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Title: Ali and Ramazan

Author: Perihan Magden, Ruth Whitehouse (translator)

Narrator: Christopher Lane

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-17-12

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Ali and Ramazan are two boys from very different backgrounds who land in the same Istanbul orphanage. They quickly see eye to eye and fall into a loving relationship as children, bringing light to one another and to the other orphans in their dreary adopted home.

Ramazan is a charmer, the school masters favorite (which we later learn is not such a positive thing), the clown among the boys, and the only one with a real handle on things outside the orphanages walls. He takes Ali under his wing, and by the time they turn eighteen and are loosed onto Istanbul's mean streets, Ali and Ramazan are a pair.

What happens next is both tragic and beautiful, a testament to love finding its way even among the least visible citizens on Turkeys mean streets.

Members Reviews:

as such even somewhat boring which is odd considering the many obstacles both main ...

I was expecting this to be in the line of Mohammed Choukri and Abdellah Taia's writing. While I don't wish to essentialize Middle Eastern/Northern African writing on queer-topics, there are some similarities in terms of (style of) 'lyricalness' and 'romance' that makes some of this writing stand out in a particularly evocative/attractive manner. Ali and Ramazan evokes a similar feeling but falls short when it comes to the way it depicts its main characters and their struggles. In the end the story is simply too straight forward, as such even somewhat boring which is odd considering the many obstacles both main characters face along the way. I won't say too much about the story itself which you can read about in other reviews but for me this book simply lacked a punch. It did not move beyond what it set out to do and as such delivered something bland.

Who knew!

What a beautiful book it is! I couldn't expect to discover such a touching and honest love story! Easy to read, true, full of love and tragic. The tragedy was sudden but the fate of Ali was easy to predict... But nevertheless I think they were very happy, such love is a rare and very high-esteemed thing, so many rich and prosperous families don't even have a respect to each other within, and these poor kids - they had much more than love. Despite of prostitution, pills, violence it's a very romantic novel, I really love it and highly recommend to read. Especially for ones who think that gay love is something perversive.

Very good book but the translation could be more professional.

very depressing tale

I really haven't read many Turkish novels, just one or two Orhan Pamuk, I believe this one to be close to real life on the streets, very depressing for those with nothing and a very depressing read.

Heartbreaking short novel

This quick read is not an uplifting tale of love. It is gritty and rough. The writing style is beautiful with child like prose. However, a heart wrenching read that will haunt you.

I don't think it would have been better even in Turkish

I don't usually write reviews, but I felt compelled to on this one. The premise of the story initially seemed very promising, but it ended up being filled with disjointed chapters and characters with whom I didn't feel any connection. I never felt invested in the characters' experiences after they aged out of the orphanage. Additionally, characters would pop up out of nowhere, and you wouldn't have any idea who they were or why there were central to the story.