Literature
There Is a Snake in Alemdağ
CevvelaLiterature
There Is a Snake in Alemdağ
Sait Faik Abasıyanık · İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları · 1954
6
Cevvela Score
9.2 (2.885 oy)
Reader Score
Summary
A shattering collection of stories in which Sait Faik flees the crowds of the city, the hypocrisy and malice of people, and withdraws into nature, solitude and his own inner exile — an exploration of existential loneliness.
Quotes from Cevvela
“Loneliness has filled the world. Loving — everything begins with loving a single person. Yet here, everything ends with not loving people.”
“The darkness within us is more venomous than all the snakes outside.”
“Crowds are a lie invented to keep us from hearing our own voice.”
“Nature does not betray human beings; betrayal is an art that only people practice on one another.”
“Sometimes we fall silent not because there is nothing left to say, but because there is no one left to tell.”
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Reader Score: 9.2 / 10(2.885 votes)
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In this book Sait Faik sets aside tales of goodness and confronts the snake within us — that is, evil. It is the cry of a soul that is repelled by society and withdraws into its own shell. As Sait Faik puts it: “Loneliness has filled the world.” His revolt against the falseness of the crowd resonates with Cevvela’s distance from an order that normalizes injustice. As you read, you notice the sly selfishness behind friendships, conversations and the rules of courtesy. Society does not polish the gem within a person; it poisons it. Only in nature and in complete solitude does that gem begin to breathe again.