North, (300 pages), is Burhan Sönmez’s first novel (2009).
It is the story of a young man whose father leaves when the protagonist is two years old, and returns twenty years later as a corpse. In his attempts to resolve the mystery of his father’s death, our hero embarks on a journey to the north in search of his father’s identity, which at times becomes his own.
North could be described as a philosophical fairy tale. It tells the myths and legends of the East in a realistic fashion, and is based around philosophical debates on existence and love that have a central importance in solving the mystery. It is a novel about this enchanted world we live in.
“North is a brave novel whose every step has been taken wisely in the narrow paths of literature. If we saw diversity in the garden of dreams in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, North also offers us a brave world for our dreams to be fought for. It demonstrates the skill of distilling old and new at the same time.” (Cumhuriyet newspaper)
“In North, questions are added to the questions, while everyone (and we as readers) see different sides of the same reality. The garden of ideas, which are similar to the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers and Islamic scholars, but in which Burhan Sönmez’s pen clearly shows his power, opens generously. The story sends greetings to the novel of The Name of the Rose. It is quite remarkable.” (Radikal newspaper)
“I think North is an extraordinary fairy tale gallery. As he progresses through this gallery, the reader realizes that life flows both forward and backward at the same time. This is thanks to the literary power of a gifted pen. Although it is Burhan Sönmez’s first book, I think North will be one of the permanent novels in our literature. Burhan Sönmez is a true, silent revolutionary of our literature.” (Taraf newspaper)
“North has an astonishing richness, especially as a first novel with its masterful language, colorful depictions, heroes almost all of which have been imbued with natural wisdom, which draw the literary reader into the dreamy contemplation of a fairy tale realm. Burhan Sönmez tells a story that has not been tried before in Turkish literature with a novel whose literary depth has not been tried in such a strong way.” (Radikal newspaper)
“North is the island of hope and forbidden worlds.” (Bîrnebûn magazine)
“North is the novel of man’s quest to know himself and reach wisdom by getting rid of his dungeons. How far can the obstacles encountered on this road block our horizons? Victory itself is being on the way of utopia.” (Taraf newspaper)
