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The Last Island

Pages
320
Published
2022
Language
English

Synopsis

From the internationally bestselling author of Disquiet, a brilliant political allegory that vividly illustrates how capitalism and authoritarianism harm us and the environment.

Having failed to hold onto power after an ironfisted first term, the former President moves to a secluded island and decides to rid it of what he sees as its “anarchic” components. The island, described by its close-knit community as a utopia, the last peaceful resort for humankind, morphs into dystopia when the President, in the hope of bringing order to island life, begins to act more and more like a dictator. The first ones to revolt against him are the seagulls.
Originally written in 2008 as a condemnation of the authoritarian Turkish regime, The Last Island has only grown more relevant, foreshadowing the events and aftermath of Istanbul’s bloody Gezi Park/Taksim Square political protests of 2013, as well as the protest movements of our time.

About the author

Z
Zülfü Livaneli

Zülfü Livaneli, born Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu in 1946, is a Turkish novelist, composer, film director and politician, and one of the country's best-known cultural figures. His novels include The Eunuch of Constantinople (1996), Bliss (2002), Last Island (2008) and Serenade for Nadia. Bliss received the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers award in 2006; he has also won the Balkan Literary Award for best novel (1997), the Yunus Nadi Award (2001) and the Orhan Kemal Novel Prize (2009). He sat...