Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Irfan Orga

A Turkish author whom I have read, to add to the Turkish reading list. A bookseller in Istanbul said I must read Orga's "Portrait of a Turkish Family," in order to understand Turkey. So I did, and was not at all sorry. I read it in one go, on a long bus trip from Istanbul to Urgup, some 15 hours across the Anatolian plain. The time went by quickly,through the night and into the dawn. Curiously, Orga went out with Ataturk's daughter, and wrote a biography of the Turkish leader, among other books, including cookbooks, which he wrote with his British wife. He lived in England. The afterword by his British son is fascinating. You can get it at Amazon by clicking this link: Portrait of a Turkish Family