Love at First Sight at the Corner (Book)

Güray Süngü is the third story book by the author, first published in 2014. The book features a total of ten stories, dominated by an ironic tone.

The titles of the ten stories are as follows: “Derviş”, “Light bulb Head”, “Stethoscope”, “Perfect World”, “Neither Bread Nor Water…”, “Corner Heads”, “Stultifera Navis”, “Crisis of My Heart”, “The Man Who Names the Stones of Grave”, “The Only Love That Finds a Portrait on the Corner”.

Güray Süngü’s work exhibits both similarities and differences in theme and tradition compared to his first two story collections, Deli Gömleği and The Second Story That Tells Nothing. In particular, the characters’ immersion in negative spirit carpet and their experience of crisis in a troubled modern world, along with themes of alienation, loneliness and love, echo those of his earlier collections. However, differences arise in the greater diversity of themes and the increased integration of traditional elements.

In this work, where love and madness are central themes, the author conveys to the reader the idea that love leads to madness. Additionally, the author incorporates numerous traditional, religious and Sufi elements, allusions and quotations. Compared to the other two story collections, this book features traditional elements and Sufi concepts more frequently across its stories. Similarly, the author frequently voices critiques of modernity, contemporary society and consumerist frenzy within his stories. In both his critiques and the narrative flow, the author often employs a humorous and ironic style.

In most of the stories in The Only Love That Finds a Portrait on the Corner, no specific complete is provided as a time. However, based on the themes explored, the experiences of the characters and the criticisms expressed, it is evident that this work, like Deli Gömleği and The Second of Stories That Tell Nothing, is set in the present day. In the story “Corner Heads”, the author explicitly provides a specific date.