THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS

As I did before in movie suggestions, I am once again overstepping my limit and humbly suggest you a wonderful sci-fi book which I am reading right now. Surely, you can say " Who the hell do you think you are? A book critic! I don't have time for this!" or " You haven't even finished reading the book, how dare you comment on it! And I would reply as " Hey dude, calm down. Yes, I haven't finished the book but this one is so wonderful already, I think that I should tell something about it. If you don't want to read then ......."

Anyways, by not spoiling the book: The story passes though in a planet which is named as " winter " As you can understand it is very cold planet which shaped the physiology of the homo sapiens inhabitants through evolutionary process. However the point that makes this book extreemly impressive is that these inhabitants are androgenic and only in specific times of the year they transform to male or female in accordance with their hormonal status. So, one could be male and female in the same year. It is such that a mother with a few children can become a father of another child!  Surely it is observed in nature as in snails,slugs worms, sea cucumbers/sea stars/sea urchins etc. and some fish. However ff you ask me as a molecular biologist, I would tell that it is very unlikely this transformation in such advance creature like us.

Anyways, regarding this biological phenomenon,it is a world that the sexual identity is not used for the social status and as a tool of power. One of my favourite writer, Ursula Le Guin creates very interesting psychosocial model to describe this universe as she did in her novel called as " The Dispossed ". The difference between "friendship" and "love" is meaningless; (So farewell the consept of friendzone!) the tendency of dualism to determine human thought diminished; the basis of the duality of humanity as strong / weak, protective / guarded, dominant / dominated, possessive / possessed has declined.

So long story short (damn, I finally used that phrase!), I intensely suggest this book, you will not regret it.

KASTRASYON İLE TEHDİT EDEN SUCU

Güneşli bir pazartesi sabahı, kahvaltıdan hemen sonra sardığım sigarayı ufak balkonumuzda İstanbul manzarasına bakarak içerken, annem yolda ilerleyen artık saçlarına aklar düşmeye başlamış mahallemizin sucusunu gösterdi bana. Eşiyle birlikte Eyüp'e doğru iniyorlardı. Mikro ırkçılığın kraliçesi annem " Eski Ramili bu adamcağız, Kürt bunlar, karısı da Kürt " dedi. Onun için Türk sinemasının efsanevi jönü Cüneyt Arkın " Tatar çingenesi ", girdiği her rolün hakkını fazlasıyla veren Yeşilçam'ın kötü adamlarından Danyal Topatan " Ermeni çingenesi " Hülya Avşar ise " Kürt çingenesi ", Mustafa Keser " Elazığ çingenesi " ve bunun gibi nicesi. Onun için en yüksek ırk kendisi gibi Rumeli göçmenleri idi. Fakat onları da kategorize eder Arnavutlardan hiç haz etmezdi. Neyse konumuza dönersek, Eyüp'e doğru ilerlemekte olan mahallemizin sucusunda X-men karakterlerini kıskandıracak bir  zihin okuma yeteneği de vardır. Ne zaman suyumuz bitip depodan bozma dükkanını aradığımızda alo demenize fırsat vermeden " Yolluyorum " der ve telefonu suratınıza kapatır.

Fakat onu izlerken aklıma asıl düşen dükkanı devraldığı o beyaz saçlı Arnavut ustasıydı. Onu her zaman yaz kış demeden dükkanın önünde otururken görürdük küçükken. Mamafih, ilkokula giderken her zaman dükkanının önünden geçen mahallenin erkek çocuklarını " Çükünüzü keserim ha! " diye tehdit eder, korkudan ne yapacağını bilemeyen çocukları izleyip kahkaha ile gülerdi. Velhasıl, cinsel kimliğinin yeni farkına varmış bizleri, gelecekte cinsel hayatımızda onulmaz yaralar açacak psikolojik travmalara sokardı. Kuşkusuz fallik dönemlerimizde bize bu işkenceyi yapan adam üstat Freud'ün incelemekten heyecan duyacağı tip de bir insandı. Şüphesiz, onun da çocukluktan kalan bir travması olmalıydı. Yıllar geçti biz büyüdük, semtimiz ve hatta memleketimiz dışındaki okullara gittik ve Arnavut sucuyu görmez olduk. Şimdi hakkın rahmetine kavuşmuş mudur yoksa yaşıyor mudur bilemiyorum.

Bu da çocukluğumdan kalan böyle bir anımdır. Rami'nin '80 - '90 yılları arasındaki tüm erkek çocuklarının anısı.   


                                                                            İstanbul, Nisan 2018

THE LIGHTER

The guy was talking with his friends while smoking a cigarette and having a beer at the same time. Instantly, a beautiful girl approached him from behind and asked for a lighter. He reached his pocket and hardly found his lighter and kindly gave it to her. The lighter was that big transparant ones which was not as stylish as a zippo and other fancy ones. He checked the girl and wanted to have a conversation. He spoke:

"These lighters are the ones which our mothers always use it to light the oven and its gas is never seemed to run dry. Therefore dear, we can assume that they are the immortal ones of the lighers' world. However, right now, it is far from its home and slowly dying as other lighters. In fact, if you have a good look at, you can see the blues in its fire and if you pay close attention, you will hear a sad melody coming from its tinderbox. Like a ney, missing its reez which it was broken away from." He finished his metaphoric tirade and agitatedly checked the reaction of the beautiful girl. But, there was no girl around. She had already left after lighting her cigarette.

Another wasted words - he said himself - had vanished in the air and took a zip from his beer. And after, his friend looked at him and said;"What the fuck are you talking about?" 


                                                                          Istanbul, January 2018