Memed, My Hawk

Memed, My Hawk
Author	Yaşar Kemal
Original title	İnce Memed
Translator	Edouard Roditi
Country	Turkey
Language	Turkish
Publication date	1955
Published in English	1961
Followed by	They Burn the Thistles

Memed, My Hawk (Turkish: İnce Memed, meaning "Memed, the Slim") is a 1955 novel by Yaşar Kemal. It was Kemal's debut novel and is the first novel in his İnce Memed tetralogy. The novel won the Varlık Prize for that year (Turkey's highest literary prize),^[1] and earned Kemal a national reputation. In 1961, the book was translated into English by Edouard Roditi, thus gaining Kemal his first exposure to English-speaking readers.

Plot[]

Memed, a young boy from a village in Anatolia, is abused and beaten by the villainous local landowner, Abdi Ağa. Having endured great cruelty towards himself and his mother, Deune, Memed finally escapes with his beloved, a girl named Hatçe. Abdi Ağa catches up with the young couple, but only manages to capture Hatçe, while Memed is able to avoid his pursuers and runs into the mountains. There he joins a band of brigands and exacts revenge against his old adversary. Hatçe was then imprisoned and later dies. When Memed returns to the town, Hatçe's mother tells him he has a "woman's heart" if he surrenders himself. He instead rides into town to find his enemy, on a horse given to him by the townspeople. He finds Abdi Ağa in the south-east corner of his house and shoots him in the chest. The local authorities hear the gunshots, but Memed gets away. Before Hatçe dies she gives birth to Memed's son, who is also named Memed. The protagonist then must take care of his son.

Film adaptation[]

In 1984, the novel was freely adapted by Peter Ustinov into a film, produced by Fuad Kavur.^[2]

References[]

^ Sean Sheehan, Yong Jui Lin (2014). Turkey. Cultures of the World (Third ed.). Cavendish Square Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 978-0761480167.
^ "Memed My Hawk (1984) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2019-12-28.

External links[]

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[1] Sean Sheehan, Yong Jui Lin (2014). Turkey. Cultures of the World (Third ed.). Cavendish Square Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 978-0761480167.

[2] "Memed My Hawk (1984) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2019-12-28.

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