Name: Portrait of a Turkish Family
ISBN: 9780907871828

Irfan Orga

Describes in chilling yet affectionate detail the disintegration of a wealthy Ottoman family in the last days of the empire.

Portrait of a Turkish Family

Vivian

A memoir of a wealthy Ottoman family's decline and suffering during WWI and the following years. I was not aware of this part of history, so it was illuminating and frankly very sad to read. What the author and his family had to go through was tragic yet at the same time you know they were still relatively privileged in that despairing era plagued with tragedies, which made it even more sad. 

I'm giving this book 3 stars because I can't shake off the feeling that the author was a very self-absorbed person who prioritized his own suffering over his family's. There were some harsh judgement and criticism against his mother as if he were expecting his mother (who was born wealthy and never had to work, but was widowed at the age of 21 with 3 young kids with no house and no money left in 1914) was supposed to be strong, make money, take care of kids, love them whole-heartedly, and sacrifice everything for them. And if she did anything less then obviously she was not a good mother. Meanwhile his long-dead grandfather and father lived forever as saints in his memory while his mother and grandmother were never good enough. I understand that he might have had some resentments as a kid but this book was written later in life when his mother passed away long ago that you'd think he'd know better by then. The later chapters also hinted at some terrible conflicts he had with his family but he never explained, so the memoir also felt cherry-picking and self-serving. In the afterword, the author's son mentioned his father was often unhappy and depressed in his later life, which is sad and maybe explains some of his ways of seeing things.

The person I feel most sympathy toward is the mother. The difficulties she had to endure, the despairs she must have felt, just simply unimaginable. She was not perfect but she gave it all, without whom the whole family would've perished. And she died alone.

Portrait of a Turkish Family

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