Coming Home (Innbundet)

Tales from Turkey and Greece

Author:

Stian Bromark

Norwegian title: Hjemreiser
Norwegian subtitle: Arven etter folkeutvekslingen i Hellas og Tyrkia (1923)
Author:
Binding: Innbundet
Year: 2016
Pages: 208
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Språk: Bokmål
ISBN/EAN: 9788202365929
Kategori: Narrative Non-fiction
Overview Hjemreiser

In a never-ending, staggering march the Christian population of Eastern Thrace is jamming the roads towards Macedonia. Twenty miles of carts drawn by cows, bullocks and muddy-flanked water buffalo, with exhausted men, women and children, blankets over their heads, walking blindly along in the rain beside their worldly goods. It is a silent procession. Nobody even grunts. All they can do is keep moving.’

This quotation from Ernest Hemingway is a description of events in the border zone between Turkey and Greece in September 1922. Stian Bromark's book explores the consequences of the forced migration of populations between the two countries, which Fridtjof Nansen supported. Whole towns were emptied, and 1,6 million people were forced to flee. Greeks and Turks still feel the trauma, and some of those who were directly affected are still alive.

Bromark travels through Greece and Turkey, visiting historic cities such as Istanbul, Athens, Izmir and Thessalonika.

This is a travel book combined with a historic review of the Greek-Turkish conflict.

The conditions for a multi-cultural society to function have been a theme running throughout Bromark’s interesting writing. In Hjemreiser he demonstrates clearly how meaningless it is to press people and societies into a single mould and a single identity … This book is fascinatingly topical … Bromark expresses himself brilliantly, as he always does, with little glimmers of fine humour in the descriptions. This historical documentary is written in first class prose.’
STAVANGER AFTENBLAD

… When he is at his best, Bromark knocks the ash off the words with a knack reminiscent of Hemingway. As in this brief exchange of words between the author and a taxi-driver: "‘You can go ahead and light your cigarette. It doesn’t bother me,’ I say. He lights his roll-your-own and opens the window half a centimetre, as if he is afraid of lung disease." With its topics of refugee streams and nationalism, Hjemreiser is topical, important and worth reading.’
DAGBLADET

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Reviews Hjemreiser

En viktig, lesverdig og ikke minst aktuell bok

"... Når han er på sitt beste, kakker han asken av ordene på en måte som kan minne om Hemingway. Som i denne knappe ordvekslingen mellom forfatteren og en drosjesjåfør: «-Du kan godt fyre opp røyken din. Den sjenerer ikke, sier jeg. Han tenner rullingsen og åpner vinduet en halv centimeter, som om han er redd for lungebetennelse.» I en tid preget av flyktningestrøm og nasjonalisme, er «Hjemreiser» aktuell, viktig og lesverdig."

 
Marius Wulfsberg, Dagbladet

Sendt hjem til et fremmed sted

"Forutsetningene for at multikulturelle samfunn skal fungere har vært et gjennomgående tema i Bromarks interessante forfatterskap. I "Hjemreiser" får han tydelig fram hvor meningsløst det er å presse mennesker og samfunn inn i én form og én identitet. [...] Det er blitt en fascinerende aktuell bok. [...] Bromark formulerer seg glimrende, slik han har for vane, med små glimt av fin humor i skildringene. Språklig vurdert er dette fremragende sakprosa."

Sven Egil Omdal, Stavanger Aftenbald

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Author Stian Bromark

Stian Bromark (1972–) is managing editor of the magazine, Agenda. He has had wide experience as a reporter, commentator and editor with the newspapers Ny Tid, Dagbladet and Dagsavisen, as reporter, commentator, book reviewer and debate and comment editor. His work as a journalist included culture and book reviewing. Bromark has also worked as publishing editor in Cappelen Damm documentary department.

He has written seven non-fiction books including: Frykten for Amerika (‘The Fear of America’) (with Dag Herbjørsrud), which was nominated for the Brage Prize in 2003; and the book about the events of 22nd July 2011, Selv om sola ikke skinner (2012), which has been translated into English as Massacre in Norway. His most recent book, Hjemreiser. Arven etter folkeutvekslingen mellom Hellas og Tyrkia, (’Homeward Journeys. The Aftermath of the Exchange of Populations between Greece and Turkey’) was published in Spring 2016.

Stian Bromark studied literary theory, writing and history of ideas at the school for writers in Bø.

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Foreign rights
Greece

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