Memed, My Hawk

Memed, a high-spirited, kind-hearted boy, grows up in a desperately poor mountain village whose inhabitants are kept in virtual slavery by the local landlord. Determined to escape from the life of toil and humiliation to which he has been born, he flees but is caught, tortured, and nearly killed. When at last he does get away, it is to set up as a roving brigand, celebrated in song, who could be a liberator to his people - unless, like the thistles that cover the mountain slopes of his native region, his character has taken an irremediably harsh and unforgiving form.

Yashar Kemal (b. 1922) was born into a Kurdish family in a village in southern Anatolia and saw his father brutally murdered at the age of five, which left him with a severe stutter for years to come. He received his basic education in village schools before working as a farmer, factory worker, public letter-writer, and journalist. Memed, My Hawk, his first novel, was published in 1955 and won the Varlik Prize for best novel of the year. Kemal’s numerous other books include The Wind from the Plain trilogy, Salman the Solitary, Seagull, and four books recounting the exploits of Memed, including, Memed, My Hawk and They Burn the Thistles. Yashar Kemal lives in Istanbul.

Edouard Roditi (1910-1992) was born in France. He was an author of poetry and stories, as well as a translator of writings originating in French, German, Spanish, and Turkish.