Book Review: I Will Never See the World Again — Ahmet Altan
“We got into the police car that was waiting at the gate. I sat with my bag on my lap. The door closed on me.
It is said that the dead do not know that they are dead. According to Islamic mythology, once the corpse is placed in the grave and covered with dirt and the funeral crowd has begun to disperse, the dead person also tries to get up and go home, only to realize when he hits his head on the coffin lid that he has died.
When the door closed, my head hit the coffin lid.”
Ahmet Altan, I Will Never See the World Again
I stumbled upon this masterpiece in a little blue bookshop in Hackney. At the time I was searching for a small book that might offer me some sort of profound insight whilst travelling, not weighing much on the back or the wallet. I was in the middle of haphazard preparations for my upcoming overland trip through Eurasia with my partner, you see, and I was getting rid of most of my beloved collection of books; I needed a new baby to compensate for the loss of all the old ones.
The bookshop was packed with wonderful niche works, from women-focused adventure anthologies like Waymaking to practical operations manuals like Sailing with Confidence. I found myself wandering among the books like a kid in a candy store, absolutely…
