7am Read This: Nothing Happens In Ayşegül Savaş’s Book and That’s Great
Apr 12, 2025
Ayşegül Savaş's novel reveals the beauty of young love and the joy of everyday moments without typical conflicts. It dives into intimate rituals couples create as they navigate a new city. The conversation also touches on the theme of foreignness, exploring how it can foster a sense of belonging and the task of portraying universal experiences. Savaş discusses the complexities of identity in relationships and the creative reinventions that come with moving to a new culture, crafting fresh traditions and practices.
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Value of Plotless Prose
- Some books succeed by focusing on beautiful prose and world-building rather than gripping plots.
- The Anthropologists exemplifies this, inviting readers to luxuriate in voice and character over plot.
Capturing Youthful Freedom
- The Anthropologists centers on an expatriate couple apartment hunting, focusing on small, daily pleasures and reflective conversations.
- The narrative captures a youthful phase abundant with freedom but minimalist in conflict and weighty responsibility.
Pandemic Story Spawned Novel
- Ayşegül Savaş wrote the short story Future Selves during the pandemic, inspired by life's extremes in confinement.
- From the story, she expanded the apartment hunting aspect into a full novel, omitting tragic elements for focus on daily life.