^#smrgSAHAF A Mind at Peace -

A Mind at Peace, originally published in 1949 is a magnum opus, is a Turkish Ulysses and a lyrical homage to Istanbul. With an innate awareness of how dueling cultural mentalities can lead to the distress of divided selves, Tanpinar gauges this moment in history by masterfully portraying its register on the layered psyches of his Istanbulite characters. Set on the eve of World War II in the “city of two continents”, this literary feat is a narrative of duality: a historical novel and a love story (of the senses and the mind), language and music, tradition and modernity, East and West- and of the vital juncture where one young man must attempt to bridge all of these worlds at once.