracketing story of the narrator and his intriguing colleague, and the evocation of Berlin post WWI was also interesting. But as the lovers examined their philosophical navels, debating the nature of love in self-contradictory circles, they increasingly bored and annoyed me. If I’d read the book in my twenties, I might have thought it profound and been emotionally moved. Reading it now, I can only agree with Nazim Hikmet (Ali’s literary mentor and political hero, quoted in the 2020 introduction to the Penguin Classic edition) that “proceeding to the second part, one involuntarily notes what a shame it is that the very original, truly accomplished beginning of the novel, and the opportunities it offered, have been wasted for nothing”. Harsh, but fair.

One of my favourite love stories. Simply written, with a simple story, but captivating none the less.

Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali is a quiet, deeply moving novel that lingers long after you finish reading. The story tells us about Raif Efendi, a man whose past reveals a deep, life-changing love in 1920s Berlin. Through his colleague’s eyes, one can see how people are easily misunderstood. Raif Efendi comes across as unremarkable and distant at first. As the story unfolds, you see the depth of his character. His time in 1920s Berlin, and his connection with Maria Puder form the heart of the story. Alongside him is the unnamed narrator, his colleague and friend, who becomes an important aspect in how we understand and see Raif. At first, the narrator thinks of Raif the same way everyone does, but later his perception shifts. This change adds another layer to the story, making the readers more curious about Raif. The portrayal of love makes the book stand out. It shows how two people can feel deeply for each other and still not be destined to be together. There is no clear reason to blame, which makes the story feel even more real. Raif’s journey feels both heartbreaking and enduring, as he carries his past quietly into the rest of his life. This is a story about love, loss, and the silent weight people carry.

I’m so in love with this book!! As you can see, I took it everywhere with me to read it :)

esto no es algo por lo que normalmente me quejaría pero llegó roto :-(

le livre et la couverture est un peu abimée