Behiç Ak’s Adult Collection • Novel

Uyku Şehir
SLEEP CITY

Behiç Ak

Editor: Müren Beykan

Three generations, three İstanbuls, three ordinary lives…

Behiç Ak includes the rapidly evolving city that is becoming stagnant and rootless, in the narratives we inherit as we construct our identities. He articulates the silent reckonings of characters from three different generations through their intertwined stories, each questioning their role, home, street and often blaming the other. In three different locations of İstanbul, he sprinkles magic dust over the ordinary lives of three generations and gently tells their stories. Behiç Ak walks through Sleep City, sometimes as a flaneur and sometimes as a time traveller, offering a lively and striking social perspective that is transforming into nihilism.

Excerpt

“Neglect and dust become a culture. Habit is the strongest force. Clouds sliding through the blinds, ferries, forgotten colours, slow songs from the past that even car cassette players can’t carry, melancholy not invited to gatherings anymore, and the funny things that can only be laughed at when thought about for a long time are always there. Even stories banned for slowing down the rhythm of life…”

AUTHOR

Behiç Ak

He was born in Samsun and studied architecture at Yıldız Technical University and İstanbul Technical University. He’s a well-known cartoonist, author, illustrator, and documentary film director. Since 1982 he’s been drawing the cartoon strip “Kim Kime Dum Duma” that criticizes daily life. His cartoons were exhibited in several countries like Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. In addition to his plays Ayrılık and Bina, his plays Fay Hattı and Tek Kişilik Şehir which were staged in Europe attracted big interest. The documentary film he produced and directed in 1994, Türk […]
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