Reviews

Cold Nights of Childhood by Tezer Özlü

trisj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

1.0

i don’t know how turkish language works (as in, i’m not sure if i’m missing something in this translation about how turkish generally reads), but i really did not enjoy this at all. 

the fragmented sentences do not work. and listen, i love a fragment more than anyone, but these felt like a lazy cop-out stylistic choice. 

time goes too fast to get into the character. i don’t understand her, and don’t really care to follow her. 

what the book does well is playing with time. i was never confused about that, it was an effortless time/scene hop book. 

the unending bouts of questions about life felt really stupid to me. maybe it was revolutionary in its time, but the questions felt horribly vague and not linked to any greater truths; what’s more, since i didn’t care for the narrator, i didn’t really care for her answers. 

yeah. incredibly disappointing and boring. 

emilykennedy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

lisawhelpley's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.25

emeadow's review against another edition

4.0

Fragmented and sometimes confusing but beautiful prose, almost poetry in itself

clau18's review

3.0

'My long years of suffering have not destroyed me. They've only guided my heart.'

'This is me. I am twenty-five years old. I am a woman. I am living through the second part of the madness that begins with joy. I have suffered the anguish of lethargy.'

Truly an ode to life & its beauty and pain.

palevienna's review

5.0

Such a beautiful book that I had to re-read a lot of parts and wait for a while to really soak in what I had really read.
My eyes sparkled with my heart fully engulfed by emotions on several moments while reading this. I am in awe.

dukegregory's review against another edition

I read half upon realizing this is due back at the library today. Regardless of its awards and classic status in Turkey, this does very little for me. Unadorned, choppy prose. Fractured, ennui-laden solipsism. Ahead of its time in that this sort of closed first-person female perspective that confesses harshness amid beauty is the de rigeur novelistic model of our moment. Very amorphous in all aspects.

clemmiem's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide attempt

wafflelord1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

flaviepaquinchabot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25