Memed, My Hawk

Memed, My Hawk is an epic story of the Middle East by modern Turkey's greatest novelist. Memed grows up in a remote and desperately poor mountain village that suffers under the thumb of the local landlord. Lively and adventurous, young Memed seeks to escape from a life of grueling toil. He runs away, but is quickly tracked down; brought back, he finds himself subjected to an even more backbreaking and spirit-crushing burden of work. When Memed escapes again, it is to set up as a roving brigand, celebrated in song, perhaps a liberator of his people. Or perhaps, twisted like the thistles that cover the windy slopes of the mountains, his character has taken on an irremediably harsh and brutal form. Tenderness and violence, generosity and ruthlessness explode unpredictably in this tale of high adventure. In Memed, My Hawk, the most intimate allegiances draw them a dense and clinging web of history and politics, and the story, full of passion and excitement, is overshadowed by a sorrow that is tragic and real.