Dying Is Easier Than Loving

The third book in the Ottoman Quartet “A deeply compelling and immersive narrative about love, desire, loneliness and landscape.”—Elif Shafak (on book 1 of the series) “Altan uses a Tolstoyan combination of the epic and the intimate to explore questions of national identity and historical narrative.”—The Observer “Altan’s descriptions of a stifling atmosphere of authoritarian repression in Istanbul in the early 1900s conjure up constant comparisons with today’s Turkey.”—The TLS The third book in the Ottoman Quartet, set in the years leading up to WWI, is steeped in the tumultuous events and the political struggle that shaped 20th century Turkey, from the war against the Bulgarian army and the coup that resulted in the nation’s one-party rule. Against this background, a tormented, obsessive love affair unfolds between Nizam, the son of Hikmet Bey, and Russian pianist Anya. This tapestry of love and war allows Altan to analyse the structure of male power and its degeneration into violence against women, uncompromising nationalism, and pervasive censorship. Atan confirms himself as a caustic, courageous writer, never afraid to denounce an arrogant and undemocratic power, allowing the reader to read between the lines the situation of contemporary Turkey.

WINNER OF THE 2021 PRIX FEMINA FOR BEST FOREIGN NOVEL The third volume of the internationally acclaimed Ottoman Quartet, written by Ahmet Altan while he was imprisoned by the Turkish regime This masterly constructed, sweeping novel centers on the story of Nizam's tormented love affair with a Russian pianist, Anya, and is told against the backdrop of the Ottoman Empire's tumultuous history in the years leading up to WWI. Underlying the novel's tale of war and love and Altan's absorbing exploration of the inner lives of a vast cast of characters, is a fierce criticism of masculinity and of its degeneration into violence against women, nationalism, and authoritarianism. Once again, Altan confirms to be an elegant, powerful, and courageous writer, who is not afraid to denounce an arrogant and undemocratic government that, today as a century ago, relies on bigotry, censorship, and intimidation to cling to power and control the lives of its people.